Teaching an Elective Online Course in Gerontology: One BSW Program's Experience

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Sidell
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Rural Social Work

This article describes the experience of one rural social work program's experience in developing and teaching an online elective gerontology course. The junior-level course, originally developed as part of an interdisciplinary minor in gerontology in 2000, was taught twice in the traditional classroom. In an effort to increase interest and enrollment, it was developed into an online learning format. It is now offered annually and boasts substantial enrollment increases. This article describes online, explicates the the experience from having offered the course twice course content, and evaluates the course from both the student and the instructor's experience.

Slack: Adopting Social-Networking Platforms for Active Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (01) ◽  
pp. 183-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerald Sabin ◽  
Andrea Olive
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Active Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Media Environments ◽  
Pedagogical Goals

ABSTRACT Online learning in postsecondary institutions has increased dramatically across the United States and Canada. Although research demonstrates the benefits of online learning for student success, instructors face challenges in facilitating communication, delivering course content, and navigating outdated and cumbersome technologies. The authors examine the use of a free third-party platform called Slack as a tool to facilitate better communication among students and faculty, enable the delivery of diverse and dynamic course content, and reach students in an online course that supports both independent and collaborative learning. The authors present a case study of Slack’s use in an online second-year environmental politics course taught at a large Canadian public university. There is a significant and growing literature on how to best engage students in online learning, including active and social learning models as promising approaches to digital teaching. The authors argue that using collaborative social technologies such as Slack—which both replicates and integrates the online and social-media environments that students already inhabit—can assist faculty in meeting their pedagogical goals online. The article documents the instructors’ experience in managing discussion and involving students in their online learning through active learning exercises. Best practices are examined.

Cultural Inclusivity in Online Learning

2015 ◽  
pp. 76-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Milheim
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Classroom Environments ◽  
Student Group ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Cultural Inclusion ◽  
Inclusive Learning

This chapter addresses the complexities of building an effective learning environment in light of a diverse, multicultural student group. Existing research focuses on how to foster learning in traditional classroom environments, comprised of students from varied cultures and backgrounds. Yet, little is known about what strategies towards cultural inclusion are effective in an online learning environment. This chapter discusses the influence of cultural difference in online learning and provides ways courses can be more inclusive. This chapter is beneficial for instructors, course designers, and administrators who want to learn more about how to foster a culturally inclusive learning environment in online course settings.

scholarly journals Face to Face vs. Online Instruction: An Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 5948-5953
Author(s):  
Sujatha.U , Bhuvaneshwari Palanisamy
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Instruction ◽  
Content Delivery ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Online Instructors ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Face To Face

The role of instructors in face to face and online instruction has few things in common but many things in contrast. Other than the strong foundation of knowledge, traditional classroom teachers have more responsibilities like adaptability, motivating and encouraging active participation, listening to students, enhance collaboration with other students, etc. Traditional classroom teachers create a new society and an active learning environment for the students inside the classroom whereas the role of online instructors is contravening and never-ending. In online instruction designing a course, content delivery, activities, assignments, and examination are done in the absence of students. The flexibility in online learning, though communication is done through electronic media to an extent, considerably reduces the interaction between the teachers and learners and makes either of them to work in isolation. This paper discusses the advantages, disadvantages, and other aspects of face to face and online learning

The Forgotten Teachers in K-12 Online Learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 18-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kristopher Barbour ◽  
David Adelstein ◽  
Jonathan Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Virtual High School ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
K 12

Like many K-12 online learning programs, the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) began by utilizing vendor content to populate its online courses. In its fourth year, the IVHS began a concerted effort to design more of its own online course content internals. The aim of this study was to examine the nature of the support needed and application of tools used by IVHS course developers. The data consisted of a two-part, web-based survey and telephone interviews that were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inductive analysis. The results showed these developers had a strong desire to use interactive elements in their course as well as working in cooperative teams. Further, developers were opposed to using a forced template, but indicated a need for general structural guidance and additional professional development. Finally, developers recommended that subject matter teacher-developers and multimedia specialists be split into two separate roles, and these individuals work together as a part of a design team. Further research should be conducted on the intended use of technology tools requested.

Media Entrepreneurship as an Online Course

2004 ◽  
pp. 240-257
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Leebron
Keyword(s):  
Information Transmission ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Online Course ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Mass Communications ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Independent Media

This chapter describes the conversion of a traditional classroom course to one taught online. Creating a Media Business has been part of the Business curriculum within a broad, traditional Mass Communications major, and its objective has been to introduce students to the theory and practice of starting an independent media enterprise. The attempt to transform any traditional academic course into a virtual one will invariably entail redefining pedagogical issues such as requirements, assignments, participation, and evaluation. Certain course content and objectives are more amenable to both the opportunities and constraints posed by the Internet. Our course was enhanced by the conversion because of its suitability for transfer from the tangible to the virtual environment. More specifically, for Creating a Media Business, the Internet is not merely a channel of information transmission, but very often an important, if not essential, part of the very business about which the students are learning.

