Maiden Virtual Voyage

Whew...I am exhausted and all we did was chat!  My dear, dear friend helped me grow some cyberlegs fast  - a half hour before the class began.  After yesterday's attempt on my own to figure this thing out, I called in the reinforcements.  Wouldn't you know it - almost all of my fabulous students decided to log into Big Blue Button ahead of the scheduled time.  What were they thinking?!  Don't get me wrong - ordinarily, I love for them to get to class ahead of schedule.  Their desire to not waste a minute warms my heart.  I love to catch up on the latest news at their respective schools and then hit the ground running at the appointed hour.  But today...their early bird status caused me some anxiety.  I was just learning my way around, hoping to give the appearance that I knew what I was doing - I am unsure that I was successful, but they are too kind and considerate to state otherwise...bless them!

The initial "Oh No.  I'm not ready!" was just the first pulse enhanced experience of the session.  In addition to my agitation that I might appear to not have it all together was the frustration of seeing folks show up online and not being able to hear them.  They were not muted, yet they were inaudible. I feel certain that it bothered me much more than it did them for they did what teachers always do - they went with Plan B on their own...using the chat box to type their messages to the rest of us.  They are teachers after all.  Flexibility is our number one tool of choice!  And another thing...I know that sometimes educators mute a student who wanes on and on by ceasing eye contact with them or shutting down their comment with one swift "Thank You" and a simultaneous turn of the head toward someone else, yet it is a totally different thing to mute a student who isn't even talking.  The trouble was on her end.  As I could not control the student's volume settings on her computer, I did what only I could do - control it on my end...mute!  The feedback from her mic was intense and the roar of my own echo each time I spoke was too much for me and the others. I felt bad and I do not like being without control to fix it (one of my struggles in life), but it had to be done.

And another thing...online discussions and face to face discussions differ, period!  I have seen plenty of remote Today show segments where there is lag time between what is said and what is heard and responded to, but I am quite certain my facial expressions mimicked my frustration - I am no Matt Lauer - no looking at ease in the interim of waiting!  I am told I will get use to this, but I am not convinced.  My brain thinks faster than my mouth moves anyway (which is sometimes problematic; sometimes downright embarrassing with the occasional Freudian "slip up"),  but adding 5 seconds to what students hear me say and then another 5 seconds to what I hear them reply is a real challenge for me (yes, patience is another struggle I have in life). I have come to realize in a very short time that I am no match for cyberspace - it has a mind of its own and when it decides to blip out and disconnect service temporarily rendering me frozen and mute, well, there's nothing I can do about it!!  I give...

What I know for sure is this - in the world of online teaching there are things I will not be able to control and there will be moments of frustration associated with computer hiccups and full blown crashes...that's just the way it is.  So, all in all, I can honestly say that yes, today was a great Maiden Virtual Voyage.  Cheers!!