Heterosexism

I recently submitted a course design to my professor regarding the topic of heterosexism. In general, I found the assignment to be a bit difficult because I was so ridiculously ignorant regarding the topic (I am happy to report I learned a lot and am now more educated). The actual design itself, however, was fun. I like designing courses because doing so allows me the opportunity to be a bit creative and to break up the monotony of my daily pattern of lecturing and grading.

I received an awesome grade on the assignment, which I deserved. In its final draft, my course proposal was well-researched, well-designed, and would add value to students' learning experiences. I also received a bit of feedback from my instructor. Although she commended the overall design of my course, she stated that one of the assignments I designed might be a bit too difficult for students enrolled in the course. You see, I was instructed to create a one-credit online course addressing a social justice issue. In my proposed course, the final assignment would require students to create a 2-3 minute public service announcement regarding the topic of heterosexism to be uploaded to youtube upon completion. I provided specific guidelines regarding what elements should be included in the PSA, etc. My professor wrote, "Your experience teaching really shows in how you have designed this course and how you have set up the expectations. I like the assignment about doing the PSA, and I also think that many students may not be prepared to do this. You have been teaching online, so these technologies are familiar to you, however this will overwhelm many of your students, especially in a one-credit course. I have seen that the one-credit courses I teach have professionals, who need to have CE credits, and many of these individuals have not been doing on-line courses nor are they familiar with the technology that goes with them. For example, many of the students in these one-credit courses are school counselors, and the summer session department had to hold their hands to even get set up on [the school's system]...". She concluded her comments by indicating that she may just steal a few elements from my submission to utilize in her own courses. :/

While I understand my professor's concerns about overwhelming students, I find the content of her commentary to be the problem with many elements of our country's current educational system. Why in the hell wouldn't I want to challenge students? What is the harm in requiring students to work hard? Why shouldn't students be offered the opportunity to learn a new technology? If no one ever raises the bar for students, how will their skills and knowledge ever increase? It is my experience that if no one ever expects anything out of a person, that person has little motivation to improve. I'm an educator who wants to raise the bar -- just a little. I think that I ought to be encouraged to do so.

Afterall, can you imagine how cool it would be for a school counselor to actually have the ability to utilize youtube and the like? Wouldn't the ability to create videos for students make a counselor just that much more effective at his or her job?

Duh.

What am I missing?