My Decade of Mistakes Four Things I did Wrong as an Online Teacher Alyson Indrunas Director of eLearning & Instructional Design Everett Community College

1. MY DECADE OF MISTAKES
Four Things I Did Wrong as an OL
Teacher
Alyson Indrunas
Director of eLearning & Instructional Desi
Everett Community College
IGNIS Webinar
February 5, 2015

2. Presenter’s Ethos: You’ve Been
Warned

3. Google Doc. Invitation
1. Are you so comfortable with Collaborate that you
could teach somebody else how to use it?
2. Do you live to multi-task?
3. Do you bomb chat windows with ideas when you
attend webinars?
If you answered NO to any one of these questions, stay
here. The Google Doc. will be there later. Sip your
coffee. Listen.
If you answered #YessyYesYes!! then click on the link
Alissa will provide in the chat.

4. #TrueConfession
I have several degrees
from WA state. AA, BA,
MA, M.Ed.
My adjunct era is
beautifully summarized in
more optimistic terms than
I can tell it by Josh Boldt.
(Linked on the Google
Doc.)
Vitae’s “How I Got Out:
One Adjunct’s Journey
From Freeway Flyer to
eLearning Director”

5. 10 Years Ago…
 “We need people to teach online, and nobody
else wants to do it. I’m getting desperate.
Interested?”
 “Just put all of your handouts online and write
lectures to connect them. Shouldn’t take that
long. You’re a writing teacher, right?”

6. Five Years Later…
 I never got bumped as an adjunct. “Bumped” is
a euphemistic scheduling term that we use to
describe being outranked. None of the full-
timers wanted to teach online when I started,
and many to this day still do not.
 I was very lucky during an unlucky era. It’s
tough to get a foot in the door at some
institutions. See Hint For Adjuncts on Google
Doc.

7. Two years ago…

8. Now…
Note the multi-tasking smile.
The ungodly high heels.
C’est moi!

9. Reflecting On Work
Really. This is more like it.

10. How *Most* Teachers Feel About
Educational Technology

11. Mistake n.
1. an action or judgment that is misguided or
wrong.
Used in a sentence:
“Thinking I have all the answers for improving
OL education is a mistake.”
Synonyms:
error, fault, inaccuracy, omission, slip, blunder,
miscalculation, misunderstanding, oversight,
flub, goof

12. Where I Started

13. I Had A Lot To Learn

14. Mistake #1: Oversight

15. Solution #1: Be Creative
Try course redesigns in three week
or unit chunks. In one year, you’ll
have an entire course.
Split the labor with a like-minded
colleague and accept that you
compete in the same job market.
Find a cool full-timer who is bored
of the departmental drama.
Work together in a Canvas master
course. Ask your eLearning
Director.
Collaborate with a librarian.
Always remember, you’re not alone. Ask Je
Alissa, or anyone at the SBCTC. They can h
you connect with other teachers.

16. Mistake #2: Error in Practice
“I signed up for your hybrid
class, Ms. Indrunas, because
it seems like your OL students
hate you.”
~Former
rateyourprofessor.com
Researcher
I decided to start anew, to strip
away what I had been taught.
~Georgia O’Keefe

17. Mistake #2: Fault

18. Mistake #2: Inaccurate
Perspective

19. Solution #2
Establish a personal learning
network.
Show your students how you
use the Internet to research.
Guide them in your discipline
through eFlood of information
on the Internet.
Think of your students as
citizens and not just people
you’ve been hired to teach.
Be honest with them.

20. Mistake #3: Miscalculation

21. Mistake #3: Goof

22. Solution #3
It’s okay to say:
Someday, just not today.
Do one thing to improve.
Always take the time to look around to
connect with like-minded people.
If you do one thing experimental, do it in
one section.
Take note of what’s difficult and make
friends with somebody who has figured it
out.

23. Mistake #4: Blunder
Always remember you’re the content expert.
You are providing the materials for students
to create their own meaning.
You can give them patterns to practice.

24. Mistake #4: Misunderstanding

25. Solution #4
Put your students to work!
Have them make checklists of the activities
that you would like them to do each week.
Ask that they share their study guides.
Use what they write in your teaching. Creating
one short recording summarizing their
contribution to the course goes along way.
Share with them why you love your discipline
when they discover a “new thought” that
excites you.
Don’t miss the joy and fun of learning.

26. Thank you, IGNIS!
Alyson Indrunas
aindrunas@everettcc.edu
Twitter: @AlysonIndrunas
Blog: https://spokeandhub.wordpress.com/
EvCC Humanities Lecture
ATL Winter Retreat
ATL Pre-Conference Workshop
WHETC Conference
NISOD Conference
Institute for New Faculty Development