Summer course - what do you enjoy more - teaching or learning

Maybe I'm proof that making education available, affordable, and flexible can create the tipping point that leads to enrollment...

So I finished my second Master's last May, and then I taught in both the fall (ESL PSY) and spring (ESL at HACC)and had the opportunity to also make some good money teaching this summer again, but I thought I had better take some time to relax a little and not get burned out, so I decided not to teach over the summer... but the relaxation thing lasted only a week - ha! I enrolled for a graduate course through PSU Harrisburg's ESL cert program - to brush up on my linguistics.

So what made me jump in?

* I know I like to be learning and engaged intellectually with others
* I know I don't like to have too much time on my hands - enough yes - but not too much and I'm almost caught up on the big gardening jobs
* The course is offered online
* I get the PSU discount
* I can still take vacation and get some R & R in between the acts
* It should give me good ideas for both my PSY and HACC courses in future
* It will count towards ACT 48 credits - keeping my current ESL cert up to date
* I got approval to count it towards the reading cert which is a new goal.
* It will give me exposure to how campuses are running/creating online courses using ANGEL which can be very helpful when teaching online catches fire locally

So what's NOT to like??? Looks like a win-win-win-win, etc. to me...

I had to laugh though when the program coordinator literally tried to talk me out of taking the course (multiple times)...

You've had linguistics already... But, I want to brush up on it
This course is rigorous... not a problem - I prefer that
It won't count towards anything later... not in PSU world, but there are other worlds
Are you planning on taking a vacation, bring your laptop...that goes without saying
The book is really thick... great - didn't I say I wanted to learn something - ha!!!
This is an online course which means a lot of work....I just finished a very rigorous online master's program through IU Bloomington - not worried - I'm still excited about it....
You need to know ANGEL.... Got it

OK, by this time, I am starting to doubt that I really want to do this - I understand that you need to let people know the reality of online learning... but listen to people too - As an instructional designer and instructor myself - F2F and online - I know the pitfalls when people mistakenly think that "cost effective and flexible" are synonymous with easy... but I am not one of those people... so after I swatted away her misgivings one by one, I was, in the end, no less enthusiastic about starting the course...

This process, and my surprise at wanting to take a class again so soon, left me thinking how much I enjoy both sides of the teaching and learning equation - and I might actually enjoy the learning part more that the teaching part.

Here's what I'm thinking lately....

I wish institutions would hurry up and get over the stigma of online learning(for EdD programs) and start offering meaningful opportunities to earn an EdD - Something that mixes developmental ed, literacy, and technology would be great - U. of FL has a program - more tech than literacy though - and Athabasca U in Canada has a distance ed program that is excellent - but that is about it for now - I think part of the hold-up is finding faculty who understand online learning so they can be open to offering courses in that venue... until that happens, these programs aren't going anywhere - Faculty need to experience how deep the learning can go - with the right design - and the right students...many professionals, who want to stay current in their fields, would jump at the chance to continue study in meaningful ways that allow them to grow as professionals and contribute to their own local environments... As with all things lately - the dollar will most likely drive change... and if institutions did some market testing, I bet they would see how many folks, finishing all these burgeoning online master's programs, would want to continue their studies to the next level if given the chance in meaningful ways - especially when the learning opportunities are cost effective, flexible, and available!