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Meet Mimi Will
Professor of Computer Technology and Information Systems
Interview with Dean Sinou

Sinou: What motivated you to venture into online teaching?

Will: The promise of potential! Once the WWW browsers came out in the mid-1990s, the "handwriting was on the wall" as to future directions where education would inevitably be headed! I could "see" the potential for learner empowerment and creativity through self-publishing, research on the Net, and self-teaching/learning--after having taught and learned traditionally in computer-enhanced classes for decades.

I wanted to try it and see what could be created and what could be done with it but hadn't realized at the time that online teaching/learning would force me to reflect so strongly upon what traditional education was doing/not doing in the physical classroom model.

Sinou: What do you enjoy the most about the virtual learning classroom?

Will: It's so much faster! As a multimodal online learner, I enjoy having electronic references handy and the "blank E-canvas" for creative expression (writing/layout). As an online instructor/facilitator I enjoy seeing my students grow and "blossom" through a flexible online course design that lets them try various aspects of learning alternatives--and it's always a delight to "get to know" my students through their online work and communications.

Sinou: What is the biggest challenge about teaching on the Internet?

Will: It can be "physically confining" at the computer. Working on screen for many hours a day takes its toll physically, psychologically, and emotionally--we instructors are responsible for so much more than just
stepping into a class and winging a lecture, and can become tethered to the computer. The amount of time and think/planning it takes to create an online learning experience is way too much!

Also, results are not really known until students finish a class and say what worked for them. We lose many along the way, and do not really know what didn't work for them--so my course design iterations are somewhat limited and based a lot on intuition. I'm also not all that comfortable working within a "hackable" medium where various individuals are all playing under a different set of rules. Finally, the challenge of "less teaching and more facilitating" makes me more of a clerk, recordkeeper, and ameliorator in addition to being a designer, problem solver, and content expert.

Sinou: What are some tips that you would share with students who are contemplating taking online classes?

Mimi: First, take a couple of "low risk"/low-unit/no credit classes first (e.g., CNSL 90 Intro to Online Learning at Foothill, free classes on the Net, bulletin board discussion classes, etc.) so that you know what it's all about, before you tackle a rigorous 5-unit class with new vocabulary, heavy content, and multiple demands.

Secondly, try several different kinds of classes on various systems to see what works best for you (e.g., videoconferencing, asynchronous Web-based classes, e-mail classes, synchronous chat classes).

Thirdly, consider an all-online degree program that transfers to higher ed.

Sinou: Anything else you would like to share?

Will: Know yourself well. Have a good reason for wanting to do it. Consider that besides technology, there are the human factors such as self-organization, time management, motivation, goal setting and achieving, and the "loneliness" of working on your own and finding your own answers when things get challenging--do you like this and will you stick it out over the long haul?

____ Mimi Will has been teaching CTIS Computer/Internet/Bus Info Systems online classes using ETUDES for 6 years at Foothill College and has also designed/delivered a pilot online CIS 60 class for sheet metal worker apprentices in 5 states. She originally started teaching "people classes" in the Business Division at Foothill (human relations, salesmanship, business communications, word processing) and co-authored books about office automation and information processing. When the CTIS Division spun off from the Business/SocScience Division15 years ago, Mimi wrote the desktop publishing curriculum and offered the first computer literacy class using Macs to a class of over 100 students in the Big Theater. Mimi holds masters' degrees in Fine Arts and Business, is self-taught in computers, and is pursuing graduate studies in online learning, making her a reflective practitioner of her craft and a humble yet curious learner.