Should the instructor be the course administrator?
My school is starting a brand new online course. This will be our first one ever. I, as the course instructor, provided all the lecture materials, quizzes, assignments, etc. We have one or two people who work as the administrator of the online course. They have more powers in terms of creating a new course, setting the enrollment time frames, the course time frames, etc. Do you think, the instructor should be doing all that, rather than someone else? I believe that if the instructor has more "hands-on", the instructor will understand all the ins and outs better.
Good point. Hands on is an excellent way to learn. Did you have time to play in a "sandbox"?
Hi! Thank you for your reply. I am not sure what the Sandbox is. Could you please elaborate? If it's a website, I will check it out. Thanks again!
Indeed....a "Sandbox" is a practice class for an instructor to see what things look like, how to set up and other items. It is not an active class, but a class that you can add items to, to make sure you know how to do that task and if it looks like you want it to.
Hello All,
Good evening! This is a very good question. I think it also depends on what one defines as course administrator. For me, I see two areas here. Course administrator can be literally the administrative side of online education, say coming from the Dean's office, setting policy, and so on. In this scenario, the instructor can be involved where appropriate, but should not be the course administrator. These are two very different functions and time is always a factor.
On another note, a course author is somebody who assists in developing the content for an online course. When I develop new online courses, I also like to teach it the first time around to iron out any rough edges. After that, it is good to have other instructors teach the course as it adds another perspective and can work to improve the content.
Thanks and have a great night!
-Al
I really think it depends on how large your online program is/becomes. As your program grows, classroom facilitation needs to be separate from the administrative side of things, or else you will have dozens of faculty doing very different things, and it will become increasingly more difficult to maintain quality.
Very interesting thoughts.
I definitely agree that the course author should be the one to teach a class the first time. In my experience, there are a lot of assumptions the course author makes when designing a course, assumptions that he/she may not be aware of. When you teach the course, all of those assumptions are drawn out in the open, allowing you to reflect on what is working and what needs to be improved.
Assumptions always get you in trouble!
Hi Shelly, Sandbox is an excellent tool. Giving teachers their own course to work in before moving to a production environment with students.Also, sandbox will show the lastest online instructional technologies used in existing online courses and how they may be integrated into future courses.
Yes indeed....I so agree with you Gloria!
i agree wiht this response. If you have to large of a class it sometime may be to difficult to manage the Class and keep up with your duties as a instructor. It also depends on the nature of the class.
Kelly,
As administrator/instructor, you may add or delete material as you need...but it does take time!
Shelly Crider
I too agree. I have played both roles in courses with under 16 students. If there were many more students, I may be reluctant. There are salary issues as well to consider. Best scenario is when you provide input and feedback into course content but maintain the role of teacher otherwise.
Sheryl,
A subject matter expert is a must!
Shelly Crider
While I beleive the instructor should be included in the course development, I don't beleive they should have to create all of the material for the class. I would rather get suggestions from others familiar with the material or who may have taught the topic previously. The experiences we share will provide a great opportunity to learn where students may need to focus on certain areas of the material in order to better comprehend the objective. We can also share best techniques.
I've found that a collaborative approach works well. I don't beleive one person should accomplish all of the tasks, but rather coordinate with others who have pertinent experience. The coordination can usually provide material for better content coverage and presentations for the benefit of the students.
Brian,
Collaboration is a good concept for all instructors.....online or on ground!
Shelly Crider
