A tribute to previous F2F teachers / personal reflection

The discussion with Joanne and others, regarding direct instruction versus facilitation, leads me to reflect upon my experience as a student. I recall two instructors in particular. Joanne referenced her Calculus class. My first undergraduate year I attended a community college, Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, CA. where I took Calculus I. The lectures were similar to my MIT OER experience where the instructor covered a lot of intellectual ground. I do not recall his name. However, I do recall that he had scheduled office hours, and I took full advantage. I earned an A+ in that class, and I believe it was due to my persistence with him and his patience with me. He was available and willing to provide extra explanation of highly complex Calculus problems. I still have the textbook with all my markups. After the level of effort I put into that class, I could not bring myself to sell it back to the bookstore.

My 7th grade math teacher was Mr. Harold Johnson. Everybody knew Mr. Johnson. Everybody loved Mr. Johnson. One of my former classmates just announced in our Facebook group that Mr. Johnson had very recently passed away. Dozens and dozens of his former students paid tribute, including me. Some of his former students even traveled to attend his viewing and funeral. They discussed his demeanor, his encouragement, his ability to explain math, his willingness to allow us to participate, and his impact on his students’ lives. I recall Mr. Johnson always wearing a white shirt, suit or sport coat, and tie, adorned with chalk dust. I also recall him sitting backwards in a chair when he was trying to explain a complex issue. When he sat like that, we all knew it was time to listen. He was ‘old school’ but we all loved him for it. Remember the old E.F. Hutton commercials? - “when E.F Hutton speaks, everybody listens” or something like that. Well, in this case, it was “when Mr. Johnson speaks, we listened”. I am kicking myself for not attending his viewing and sharing my ‘Harold Johnson’ experiences with his family and friends. I think they might have appreciated it.

I guess my point is that the F2F instructor has a HUGE impact upon the student’s lives. The F2F instructor is in complete control and will make or break the class. I think this is a key difference between direct instruction and facilitation. The distance education facilitator influences the tenor of the class, but in a different way or from a different perspective. I attribute some of my life’s lessons, my values, many of my internal qualities, to my F2F teachers. My life’s successes, personally, professionally, and academically, can be directly tied back to teachers such as Harold Johnson and the Calc professor. For example, a career in the Marine Corps requires many traits, personal qualities, and abilities. However, I would offer that I had learned the majority of those intangible qualities well before I decided to join the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps just provided me a venue to express and develop those core attributes. The same goes for the study skills and academic self-discipline to succeed at Naval Postgraduate School and UMUC. Furthermore, Professor Holmberg, discusses empathy, and empathetic conversations, in distance education. I am not disagreeing with him, but I believe there is some empathy that may not occur outside of the F2F environment. I would offer that this may make the distance educator’s job even more challenging, particularly for less mature students.

If you are reading this post, I would appreciate your thoughts.