Tonietta A. Walters

Adjunct Professor of Philosophy
Broward College - Downtown Campus: Philosophy & Religion
Miami Dade College – Virtual College: Philosophy

Office Hours: Online by appointment or anytime asynchronously within courses and via email

Office Phone:  954-554-4810

E-mail: twalters@broward.edu
Website: http://www.broward.edu/~twalters

I usually respond to email or phone calls within one business day while college is in session.

Welcome to my website!

Course competencies [what you will be learning] can be accessed through the links on top of the right sidebar. All of my courses are either completely online or blended online.

Lecture notes, assignments, study guides & assessments [as well as links to additional references and resources] will be posted within the college e-learning system.  The course will be inaccessible until the first day of classes.

You will be able to login to courses by following the links below:

• BC – http://elearning.broward.edu
• MDC VC – http://mycourses.mdc.edu

I’m just a phone call or email-BC | email-MDC away when you have questions.

Let’s have a productive semester.

Previous Courses

Courses next semester: Spring 2011

Courses this semester: Fall 2010

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: Student Focused Learning
The choice of philosophy as a major area for teaching is a reflection of my desire to contribute to the success and development of post secondary students.  Doing philosophy and by extension taking a philosophy course is, at bottom, about taking dedicated time to investigate individual thinking and conceptual schemes. A philosophy course becomes an opportunity for comparing, contrasting and possibly revising a personal vision through learning historical and current views.  It gives me great satisfaction to be able to contribute in this way to the development and improvement of the critical thinking and logical analysis skill set of students.  It is a large part of my teaching philosophy to use internet technology and reference to popular media, such as movies and video games, to augment and enhance the learning experience of the modern student.  Referring to popular media gives the students an opportunity to become more aware of the relationship of philosophy to their everyday lives.  In this way, they interact with philosophical theories in a familiar context as a foundation for more complex philosophical investigation.

I am additionally committed to teaching blended or fully online courses in addition to face to face courses.  Contrary to appearances, the use of technology and the online environment actually facilitates a more individualized approach to teaching and learning. Modern students are familiar with the internet, online communication and do not view these as “distancing” themselves from human interaction but as a way to extend the type of interactions available.  Delivering course materials in this manner allows each student to interact with the learning materials and professor in the way that is most comfortable and efficacious for them.  If technology enhanced courses are structured properly [with set goals, learning outcomes, structured assignments, discussions and assessments] it allows the student the freedom to set the time and pace to be the most effective for their own style of learning. As such, interaction with the instructor is also more individualized and directed in addressing student needs. The student can interact with their instructor as much or as little as they feel is needed.  Conversely, because things like the grading of assessments and the flow of individual grades into the grade book are automated, the instructor has more time to track & review student progress throughout the course in order to give attention to students that may seem to need more.

Increased learning occurs when a larger share of the responsibility of learning is place on the student and the “professor” becomes more of a facilitator to the learning process. Because of this, I attempt to foster a relaxed and nurturing atmosphere within my courses along with providing the feedback and resources that match and challenge the individualized pace of each student.  Students are graded according to their individual abilities or efforts because ultimately success in philosophy is measured by increased critical thinking abilities and their own personal growth.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Pathways to Wellbeing Second Life Interface Demo: Flinders University-Adelaide, Australia

Flow in the Zone Exhibition: MDC Second Life Display Room One & MDC Virtual Museum

The Arts Office NoumenArt Center for Applied Aesthetics in Second Life

Educational Applications of Second Life

INTERESTS

http://www.secondlife.com

Art and Consciousness/Cognitive Science

The Singularity

Transhuman Ethics