Good Morning!
Our development cycle is winding down and we are down to 2 weeks left before the new courses are opened up for our peer advisers. If you have any concerns about completing your course on time please let me know ASAP. As you wind down on your development, please double check your courses to make sure that there are no spelling errors, that all of the assignments are consistent throughout the course (i.e. points add up in all places, assignments are titled the same in all places, etc.), and that there are external links in every unit. It is important to polish up the courses so that they are professional and error free.
I will be starting the hiring process for the next round of developments next week. Please let me know if you have an interest in working on any of the new developments listed below:
AG420: Commodities, Futures, Options
CJ280: Criminal Justice Exploration
HS400: Sales and Marketing of Fitness Programs
HS405: Online Coaching and Personal Training Skills
KY160: Legal Keyboarding and Transcription
MG450: Derivatives
NS135: Microbiology
NS140: Anatomy and Physiology I
NS150: Anatomy and Physiology II
NT340: Management of Information Technology
OA270: Medical Office Procedures II
SC320: Ethics in Information Technology
SD320: Project Management
XXXX: Political Science
Have a great week!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
April 14, 2008
Good Morning Developers!
Today is the 75% completion date for your developments. I will be checking into your courses this week and giving you feedback on your development progress and answering any questions you might have. I also sent out the information about the Peer Advising process this morning via e-mail. Beginning May 5th peer advisors will be able to go into the courses you developed and provide you with constructive suggestions on your course shell.
I included you on the e-mail that I sent to the online instructors regarding peer advising and I would encourage you to take part in the peer advising process for a course you did not develop. It will give you insight into what the peer advisors will be looking for!
On May 11th I will be e-mailing you all of the feedback and at that time will have instructions on how to imcorporate the feedback into your course shell. Here are the questions the peer advisors will be answering:
Today is the 75% completion date for your developments. I will be checking into your courses this week and giving you feedback on your development progress and answering any questions you might have. I also sent out the information about the Peer Advising process this morning via e-mail. Beginning May 5th peer advisors will be able to go into the courses you developed and provide you with constructive suggestions on your course shell.
I included you on the e-mail that I sent to the online instructors regarding peer advising and I would encourage you to take part in the peer advising process for a course you did not develop. It will give you insight into what the peer advisors will be looking for!
On May 11th I will be e-mailing you all of the feedback and at that time will have instructions on how to imcorporate the feedback into your course shell. Here are the questions the peer advisors will be answering:
- Do you feel that the content in the course is written at the appropriate level?
- Is the course split into manageable segments?
- Are visual and auditory stimuli used to motivate students?
- Are appropriate supplementary resources made available as part of the course content?
- Does the use of technology enable critical reflection and analysis of content?
- Do the assignments/activities that require the use of technology clearly explain how technology is to be used by the students?
- Do you believe the instructional strategies employed in the course cause students to be effectively engaged with the course content?
- Do you bleieve the expectations defining or explaining required levels of student participation are clear?
- Do you believe there is a deliberate attempt to create a learning community through the following methods: Discussions, E-mail, Chat Rooms, Videoconferencing, Group Projects, or other collaborative activities?
- Do you believe the assessments/assignments in the course are aligned with the stated objectives/learning outcomes?
Monday, April 7, 2008
April 7, 2008
Good Morning!
Please remember that your 75% completion date is next Monday. I will be going into your courses at that time to check for completion and answer any questions you might have.
I would like to blog today on the importance of discussion boards. There has been a lot of research on the importance of building a learning community through threaded discussion boards. One of the main components for building a successful online course is to create an effective system for student interaction. This can be done through learning groups, team work, and threaded discussion boards. To accomplish a high level of interaction and overcome the isolation of online learning we need to have an engaging a thoughtful discussion board in every unit. Please take a look at the discussion boards you have developed for your courses. Not only should they engage the students in the course material, but they should allow the students to think beyond what they have read or learned in other places, and should allow the students to be able to interact respectfully with each other.
