Effects on Teaching and Learning

Communication - instructor to student

It is a convenient way to communicate with most students.
Wayne LaMorte, SPH.

I am grateful for the opportunity to post announcements for immediate response.
Judith Bernstein, SPH.

In between classes, the website was the only way to efficiently reach the class.
Brent Baker, COM.

Communication - student to student

My discussion group has been studying for the midterm via our group chat, and I think it's been quite effective. A vast majority have participated in one or all of the sessions, and quite a few have commented on the chats' helpfulness, particularly filling in the blanks in their notes and figuring out the most important parts of the lectures.
Brent Baker, COM.

The discussion chats have been an extremely useful tool. In MC 841 they have ensured that reading assignments for each class are being done prior to class (critically important in a seminar), and they have focused student thinking so that discussion in class is much more productive.
Judith Bernstein, SPH.

We do an in-class role-play of a support group to help students learn group facilitation skills. Students make up characters who will be members of the group. This week, for the first time ever, all the "referrals" were completed ahead of time. I think it's because people posted their role-play character descriptions to the course site's discussion board. They had a chance to look at other people's work before coming into the classroom, and were inspired or at least encouraged that they were on the right track. It saved us all a lot of prep time in the classroom and we had more complete information on the characters than I usually see.
Christine Flynn Saulnier, SSW.

Using the class discussion group a "Movie Club" was formed in virtual space by one of the freshman students. All the meeting notices were posted, and the group was a success. They also made 'Live" announcements in class, but the online notices were key.
Brent Baker, COM.

Grade keeping

I really like the grade record section--it's easier than creating an Excel spreadsheet, and students can get their grades as soon as they are posted without having to wait for the next class.
Judith Bernstein, SPH.

It is great to have the on-line grades so that students can check if their HWs and labs are graded.
Selim Unlu, ENG.

I'm off to update the Gradebook now. The students and I both really like that feature!
Jim Burgess, SPH.

Miscellaneous

Students appreciate the availability of slides and handouts. Judith Bernstein, SPH. Have gone paperless. Students use the drop box to put stuff in. I reply electronically. I have saved a hundred trees already.
Vijay Kanabar, MET.

I prepared class notes for most of the lecture and distributed them in hard copy form at the beginning of the course, but I also put these on the web. After each lecture is given, I also put the Powerpoint slides (both as packaged slides and as Powerpoint slides) on the website, so students can review them. Many of the students like having the option to do this, even though the class notes are fairly complete.
Wayne LaMorte, SPH.

I never handed out any assignments on paper this semester. Just posted them on the web site. The students liked this very much.
Brent Baker, COM.

Comments from students

I think the class website has been a great help. The message boards especially help us to develop a sense of community.

I think the website is a great tool for students to use. Not only can we interact with each other, but with the world around us.

This is the only class I am involved with that has a website but I have found it extremely helpful when working on assignments. I enjoyed getting to know some of the other students as well as TAs through the web that I may have otherwise not known.

I found the website to be incredibly helpful and fun. Being able to post assignments far in advance was great because it allowed everyone to get a head start on things. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the discussion board. It allowed everyone to voice their opinions and to create interesting discussion/debate threads as well.

Honestly, I have only used the site twice. I am on the COM floor, so I tend to get all of the important information via word of mouth. I think there is a lot of useless information that gets posted by my class mates, including complaining, that takes up my valuable time. I don't like sifting through the discussion section because most of it is silly (at least in my opinion). I'm sure there are a lot of great things being discussed, and I'm sorry if I miss them.

I just wanted to let you know that I think the website is great! It allows me to keep up with current events, and keep in close contact with my peers and TA. I think it's extremely beneficial for all the students, and I don't understand why anyone would choose not to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I can only see good things happening with the web site in the future, and I feel very proud and privileged to be a part of such a wonderful program.