Online Education

Making Online PowerPoint Content Engaging: Writing a Narration Script

Giving your students PowerPoint slides with only text or graphics is a problem because slides, even with text and graphics on them, really do not stand alone. It’s hard to add enough context without adding tons of text to explain what’s on the slide. And, well, PowerPoint isn’t really the right media for tons of text. If you want students to do a lot of reading, you really should provide students with printed or downloadable print materials.

Patti Shank PhD CPT April 19, 2012

Media Richness and Communication in Online Education

Communicating in an online environment, especially within the confines of an institution’s learning management system (LMS) and an academic budget, often poses a challenge to even the most well-intentioned instructors. Many times we find ourselves constrained not by our imaginations or abilities but by the technological tools we have at our disposal. Given the systems in which we work, how do we select the best technological tool—the best medium—to communicate a message? One framework for answering these questions is through the lens of Media Richness Theory (MRT).

Jill Schiefelbein April 10, 2012

Understanding the Online Learning Experience

Barbara Zuck, assistant professor of business at Montana State University–Northern, was teaching a 100-level online course in business leadership and wanted to understand her students’ experiences in the course. So at the end of the course she asked students three open-ended questions:

Rob Kelly March 22, 2012

Balancing Act: Managing Instructor Presence and Workload When Creating an Interactive Community of Learners

Increasingly, online educators are faced with two key directives that are critical for student success and retention: increasing instructor presence and building a community of learners.

Tammy Stuart Peery and Samantha Streamer Veneruso March 15, 2012

Personality Matters When Teaching Online

Online instructors are hired because they are judged as having the right combination of education, teaching experience, content expertise, and professional accomplishments. But once an instructor is in the classroom, these abilities and achievements can go only so far. There also must be a constant injection of personality.

Errol Craig Sull March 8, 2012

Six Ways to Support Adult Online Learners

Adult learners typically have very specific reasons for taking online courses and are usually highly motivated. They also bring a wealth of experience. However, being away from formal learning and having to adapt to the online learning environment can be quite challenging even for the most motivated and intelligent students.

Rob Kelly March 2, 2012

Navigating the ‘Patchwork Quilt’ of State Authorization Requirements Remains a Huge Challenge for Online Programs

State authorization of online programs is one of the biggest issues confronting higher ed institutions seeking to expand their reach to more distance learners. Since the introduction of federal regulations in October 2010 (section 600.9), institutions have been scrambling to respond to a myriad of state requirements.

Mary Bart February 20, 2012

Practical Advice for Going from Face to Face to Online Teaching

Developing an online course based on an existing face-to-face course requires more than learning how to use the technology and loading the material into the learning management system because, as Catherine Nameth, education outreach coordinator at the University of California-Los Angeles, says, “not everything will transfer directly from the face-to-face environment to the online environment.” This transition requires the instructor to rethink and reconfigure the material and anticipate students’ needs.

Rob Kelly February 9, 2012

How Many Faculty Discussion Posts Each Week? A Simply Delicious Answer

One of the most frequently asked questions from veteran and novice online faculty alike is, “How many weekly discussion posts should I contribute?” The reality is that there is an intricate balancing act to achieve the coveted “guide on the side” role in discussion forum facilitation.

Cheryl Hayek EdD January 18, 2012

Transformative Learning: Four Activities that Set the Stage

It’s thrilling when I, as an educator, witness a student’s transformation from a limiting perspective to one that is broader, more inclusive, and most times

Joyce Henderson EdD January 17, 2012

Online Education

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