One of the new CETL members
Posted on August 18, 2009
Filed under CETL, Ramblings
Posted by: Arturo Ozuna, Instructional Designer
First, let me start be saying that I am so excited to be a part of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) for Texas Wesleyan University as an Instructional Designer. I look forward to my role in helping faculty members develop effective online courses. In addition, I plan to develop tools, resources, and training materials that will assist both veteran and new online faculty members.
Effective online instruction is similar to effective face-to-face instruction. The only real difference is the communication medium through which the learning takes place. It starts with clearly establishing what you expect from students and what students should expect from the instructor in relation to the course. These expectations can be stated in the form of policies or by providing resources such as rubrics for writing or professional conduct and can reside in several places including the syllabus or orientation resources.
In addition to clearly establishing expectations, the instructor should also work to create a learning community. We are in the information age, where the experience and knowledge of many is greater than that of one single person. Effective online instructors should tap into that collective knowledge regularly to gain the perspective of everyone in the class. Establishing a learning community engages students and allows them to directly relate the material they are learning to their own lives. Student-to-student communication and collaboration is vital to the process. Provide them with the opportunity to work together to solve complex issues or put them in scenarios with some guidance. As long as you are providing feedback, they are learning how to apply the knowledge they have gained.
Establishing a learning community also lends itself well to an active learning environment. I am a proponent of active learning as an instructional mode. Let me give you an example. I am not a big supporter of giving any kind of assessment of “key terms”. I would prefer creating assignments that directly relate to current events or realistic scenarios where students will need to know what the terms are in order to complete the assignments. Not only will they need to know the terms, they will also need to know why they are important. In the end, they will know all of these concepts because they have used them to accomplish something; in essence they were “active.” A lecture could never accomplish that. That is what active learning is; less lecture and more engaging activities and discussions where knowledge is constructed.
If you are interested in distance education or would like some assistance with your online course, please feel free to contact me at aozuna@txwes.edu. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding distance education, curriculum development, and the online environment.
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