Using Course Maps for Easy Classroom to Computer Transition

2011 ◽  
pp. 2226-2230
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Etter ◽  
Lisa T. Byrnes
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
History Of Higher Education ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
History Of

Online learning is the fastest growing segment in the educational marketplace (Conhaim, 2003). As the number of online courses increases and distance learning programs grow in popularity, questions of quality and comparability of online courses with traditional methods naturally arise (Schulman & Sims, 1999). While online learning is the fastest growing educational segment, partly in thanks to on-campus students who choose to take courses online, there are still debates about not only the quality of the course content, but the quality of the technology used as well. According to Bowman (2003), in “the history of higher education, online classes are relatively new, and it is yet to be determined how to take full advantage of the technology” (p. 73). Traditional face-to-face courses, which may have been proven successful in terms of evaluations and outcomes assessments, are increasingly being converted to online courses. A study by Smith, Ferguson, and Caris (2000) concluded: “Contrary to intuition, current Web-based online college courses are not an alienating, mass-produced product. They are a laborintensive, highly text-based, intellectually challenging forum which elicits deeper thinking on the part of the students” (p. 67). Converting a traditional classroom course that is intellectually challenging and that elicits deeper thinking into an online course that can do the same can be a harrowing task. The process of converting a face-to-face course into an online course without compromising the course’s integrity and quality is a difficult burden to overcome. The burden of the conversion process can be eased, however, through the use of course maps.

scholarly journals LEARNER-CONTENT INTERACTION IN AN ONLINE ENGLISH LEARNING COURSE AT A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pham Ngoc Thach
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Language Competence ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Online Language Learning ◽  
Content Interaction

Interaction plays a critical role in both traditional and online learning processes. For online learners of English, interaction with the course content is especially vital because it provides them with necessary knowledge in language competence and contributes to the success of online learning. This paper presents the findings of a study about learner-content interaction in an online English language learning course implemented at a university in Vietnam. The study findings reveal that the learners were confident in using the online course, but they did not particularly appreciate its usefulness. The study suggests that in the context where online language learning is at infancy like Vietnam, providing continuous technical support is crucial to promote autonomous learning.

Components of Effective Evaluation in Online Learning Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 236-246
Author(s):  
Steven R. Terrell
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Iterative Process ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Theoretical Level ◽  
Online Learning Environments ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Instructional Process ◽  
Effective Evaluation

Dringus and Terrell (1999) defined evaluation in an OLE as: …an iterative process for assessing the efficacy and validity of online learning environments (OLEs). Evaluation should take place from the conceptual stage of OLE development through the measurement of learning outcomes of an online course. Accurate and ongoing assessments of learners, teachers, the instructional process, the course content, and the OLE as an entity will include a combination of formative and summative evaluations for each of these components and their effectiveness as a unit. (p. 61) Other authors (e.g., Bunderson, 2003; Govindasamy, 2001; Hirumi, 2000; Khan, 2000; Williams, 1999) have addressed similar issues on a conceptual and theoretical level, but there is a need for further examination at the application level.

scholarly journals The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Medical Education: A Case Study at a Public University in Romania

2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 542
Author(s):  
Kamer-Ainur Aivaz ◽  
Daniel Teodorescu
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Clinical Experiences ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Course Quality ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
The Impact

The spread of COVID-19 in 2020 forced universities around the world to transfer on-site education to a virtual environment. The main goal of this study was to compare the experiences regarding online learning of students in programs that require clinical experiences with those of students in programs that do not require such experiences. The authors hypothesized that the switch to online instruction has affected medical students more profoundly than other students. Using a convenience sample of students at a Romanian university, the researchers explored differences between the two groups related to technical and personal problems, course quality, and instructional strategies used by faculty. The results indicate that medical students who could not participate in clinical experiences were significantly less satisfied with the transition to online learning than students in other programs. One implication of these results is that faculty teaching in medical schools need to improve in three areas related to online course quality: pedagogy, course content, and course preparation.

Learning Analytics Considered Harmful

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie P Dringus
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Analytics ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Full Potential

This essay is written to present a prospective stance on how learning analytics, as a core evaluative approach, must help instructors uncover the important trends and evidence of quality learner data in the online course. A critique is presented of strategic and tactical issues of learning analytics. The approach to the critique is taken through the lens of questioning the current status of applying learning analytics to online courses. The goal of the discussion is twofold: (1) to inform online learning practitioners (e.g., instructors and administrators) of the potential of learning analytics in online courses and (2) to broaden discussion in the research community about the advancement of learning analytics in online learning. In recognizing the full potential of formalizing big data in online coures, the community must address this issue also in the context of the potentially "harmful" application of learning analytics.

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