I have had people ask me if there should be a discussion board in the last unit of the course. The argument is that because it is the last unit of the course that students no longer need the learning community because the course is over. I strongly feel that it is important to finish a quarter in a manner that enables students to integrate and summarize course material at more complex levels and to increase retention of learning for application in later course work or living. Therefore, your discussion question should encourage students to recall what they have learned through the duration of the quarter and to comment on other students posts.
I look forward to seeing your progress in your courses next week!
Amy
Please remember that your 75% completion date is next Monday. I will be going into your courses at that time to check for completion and answer any questions you might have.
I would like to blog today on the importance of discussion boards. There has been a lot of research on the importance of building a learning community through threaded discussion boards. One of the main components for building a successful online course is to create an effective system for student interaction. This can be done through learning groups, team work, and threaded discussion boards. To accomplish a high level of interaction and overcome the isolation of online learning we need to have an engaging a thoughtful discussion board in every unit. Please take a look at the discussion boards you have developed for your courses. Not only should they engage the students in the course material, but they should allow the students to think beyond what they have read or learned in other places, and should allow the students to be able to interact respectfully with each other.
I have had people ask me if there should be a discussion board in the last unit of the course. The argument is that because it is the last unit of the course that students no longer need the learning community because the course is over. I strongly feel that it is important to finish a quarter in a manner that enables students to integrate and summarize course material at more complex levels and to increase retention of learning for application in later course work or living. Therefore, your discussion question should encourage students to recall what they have learned through the duration of the quarter and to comment on other students posts.
I look forward to seeing your progress in your courses next week!
Amy
April 1, 2008
Happy April!
This past week I received a question from an instructor wondering why it was so important to keep consistency in our courses. I told this instructor that course to course consistency is very important because with the amount of students who take courses at GU/MSB, it is important that the level of education they receive is consistent. We differ from a traditional university in that we are a career college and have guaraanteed to various career licensing agencies that students will meet specific outcomes in our courses. The majority of our instructors have not made a career out of teaching and often times still work full time in their area of specialty. They teach at a career college so that they can give back to the career field that they love and we have built the backbone of our college on the real world experience they bring into the classroom, it is invaluable to the students. However, as an accredited and licensed career college institution we need to make sure that the students are reaching specific outcomes that we have guaranteed to licensing agencies. Additionally, in the online world it can be quite complicated and time consuming to develop a course (as you all know!). Therefore, we have guaranteed quality when we use consistent course shells from quarter to quarter.
As a developer of online coursework what you will develop will be used over and over again in courses for many years to come. We appreciate the effort you put into your course development and I know that the future instructors of your course appreciate the thought, creativity, and time that you put into your course.
Have a great week!
This past week I received a question from an instructor wondering why it was so important to keep consistency in our courses. I told this instructor that course to course consistency is very important because with the amount of students who take courses at GU/MSB, it is important that the level of education they receive is consistent. We differ from a traditional university in that we are a career college and have guaraanteed to various career licensing agencies that students will meet specific outcomes in our courses. The majority of our instructors have not made a career out of teaching and often times still work full time in their area of specialty. They teach at a career college so that they can give back to the career field that they love and we have built the backbone of our college on the real world experience they bring into the classroom, it is invaluable to the students. However, as an accredited and licensed career college institution we need to make sure that the students are reaching specific outcomes that we have guaranteed to licensing agencies. Additionally, in the online world it can be quite complicated and time consuming to develop a course (as you all know!). Therefore, we have guaranteed quality when we use consistent course shells from quarter to quarter.
As a developer of online coursework what you will develop will be used over and over again in courses for many years to come. We appreciate the effort you put into your course development and I know that the future instructors of your course appreciate the thought, creativity, and time that you put into your course.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
March 24, 2008
Good Morning!
Today is the 50% completion deadline. I will be going into your courses this week to look for 50% completion of course development. I will also be looking for creative course development and interesting course design strategies. Please let me know if you have any concerns about meeting this deadline.
As you are developing your course, you might be wondering if you are meeting expectations of what your course should look like and should encompass. Please view the online course development rubric at the following web page:
http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/
This rubric evaluates a course based on Learner Support, Organization, Instructional Design, Assessment, Innovative Teaching with Technology, and Faculty Use of Student Feedback. As you look through what is considered "Baseline", "Effective", and "Exemplary" in each of these categories compare the descriptions to what you have done with your course design. We are looking for your course to fall in the Exemplary category as much as possible!
