One of the challenges I consistently have is when evaluating my class I see the need to change many things that are the "core" of the class. I am in the Internet marketing industry and it is always evolving at a quick rate. because of this, materials are often outdated every 3 months. When i look at my classes, I always want the best information for the students and having an industry that does this makes it difficult to keep up. Anyone else have these issues?

Email is obviously one of the most recognized forms of communication with a class but I tend to use other forms as well. One of my favorites is to use a VOIP service (Skype) to meet up with students whenever they need to have a discussion. I feel that the telephone (with most students) is a pretty uncomfortable situation and not many of them truly "want" to be on the phone. I am curious what other methods people use when contacting students. I have heard the idea of using text messaging but that seems odd to me.

Whenever I create a course, I always want to include up-to-date information for the industry. My industry is internet marketing so it is always changing. With that being said, how many resources do you typically pull from in classes created? I find myself ultimately using a minimum of four different resources to create any class. -Ron

Does anyone have a SPECIFIC brand of software that they have used and can recommend? Seeking solutions which allow for a blended classroom/online solution.

Overloading our students with pages of text is not the appropriate manner of engaging online students. This doesn't take advantage of available technology, and negates what gives online education an advantage over the traditional model. If we want our students to learn well, we need to provide them opportunities to manipulate the material. This can be typing in a blank, drawing a quick picture, or using innovative technology to communicate.

I must say that the technical support has been very supportive

I will be able to lead or guide my students in the right direction. I definetly need to look into the student orienation class for CMS.

I definetly need to look into the student orienation class for CMS.

Online classes are my full time job. In a timely manner, be able to assist my students in a timely manner.

I think that it is vital to the online/distance learning for the students to engage and help each other. So having students post questions and then rewarding other students for correctly answering them is really important to the learning process. It really develops critical thinking and the communication process, which will help all the students with their future career goals.

I have dealt with many student in a classroom setting that dominate the discussions with off-topic revelations. I was confident in my methods of handling those students by being respectful to them, but also getting them back on topic. I had not considered this type of student being online and how I would handle it. This situtation could be very difficuly especially if you have several noisy students and several quiet students.

I was thinking about the different learning styles and how some may decrease a student's participation in an online class. It may be an ineteresting exercice for student's to individually assess their own learning styles so th ones who may be avoiding or dependent may recognize it and work past their natural tendencies to not participate. Also praising the student's who are not as quick to post as the more outgoing students may boost confidence and increase their participation.

I really liked the idea of having students create their own bios as a first assignment. It starts them out with an easy assignment to get started with high marks and it allows them to get to know each other and allows me to get to know them. I was thinking this would also work in my on-campus courses as well. Especially my Intro courses where the students are generally new to the school.

I am new to online classes and I thought that taking these courses would prepare me if I ever received the chance to teach online. I am concerned about underestimating the amount of time it takes daily or weekly to successfully manage an online class. I would like feedback and any suggestions on how professors are able to manage it while working a full-time job elsewhere.

What are some of the ways other instructors become active participants in their class discussion boards?

The module recommends saving a transcript of remediation chat sessions. Do you also recommend saving video files of these sessions, if that is a capability of the system?

The synchronous course that I will be facilitating consists of video and audio of the instructor AND students. The students will be muted and will be able to "raise their hand" to get my attention (an on-screen icon). Core concepts will be transmitted in this manner, but students will be given detailed schedules and outlines for all sessions. Feedback will be immediate and similar to an in-class environment, or so I hope. Am I fighting a losing battle?

The module on projecting authority mentions using video, audio, photo and/or text (in that order) information about the instructor to familiarize students with his (my) capabilities and background. Would you recommend creating an on-line presence (blog, forum, etc.) and directing students to that site?

Which is most effective with undergraduate students?

Hello to the forum. I will be teaching a synchronous on-line paramedic program that will consist of "traditional" lectures and demonstrations of practical skills. The didactic portion will have upwards of 25 students and practical demonstrations will have a student:instructor ratio of 6:1. I have taught pre-hospital providers for 25 years in traditional face-to-face settings and have developed teaching idiosyncracies that will not work on-line, such as walking around while on video camera. I was wondering if anyone had experience with, what to me is, a major change in presentation style and how they worked around it. I find that moving around in front of a class helps me work off nervous energy and I am concerned with not having that crutch to aid me.