I find that rubrics are the best way to provide feedback. Rubrics provide a student with a clear understanding of their grade, in addition to the breakdown of their grade the instructor can also provide the student with specific feedback to the assignment that will support the rubric.

I find that teachers who are passionate about their job want very robust communication that is student driven. But just as we all know students have different learning styles we must remember students have different communication styles as well. Not all students are outgoing, talkative people who will reveal their thoughts regularly. I find that this can be disappointing for teachers, myself included. It is helpful to maintain a realistic mindset when evaluating participation. This is not to say that if there is low level participation we should just chalk it up to all of our students being introverts, but this is to say that maintaining a realistic outlook on just how much participation to expect is healthy.

It's not so common anymore. It's easy to take for granted what we have learned and how we learned it. To be able to take a step back and reflect, now that is a great teaching tool!!!

I love the idea that the learning never stops, for the teachers to the student and the Company. When we lose sight of that, close the doors!!!

wow!! That was intense! I just got smarter and so will my students!! Thank you!

There is almost to much information on the web, ect. We can't possibly process it or comprehend. I really would like to fuse to the school and new school and find a center of gravity.

In reviewing this module, I think the question that was posed: Will the course module make sense to the students? is probably the simplest and the most complicated of all. It is not easy to design courses that students can easily navigate and understand.

Now this is an interesting topic. I would say this is one of the more difficult methods for grading. I know a lot of instructor’s grade on a Bell or some other method for evaluating assignments, but I don't use these methods. At the beginning of each quarter there is a detail questionnaire they fill out about their knowledge and experience in this subject being taught. Some students have been in this field for a long time, so I grade them at a higher level than do the students that have no experience in this field or subject. I also have found that some students are missing information that should have been taught at a lower class and for whatever reason were not. This also factors into my grading decisions. My problem is I only teach advance classes, so I never teach the lower and more basic classes. I would say this is where my frustration lies. Good effort is also an important criteria in grading. I current have a Telecom Manager in one of my Senior level Telecom courses. But she doesn't turn in great work. She knows her subject, but just lacks that extra effort to make her assignments really good. So this is downgraded. I have verbally spoken with her and she knows it and doesn't agree with me. Work is keeping her really busy, so her grades are being affected. These are my thoughts on fairness. By the way, when I make mistakes in my course and students do find them, I reward them (and I get these mistakes corrected ASAP). Fairness goes both ways and is a 50/50 proposition.

Using technology in online courses, are FANTASTIC! But you have to make sure that your students understand how to navigate and use the tools properly.

Online learning is very nessary for those who find it difficult to attend classes onground, for more reason than one, example if a mother just have a baby and wishes to continue her education staying home with her young child, she can always take classes on line, rather than taking classes onground, wher her mind could be wondering about child. Onground classes on the other hand is necessary for those who want to attend classes onground, where te students is allowed the oppertunity to counteract with both thier classmates,instructor and the environment.

When ever someone is doing online courses they must be prepared. Time management is of essence, and understanding the course outline is very important to follow.

Having taught in the virtual classroom that was merely on-ground content dumped into an online venue - the students, facilitators, and tech support personnel were more than frustrated!! Because on-ground content is designed with the understanding that the instructor will be seeing the student on a face-to-face daily basis, much information is not as clear as it should be made in the course content. This can be cleared up and expanded on inside the brick and mortar classroom. This becomes horrendous to deal with in the online venue! Online course content must be written and tailored to meet the type of instruction that will be delivered to have the best teaching possible!

To me, seems as if we are saying we are attempting to put ourselves in our student's shoes and attempt to meet the multiple variety of students we encounter in our classrooms. Not only are we meeting the student's needs in terms of their academic level, but we are attempting to create an understanding across cultural lines, other languages lines, as well as other issues the virtual environment brings into the classroom. Putting on different shoes allows us to best meet all the student challenges we encounter in the virtual environment we teach in.

The 2 most effective teaching patterns would be communication and question and answer. Communication done well will enable students to grasp the course content and their expectations. Questions and answers will allow students to reach out to the instructor, form an academic relationship with them, enhance their understanding, and feel a part of the virtual impersonal classroom.

Hi Everyone!! When deciding which of the multitude of virtual online classroom enhancers to include in your classrooms - it might be helpful to think about your student demographics. Not all students who enroll in online classes have the latest technologies or latest programming in their computers. They may not be able to access or utilize these technical gadgets! Ask me how I know.... :-) Marti Kessack

I am strongly inclined to support the claim that teaching in an online environment is much more demanding than teaching in a traditional classroom environment, the primary reason being that,as Instructors, we have to perform our duties from a distance.

We all see messages from students who have intense personal situations and we have to assume that there are plenty of students who prefer to keep those personal situations to themselves, rather that share with an instructor. That said, sometimes what a student needs is an offer of help in a different form.

I beleive that if you send a welcome email before the first course starts giving them ways to contafct you and making yourself available no matter what time zone they are in. I believe that if they know and understand that they cna contact you anythime it gives them a sense of comfort.

Agreed on all points, James. The didactic learning component can be taught in an online environment; however, online instruction cannot yield the desired results for high risk situations, examples of which you have mentioned. Another example would be operation and maintenance of military systems.

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