I work in the field of Translation Studies and when we think of creativity in this context it is always in relation to original writings as translation is generally thought of as a derivative activity. We even have a course called Translation and creativity in which we teach students how to conceived of translation as a creative activity.

– For that course I have taught a romance novel translation class in which I first asked students to write a short original piece. I give them a starting sentence and then every minute I ‘throw’ a word at them and they need to include this in their little paragraph. Then we choose the one that we think is the most romance like and we start a chain of translation that goes from English into different languages and then back into English. What we ended us is always very different from the ‘original’ because different individuals with different cultures have translated. I love that exercise but I’m not sure how I can do this online!

– I also have my network bingo on a course dedicated to the industry of translation. I teach students various skills including networking and teamwork. The network bingo includes categories related to which languages students speak, who as already work as a translator, who is good at time management, etc. the students have 15 minutes to find as many people as possible. It’s a great icebreaker. Again, I’m not sure how to do this one online.

2. Reflect on what is missing from Garrison’s (2007) model for teacher presence as being about a: design, b: facilitation and c: direct instruction.

I must admit that I don’t really know this model but what seems to be missing from this is the idea of a relationship between student and staff. I learn a lot from students, particularly as my course is about languages and cultures and all the students come from the various cultures and languages we teach. So what is the role of the student is G’s model??

3. Reflect on what else we could consider here to establish the teacher presence in online courses: video presentations of staff sound like a good way of introducing yourself, not only telling the students what is your job but about who you are. When I ask students to introduce themselves I usually do it myself, and I always say a little about who I am, not just what I do.  I also like the idea of monthly hangouts (as mentioned in the videos.

Module 2. Notes on creativity / Charlotte Bosseaux / An Edinburgh Model for Online Teaching by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0