I recently talked to someone who teaches an online course. She says that the college has supplied the lectures for each class. I questioned how a college could think that the fixed lectures would fit the needs of the class. Then the person reminded me that high school textbooks, textbook websites, textbook DVDs, textbook PowerPointsand content websites present the material in a fixed manner. I think it is good for a teacher to see an exemplary lesson and then to modify the lesson for the class or for the teacher to use the fixed lesson as a jumping off point but I do feel that teachers should not follow a book lesson blindly. Based on our students’ intellectual, physical and emotional needs, we, as instructional leaders, need to decide how to teach the selected goal. We need to modify the lesson to meet various learning styles and learning levels in our class. We need to know when to abandon a lesson to teach a missing skill or a complimentary skill. We are the ones to show the students the connections between what they are learning and the big picture, to bring in our life experiences in that learning.
How do you teach your course? Do you strictly follow the textbook (fixed) or do you modify the learning in a flexible manner based on your students’ needs?
My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.
Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle 
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