Today is the 50% completion deadline. I will be going into your courses this week to look for 50% completion of course development. I will also be looking for creative course development and interesting course design strategies. Please let me know if you have any concerns about meeting this deadline.
As you are developing your course, you might be wondering if you are meeting expectations of what your course should look like and should encompass. Please view the online course development rubric at the following web page:
http://www.csuchico.edu/celt/roi/
This rubric evaluates a course based on Learner Support, Organization, Instructional Design, Assessment, Innovative Teaching with Technology, and Faculty Use of Student Feedback. As you look through what is considered "Baseline", "Effective", and "Exemplary" in each of these categories compare the descriptions to what you have done with your course design. We are looking for your course to fall in the Exemplary category as much as possible!
Monday, March 17, 2008
March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Just a reminder that next Monday is the 50% completion date for your developments. I will be going into your courses at that time to check for completion as well as offer suggestions. Please remember to have at least one external link in every unit! It is important to provide students with additional web links that relate to the information they are learning in that particular unit.
Books 24 X 7:
Books 24 X 7 is the largest online book resource offering unobstructed access to the complete unabridged contents of thousands of the latest and best business and technology books. You can gain access to Books 24 X 7 by logging into Skillsoft and searching within Books 24 X 7. All of these books are free to our students and you can assign a reading from any of these books.
In order to search Skillsoft for any materials that are available you go to http://msbcollege.skillport.com. Your username will be the same as your e-mail name. For most employees it will be firstinitiallastname (i.e. jdoe). Your password will be your e-mail name as well (i.e. jdoe). Your username and password are the same. You can then search for a course by keyword at the top of the page.
Have a great week!
Amy
Just a reminder that next Monday is the 50% completion date for your developments. I will be going into your courses at that time to check for completion as well as offer suggestions. Please remember to have at least one external link in every unit! It is important to provide students with additional web links that relate to the information they are learning in that particular unit.
Books 24 X 7:
Books 24 X 7 is the largest online book resource offering unobstructed access to the complete unabridged contents of thousands of the latest and best business and technology books. You can gain access to Books 24 X 7 by logging into Skillsoft and searching within Books 24 X 7. All of these books are free to our students and you can assign a reading from any of these books.
In order to search Skillsoft for any materials that are available you go to http://msbcollege.skillport.com. Your username will be the same as your e-mail name. For most employees it will be firstinitiallastname (i.e. jdoe). Your password will be your e-mail name as well (i.e. jdoe). Your username and password are the same. You can then search for a course by keyword at the top of the page.
Have a great week!
Amy
Monday, March 10, 2008
March 10, 2008
Good Morning!
It looks like your developments are coming right along and all of you are working in creative and engaging assignments for your future online students! This past week I came across an article from Magna Publications titled "Student Moderators In Online Courses" and wanted to share this idea with you.
This article talks about the idea of having students within the class be assigned as discussion board moderators. The author of the article describes her approach and how it worked for her. She admits that having student moderators is not the best approach for every course and every subject matter, but shares some of the benefits as well as tips to make the approach easier to facilitate. Please read this article and determine if it would be a good approach to work into the course you are currently developing:
http://www.magnapubs.com/issues/magnapubs_ff/5_3/news/601248-1.html?s=FF&p=MFCFEZ
It looks like your developments are coming right along and all of you are working in creative and engaging assignments for your future online students! This past week I came across an article from Magna Publications titled "Student Moderators In Online Courses" and wanted to share this idea with you.
This article talks about the idea of having students within the class be assigned as discussion board moderators. The author of the article describes her approach and how it worked for her. She admits that having student moderators is not the best approach for every course and every subject matter, but shares some of the benefits as well as tips to make the approach easier to facilitate. Please read this article and determine if it would be a good approach to work into the course you are currently developing:
http://www.magnapubs.com/issues/magnapubs_ff/5_3/news/601248-1.html?s=FF&p=MFCFEZ
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