I didn’t appreciate the challenges with multi-campus instruction until it was too late and things were in a dire state. My first experience with MCI was as an observer/support. The instructor was on another campus and I was on the ‘remote’ campus. The instructor had a TA on our campus that was tasked with setting up ICT, facilitating communication, and running activities during the lecture. I was just in the classroom observing and occasionally pitching in where I could.
This was the first time any of us were involved with an MCI course. I think the general feeling was “multi-campus courses are just like teaching a regular class but you have to look at the camera and speak into the microphone from time to time”. We couldn’t have been more wrong! And we didn’t realize it until the students started a revolt and brought up their (justified) frustrations and concerns to the program director, and eventually the dean.
Ultimately, the course was rescued and the students were satisfied at the end. The unexpected, positive outcome for me personally, was a new found interest and respect for MCI. After observing firsthand what could go wrong, I started researching and trying to learn more for when my turn to teach MCI came up… and nearly five years later I’ve still remained interested in learning and sharing what I’ve learned about it. It has become an area of interest for me and I try to take every opportunity to share what I’ve learned with others so they don’t go through what I experienced.
What about you? What was your first experience like?