As a creative writer I'm always curious whether to share my "work" as in the books I've published. I don't want students to feel like they need to "buy" my book, but at the same time I like sharing with them that English can really get them somewhere. What do you think?

One thing I noted in this unit is that it is best to use syncronous instruction with a single student rather than with a large group. I see the point and agree...however, my school presents us with group "chats" and these are the ones that are held in a sychronous form. On the other hand, it would be very difficult to hold these chats individually simply because of the large number of students involved. Any ideas of how best to balance these two situations?

If reusable learning objects are not available what best practices can be implemented to design and develop eLearning content? When developing a Learning Object, first and foremost, you have to define or know your course objectives. In e-learning, especially those without a synchronous component, the material has to be easily understood. Since an e-learning object often takes the part of the role of an face-to-face instructor, the material needs to be relevant, recent, and applicable to real-life scenarios. I also think it’s important to make sure your data repository (if using one) is accurate and up to date. There is nothing more off-putting than outdated or unprofessional material (in my opinion). There are also issues with copyright related to e-learning, especially in art history – my subject matter. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent requesting copyright permissions on Ancient Egyptian art images during one particular course development contract. Wiki Commons, Creative Commons are great for images. Since I deal quite a bit with Modern Art – most of which is still copyright protected – I use a LOT of hyperlinks my class development. Not ideal, and requires some maintenance, but it is an art history course and they HAVE to be looking at images. According to Rachel Smith’s Guidelines for Authors of Learning Objectives, the interactive component is important (p. 2). Students want to engage in their own learning, so having the students have control to proceed through the knowledge, or even taking different paths, etc. is important. This is where different modalities (audio, text, video, etc.) come in. Of course, it has to be user friendly, since you will have students in their first online class mixed with students who’ve been dealing with the internet and ‘online activities’ since middle school. Another critical aspect is the software ‘technology gap’ – the tools must be accessible for all to view on most computers or web browsers. Last, but not least, it’s important to consider it’s re-usability so you are not re-creating the wheel for each learning object. References: Harman, K. and Koohang, A. (2007). Learning Objects: Standards, Metadata, Repositories & LCMS. Informing Science Press. Smith, R. (2004). Guidelines for Authors of Learning Objectives. The New Media Consortium. McGraw Hill.

I think it's extremely important that the online instructor lead the student in the direction of obtaining as much information about the subject by self-exploration. When the student displays what he or she has found, either on a discussion board or in a written project, it's important to communicate to the student the positive aspects of what he or she has discovered and distinguish those items that are important from those that are either of lesser importance or irrelevant.

I think it's important that students, from the very outset, understand that success in the course will be achieved by acquiring as much information as possible and, to that end, the instructor will be available to reinforce that ideal and be "quickly" reachable to answer questions, offer explanations and encouragement.

I liked the information about formative feedback and summative feedback. I am placed in an interesting position where my university wants us to use formative feedback but the only place where real feedback happens is in the grading process. We have development sessions on how to do formative feedback and it is all good, but it is integrated with the grade assignment. Based on these section that type of feedback should be summative. What is really being said in my past training applied to meaningful feedback and the points about formative were good, but seem to be misplaced. I always wondered how to include formative feedback in the grading process and now it seems more clear, that is really the place for summative feedback. I think I will reevaluate the feedback process in my class and explore how formative feedback can actually be given in the structure of the courses in which I am required to operate.

Dear Faculty, Do you have any strategies that have helped you improve student evaluations? In the online environment, it seems that we have some additional challenges in building rapport with students and it requires additional effort to communicate our desires to see them succeed. I also teach a subject area that encounters a high level of student frustration, mathematics, and have found the small sample size of student evaluations and the aforementioned circumstances to be challenging in terms of obtaining consistent student evaluations. I of course prioritize high quality instruction, create resources for students, email them personally, reply quickly and engage students whole heartedly, but I wish for these result to better reflect the work I put into teaching. What have you experienced? Sincerely, Eugenia

I can see where a video clip could help an instructor introduce himself/herself to the students. But what would be second best? What if that technology is not available in the online environment at present?

I would think it is important for students to have a clear set of expectations about the course before it begins...but what if the student thinks something entirely different than the school or instructor thinks about the course? What should be done?

In this module, there was a link to wikipedia for more information on netiquette. I was surprised to see this curriculum use wikipedia, since we are continually discouraging students from using it for reliable information. Any thoughts?

It is extremely important for instructors to demonstrate to students that their education is important to the instructor and the university. Instructors must have a presence on discussion boards and in the course room? What are you thoughts?

Why is it so difficult to get online students to participate in chat room discussions. Please give me some strategies to get them to participate.

Although I've been teaching for more than 13 years, I've been teaching in the online environment for less than one year. What are some tipe for keeping students engaged and excited in the online classroom?

Poll pods are a great way to add to the online learning experience. They are beneficial for both the instructor and the student. Not only do they stimulate interaction, the instructor is able to get a quick read on where the class is "at" so to speak.

I think that it is important to set up your students for success from the beginning. Sending an email to students and giving them a few tips on how to navigate the VC may be helpful. Many of these students may be taking an online course for the first time and it may be a bit intimidating.

Course evaluations should not be centered on whether or not the student liked/disliked the instructor, but whether the course provided an opportunity for learning through the quality of the learning experience designed, the quality of learner-instructor interaction, and whether the course reinforced the achievement of the learning objectives. Marcia L. Brown, PhD, PMP

Provide feedback that is constructive, noncontrolling, and informative. This will enhance the students' desire to improve and continue to learn. Additionally, whenever a problem arises, it should be viewed as something to be addressed and not a statement about an individual's worth. Marcia L. Brown, PhD, PMP

Online instructors need to provide clear guidelines for interaction with students. They need to provide prompt feedback in the form of information and acknowledgement. Additionally, online instructors need to provide well-developed discussion assignments, provide assignment deadlines, provide challenging tasks,and praise for quality work. Dr. Marcia L. Brown

Oftentimes, instructors lose sight of the fact that the overall course objective involves educating the students. The primary purpose when authoring a course should be to facilitate student learning and thinking. Additionally, we want to carry the goal even further by facilitating further learning. Dr. Marcia L. Brown

Different students have different needs, so it's vital that instructors be able to wear all four pair of shoes: *Instructor. Some students are fully capable and have no questions, and are thus just looking for straightforward instruction. *Social director. Some students are in the online environment to meet people and make connections, so we should be available to facilitate such activity. *Program personnel. It's out job to provide feedback in a timely fashion, and *Technical overseer. Students must feel comfortable with the technology we use to facilitate classes.