Gayle Franklin

Informing the students of what technical skills are needed for the online course will help the student identify their weaknesses.  Once indentified the student can learn a new skill which will help them learn online.

Communication and writing skills are just as important as technical skills.   Both of these combined will make a better instructor which will in turn help students learn the course content.

I think it is important to understand the online course from a student's perspective.  This will help the instructor see if the course is well organized and that enough time is given to complete assignments.

Rubrics are a great way for the students to understand how the assignment is going to be graded.

I learned that subjective assesment is a good evaluation of the student's knowledge of the material.   I can also be a great assesment of a student's basic writing skills. 

I really like the idea of a diagonstic assessment.  This will really help an instructor anticipate the learning styles of students.

I learned that there needs to be an assesment of technology tools in order to determine which will be best for the course content

The layout of an online course is critical to student involvment.  The layout needs to be clear and consistent for the student to stay motivated and understand the course content.

Positive feedback is a great way to encourage course participation.  I think students will be more motivated to participate in a course if they are guided by an active instructor that constantly provides feedback.

I think it is important to understand both synchronous and asynchronous methods and decide which will work better for a particular course.  Organization and communication is essential for either method to be effective for the students.