Are the student online readiness assessments so popular now with colleges and universities really hitting the mark? Are they credible and research-based, or are they constructed from best guesses and “teacher lore”? Some assessments suggest that student success is all about self-discipline, a high-speed Internet connection, and the ability to use a mouse. Others suggest that motivation and the subject matter one intends to study matter most. At any rate, opinions vary. What follows is a review and evaluation of student readiness surveys and instruments, as well as a discussion about the assumptions that underlie the questions that are asked. In addition, the discussion engages in an in-depth probe of the way that motivation (learner and facilitator) affects student performance and learning outcomes.
Continue reading ‘Online Readiness Assessments: Do They Really Work?’
Archive for June, 2004
HISTORICAL SIDEBAR
Richard Whately (1787 - 1863)
Richard Whately’s Elements of Rhetoric (1828) contains ideas and insights that are remarkably applicable to a person who desires to write a persuasive essay in which he/she “takes a position.” Whately, an ordained Anglican priest who was educated and taught at Oxford University, was the author of numerous books that explored the relationships of persuasive discourse, rhetoric, and religion. A few more details about Whately’s life can be found at sacklunch.com’s entry for him: http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/W/RichardWhately.html.
Continue reading ‘Richard Whately and Internet-Enhanced Composition’
As access to the Internet expands, so does the temptation to misuse it, particularly among those who see immediate gain, the potential for malfeasance with impunity, and an opportunity to join, undermine, prey upon, or simply play within a “First World” virtual space. Ironically, organizations and internet service providers limit access by employing filters, spam-guards, and “web-washer” programs which can effectively disable an online education program. Further, surveillance by one’s institution or the ISP is one thing, but it is now commonly accepted that various security and defense agencies are monitoring e-mail and websites. What are the ethical issues? Who decides the rules?
Continue reading ‘Ethics and the Internet: Issues and Online Resources’
As online learning continues to revolutionize the world of education there are a number of important issues that must be examined. Paramount among our concerns should be the question of whether males and females are afforded an equal opportunity to succeed in the online classroom.
Continue reading ‘Boys vs. Girls: Slimming the Online Gender Gap’
Colleges and universities are engaging in virtual projects with developing countries throughout the world. Such projects give faculty an opportunity to collaborate with their peers, to conduct research, and to strengthen their organizations. Students who enroll in virtual internships or who participate in the project are able to gain experience in employing “appropriate technology” e-solutions in places where information sharing, education, training, and community and health support are desperately needed. Funding for such projects may come from transnational organizations such as the United Nations, or various relief or developmental agencies. The following example could be used for a business or information management class which seeks to help rural microfinance institutions in the “South” or lesser developed nations.
Continue reading ‘Virtual Internships for Online Business Classes: A Project’
How many colleges and universities have invested in the most robust course management system they can afford, just to watch student satisfaction and course completion rates crumble? How many times do the strapped-for-cash universities sit back in horror as faculty demonstrate their inability to manage any new software as well as a complete lack of awareness of what it means to be an effective online instructor?
Continue reading ‘Instructor Effectiveness: A Diagnostic Tool’
When I first started teaching online four years ago, email was one of the most important technologies we were using. The College of Liberal Studies here at the University of Oklahoma offered an entire series of courses in which the students did their reading and research on the web, and then engaged in regular email communication with the instructor, sharing their informal ideas and formal writing assignments, all via email. At the time, it was a great experience - the email functioned as a kind of substitute classroom, where I visited with my students every day. My inbox was a place of fun and learning. Alas, alack, that was the email paradise of days of yore! I cannot pinpoint at exactly what point my email experience became so entirely degraded, but at this point - four years later - it seems like a different world entirely. From a babbling brook in an idyllic pastoral landscape, the email flow has now become a putrid sluggish industrial river, filled with poisonous wastes. I don’t like email very much anymore. And neither do my students.
Continue reading ‘Going Beyond Email, Thanks to Spam’
People hear me talk about learning experiences and gaming and they assume I mean complex, or high-tech solutions. The reality is that learning experience simply means learning through doing. It means that we I am more concerned about what a learner can “do” with a subject matter than I am about how much they “know about” a subject.
Continue reading ‘Pac-Man and Simple Learning Experiences Part 1′
Have your online courses been designed with maximum learning effectiveness in mind? Take the following diagnostic test and find out how you’re doing.
Continue reading ‘Diagnostics for Your Online Program: Learning Effectiveness’
The following approach represents a way to fast-track the development of online courses by using an integrative approach to develop unique, high-quality courses that reflect the core values and vision of the institution while bringing together media assets, supplemental subject matter experts, and a highly effective online instructional strategy.
Continue reading ‘Fast-Track Development of High-Quality Online Courses’
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