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Teaching from a Distance

Patrick Halpin
Assistant Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences

With students at Duke's main campus in Durham and at its Marine Laboratory on the coast, Assistant Professor Patrick Halpin uses Blackboard to communicate and present course materials. The syllabus, class schedules, instructions for lab assignments, PowerPoint presentations and additional readings are all posted on Blackboard. The Chat feature allows for real-time class discussions.

Patrick Halpin explains how he uses Blackboard to communicate and present course material to students on two campuses. Play Video (3:13)

Blackboard features used

• Course Documents area is used to post the syllabus, class schedules, instructions for lab assignments, PowerPoint presentations and additional readings
• Discussion Board and real-time Chat allow the instructor to communicate with students at a distance
• File Exchange allows students can post assignments which include maps and graphical elements for review by the instructor and other students

Time commitments

Faculty:

• One day to learn the Blackboard program and get the course site started
• Several weeks to create materials and fill course site
• Part of one class session to train students at the beginning of the semester
• Regular maintenance and updating of course materials in subsequent semesters

Students:

• One hour to learn how to use the different features
• Frequent use of the course site throughout the semester