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Length of the Course is critical

I'm having great trouble understanding why the length of the course is not considered critical. I am referring to the 4th question of the first quiz. "Which of these is not critical to successful online learning? Answer: A Instructor support B E-learning being the student's preferred mode of learning C Readily available technical support D Duration of the course I chose B. I can't see how that is a factor unless the student actually hates the Internet. Even then, I don't see why a student can't learn in an environment that he does not like. As proof, I offer any… >>>

Teaching Mathematics Online

As a first-time online math instructor, I am finding a few differences in strategy when delivering the course material. Having taught math for a number of years in the traditional classroom setting, I know from experience that, for students who struggle, there is much value in the physical presence of the instructor as he/she explains the processes involved in solving some of the more difficult problems. I am wondering if there are any distinct advantages in taking an online math course for a student who struggles in math. Any ideas?

Teaching a Hybrid Course

Hi, I am a new online instructor. I will be teaching a Hybrid Course (partial traditional classroom/partial online). Has anyone taught a course of this nature? What are some of the instructor pitfalls to be aware of with this type of a course?

Merging On Line and live Class Environments

We are considering creating a program where students participate in class both live and in a synchronous on line environment. Our concern is that in class students will have a tendency to gravitate together and on line students will have a tendency to gravitate together. What suggestions do you have that might help us bring these two groups together more and help them feel part of a single program or community?

Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic Learners

it has occurred to me that On line Learning is particularly effective for those individuals who are visual learners but less effective for those individuals who are auditory and especially kinesthetic learners. Is this true? If so, what strategies can be developed to help kinesthetic learners who learn more from a hands on approach to learning?

E-Learning vs Classroom

I know that when I prepare for a new semester there is an aweful lot of prep work involved (I put in an average of 2-4 hours in the evening for the following day lesson plans). How much time on the average is needed to sucessfully launch an online course.

Code of conduct for online participation

We are considering offering online courses for the first time this fall. At various times throughout module 4, you have referred to the code of conduct for online participation in managing an online course. How does a school go about creating or establishing a code of conduct for online participation? What type of reference materials or examples are available to schools that would provide direction? examples?

Timeframe for completing online course

If a course is taught online and that same course is taught in a traditional classroom during the a semester, should they have the same timeframe for completion? We are considering offering a few classes online in the fall. We will also be offering those same classes in a traditional classroom setup. Should the classes be consistent with the same start date, assignment dates and exam dates, and end date? Is that reasonable or does it matter? Also, the number of credits for a course is dependent upon the percentage of contact lecture hours vs. lab hours. Would a course… >>>

Sense of Belonging

At our school, we are constantly applauded and appreciated for our ability to be there for our students. They have the sense of belonging to a family. They know how dedicated their instructors are and how invested they are in their success. Demographically speaking from our market research, many of our students need this sense of belonging as motivation to succeed. As we transition some courses to be hybrid in nature, how can we continue to give them that needed sense of belonging? I agree with the exchange of biographical information and the commitment of the instructor but what else… >>>

Student assignments

With an online course, I feel that it is important to supply comments or critiques on student assignments. This provides the interaction with the student that makes the course more personal. It also shows that the instructor is monitoring the student growth and knowledge of the subject.

Student interaction

As a new online instructor, I am in the process of implementing tools such as pols, Q & A, and quizes into my presentation. It varies from class to class in regard to which tool works the best.

Voice quality

I feel that to keep the students attention, ones vocal presentation should be clear and concise. The instructor needs to keep the students attention on the subject matter. And if the student is not "captured" by the presenter, they become bored and lose interest.

Online vs in classroom

As a new online instructor, I feel that it very important that one is comfortable with the applicaitons that available for the student as well as the instructor.

Technical Difficulties

One of the points in this module was very intriguing to me. I find myself still thinking about a way to accomplish it, but am unable and am interested in hearing from the experienced online instructors. In the module, it mentioned having a backup method of receiving assignments when technical difficulties exist (I read this to mean they can not send the assigment electronically). My first inclination was that the student can mail it, but there has to be better solutions out there. What have you all done to resolve this issue?

Asynchronous Discussions

According to the course material, asynchronous discussions tend to be "more deliberate and detailed" than typical instructor-led discussion. This isn't always the case -- looking at the discussions for this course, for example, entries typically are very brief and are asking questions of Satrohan. As instructors, we need to consider what aspects of course design encourage asynchronous discussions and when it is important for learning. In this class, we are required to participate in the discussion for at least one module -- that means that there will likely be less participation than if we were required to participate in all… >>>

Importance of checking posts before submission

Hi Everybody, I think we all know that most of us think faster than we type. As a result, many people - myself included - make grammatical errors in their postings. Since we represent the school, and we are the facilitators of the classes, it is critically important for us to ensure that our posts are accurate. Otherwise, it is more difficult to provide feedback to students about their grammatical errors. Thoughts??? Thanks!

Managing a noisy student

I have been a part of classes with students that tend to dominate the learning environment. How do you discipline a (know it all) student in a nice way?

Interstudent transfer of experiences

With on-line courses becoming more popular, how do you encourage the inter-student exchanges that happens freely (and at times spiritly) in a traditional classroom setting to occur in on-line courses? What techniques and styles have been found to be successful in allowing the student to learn more than the course content and learn from the fellow student experiences (the how-to-apply the course concepts in the real world)?

Synchronous and Asynchronous discussions

Does the instructor need to research to see what will need to be taught asynchronous or synchronous? I think so because I like to bring in 'real world' scenarios. I would introduce this material in a synchronous (chat) session.

Importance of the Biography

I think of biographies as being the icebreaker for the class. What do you think?