Jane Leight

Jai, You bring up a good point about grabbing attention with lectures. What assessment methods would you use in your online class? :) Jane

Jai, One way to prevent bias in online discussions is to give students guidelines for posting responses to their peers. Some guidelines you may consider are: 1- Make your first comment a positive one; point out a good point that your classmate made. 2 - Disagree in a respectful manner (give your students an example of a proper response) 3 - Do not engage in flaming (you should put a stop to any improper postings by personally contacting those involved by email or phone) Can you think of any more ways to avoid bias? :) Jane

Hi again, Jai, The blueprint to which you refer is crucial to successful online course design and development. I wouldn't travel to California (I am in Pittsburgh, PA) without a roadmap and I wouldn't build an online course without an online course specification document. How would you go about evaluating and analyzing the course once it has been developed? Would you seek input from your students? Thanks, Jane

Jai, All of the methods you are currently using in the traditional classroom should translate wonderfully to the online classroom. Standardized tests, especially T/F and M/C are awesome online because they grade themselves. Also, classroom discussion is a terrific learning experience for students. Some say that deeper learning takes place through online discussion than does through live classroom discussion. What do you think? Thanks for your input! :) Jane

Jai, You make a very good point that both methods enhance students' learning experiences. The few disadvantages that you outline can be overcome through teacher management. Your Advanced Web Design course should adapt well to the online environment. Students are already computer literate and students can view each other's work through links. I am curious about the biases to which you refer when asynchronous discussion is used. Can you explain your concern and your thoughts on how to avoid this bias? Thanks :) Jane

Paula, Good point! A course design specification document is terrific for evaluating a course prior to enrolling students. It is useful for the planning and development processes also. Your comparison of this document to a blueprint is accurate. Thanks for your comments. :) Jane

Paula, Good points! If you were designing your own course, which methods would you use and why? I am interested in your thoughts :) Jane

Brad, You make a good point about the charter (design specification document) keeping the job on task. It is a very useful communication tool, at every step of the project. Thanks for your input :) Jane

Brad, You are so right about the importance of students feeling connected. It is well-documented that this connection is crucial to retention. Do you feel that an entirely asynchronous course could be designed to provide the same level of connection as a synchronous one? :) Jane

Steve, How would you translate that assessment method to the online environment? How would you assist your students in attaining that same comfort level? Are there any other assessment methods you would use in an online course that you design aside from quizzes? I am interested in your thoughts :) Jane