Contingency Plans

After reading the design for the virtual classroom chapter in William Horton’s eLearning by Design, something in particular stuck with me. “The best way to prevent problems is to anticipate them.” This is not only true of eLearning, but as this is a type of teaching and learning that may be new to some of us, it is exceptionally important. I believe it is hard enough trying to create an engaging online meeting without worrying about all the potential downfalls when you have that meeting. Though, why spend the time in creating something great if it is going to fail when it is implemented? You might as well take the extra step and create a problem-solution list for technology failures, lack of student involvement, personal emergencies, and so on. This idea truly has me thinking about how useful a classroom management course could have been before I stepped into a classroom. Now I have created a mental list of potential problems and solutions about some common student misbehavior as well as problems with students understanding certain concepts. Human behavior is unpredictable, so prepare for as much as you can; it makes life easier. What are some situations in which you obtained benefits from anticipating problems?