Catherine Gorman

I never realized the Fair Use Act, which I think many instructors rely upon to help them know what and how much information they can use from a source, doesn't apply at all to for profit institutions.

"The TEACH Act can also be helpful for instructors teaching in the online environment. It does have some drawbacks however in that it focuses on non-profit educational institutions only and not does apply to for-profit educational institutions." This statement from the lesson resonated with me because I teach for a for profit online school. While we rely on the Fair Use Act for educational purposes often, it makes me wonder if we're not as in compliance as we think.

Holistic assessment is more likely to engage students and when they apply their knowledge to real world experiences personal to them, it makes the knowledge not only more applicable but gives them more confidence in that knowledge.

The concept of working backwards for a lesson plan reminds me of the technique of writing your introduction of a paper last, because only then do you really know where your process / writing took you within the paper.

It's important to incorporate different methodologies of teaching so that all learning styles are positively addressed, along with creating an inclusive environment.

We have used technology for years as online teachers, but still don't fully understand all methodologies present to help the tool of technology be most effective for learners.

Getting students to be responsible for their own learning objectives can be a challenge, especially in an accelerated term such as ours. On discussion boards, this can be particularly challenging.

To facilitate that goal, I ask bolded open ended questions on the board, but not to every student, because I try to mix up my response types to keep their interest. That said, many times students don't circle back around to answering the questions. I could be more diligent about following up with them one on one when they fail to do this. The expectation is set from Day One,… >>>

There are several challenges with student retention in any learning environment, but especially so in online learning where students feel less connected to the instructor. When I have students that have competing responsibilities -- which seems the most common issue and one of the hardest to combat -- I try to remind them of their long term goals to help get them back on track and see beyond the immediate crisis.

We've only used synchronous learning for live lectures and one on one interactions (like tutoring), because they're too many scheduling conflicts. I didn't think about how certain students would also dominate the situation if you tried to do this during a discussion with the entire class.

Projecting your presence is critical so that students don't feel like they're lost in cyberspace without anyone to help them.