olac course evaluation summer...
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OLAC Course
Evaluation Summer
2014
For our last self-assessment, please let us know not just how this last module went for
you, but also any overall comments and observations you have about the course. Future
revisions are based on participant performance and input, so your feedback is definitely
important.
In particular, please consider all of the following questions as you think about your
experiences over the past 8 weeks:
1. Do you feel better prepared for teaching online now than you did 8 weeks ago?
Can you comment on how specifically you feel better prepared or not better
prepared?
• I do feel better prepared. I was introduced to different technology tools and now
have an understanding of the importance of including visuals and audio to
connect with students online. This course also made me aware of some of the
challenges students might face and strategies to eliminate those issues.
• Yes, I do feel better prepared. My personal goal for OLAC was to improve in
the use of technology. I understand the pedagogy of teaching, but I wanted to
learn
how to enhance my courses. I believe this was accomplished with learning how to
use Jing/ voice over. I am excited to use this in my current courses.
• I feel more confident with eCollege software. I have a better sense of how to run and
design an online course—what assignments and activities to use, for example.
• Yes I feel better prepared and understand what struggles my students will have and can address them prior to delivering a course to them either hybrid or totally online.
• I understand how to use eCollege much better than I did before. • Absolutely. I’m more comfortable with technology and ready to use it. I’m
confident in my ability to engage students online in relevant, interesting ways. I know what a great class looks like, and I’m genuinely excited about online learning.
• WOW! I have learned so much! I appreciated all the information and the help.
Some of it was brand new material and I know I will make good use of the
information in my teaching in general. For example, last week, while taking this
course, I also taught an intense one week FtF course for the Graduate Theological
Foundation. My learners were absolutely delighted with my new rubrics. They
were grateful for the clarity of what was expected. My reviews were better than
ever. I feel I am ready to actually teach on online course and I hope I get the
opportunity to do so.
• Yes! I’ve learned about so many great tools (VoiceThread, Jing, etc.) – these were
really the most value added part of the course. Building the course shell in
accordance with SHU’s standards makes me feel very prepared, I know that when I
(hopefully) get to teach online next year I’ll already have a significant amount of
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transferable material prepared.
• I am better prepared than I was eight weeks ago to teach online. It is one thing to
teach a course even though most of us had some input in the design to a small
degree, but to develop a course from the outcomes and critical elements on up was
extremely challenging and time consuming but was something I had to do to be a
more effective instructor. It was similar to a musician who can play an instrument by
ear and feel, but understanding the theory of the “why’s” and “what’s” opens the
door to a new learning experience and makes the player (or in this case, the
instructor), much more equipped to service the profession.
• Two things that were on my to do list for the summer were voiceovers and being able to view another course on eCollege. Both of these goals were accomplished. I had not been completing all the required assignments in OLAC, however, I could have actually applied my new learning to the courses I am actually teaching rather than a course shell I will never use.
• I feel more confident as an online instructor. I know what to look for and better
prepared to set up any new course I am assigned and improve existing ones. More
specifically, I can better anticipate where students could become lost or confused.
In addition, I have learned the importance of welcoming students to the course and
relieving their anxiety at the outset, so we can focus on the learning outcomes. For
me, this course re-emphasized the importance of meaningful interaction in the
discussions. I will also be able to evaluate my own course for alignment of the
critical elements.
• I am definitely more prepared for Online Teaching – understanding Course
Content and flow, use of Jing Video, Voice Thread, etc.
• Yes, absolutely I feel better prepared.
• Yes, I do feel more prepared. At first I thought, “I’ve already taught on-line and it
went well”. Now, after taking this course, I see how I can do things differently and
how I can make the layout and assignment choice less confusing for the students.
Simply preparing an orientation to the course via a Jing video will help clarify any
confusions about course layout if done appropriately. I will be using the critical
elements diagram for each module/week of not only my on-line courses, but my
F2F courses as well. It made sense and I want my students to see how the course
outcomes, module outcomes all tie into the course readings, practice and
assessments. Hopefully this will bring relevance to the course assignments. I learned
about new ways of “sprucing” up my course site with voice-overs and Jing videos. I
also learned about the support OLAC will provide me in the future as an instructor,
such as helping to load my PowerPoint presentations in eCollege. I am hoping this
site stays in my eCollege for a while as a reference for the next few semesters.
• The course was absolutely essential for me as a new professor. I not only needed
to learn online educational techniques, but basic theories of course design, and
this course provided them both. I especially valued getting the insights of my
colleagues who are experienced professors.
• Yes – I particularly enjoyed the eCollege activities. I now have a far better
understanding of the mechanics for building a shell and linkage within the SHU
online class. I do not, however, know everything. I would welcome an opportunity
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to have a second shorter version of this class that does some additional technical
training.
2. Would you advise others to take this course? Why, or why not?
• If you are teaching online, this information would be really important. It helps the
learner to connect with others and gain from their experience (and examples) as
well as comments from the instructors. It also provides numerous resources to
expand our understanding of what is important when teaching online. It is a lot
more than just periodically posting threaded discussions and assignments.
• It is not that I would not advise others… I know some individuals have felt that
since they did not have an education background, the pedagogy of teaching was
very beneficial. It is the time commitment that is so difficult. I have fallen behind
on my responsibilities for the university.
• I would, but caution them that it is a time commitment.
• Yes. I think it was overall beneficial. It was much more time consuming than I had
anticipated and would have struggled if it were during the fall/winter semesters.
• This course should be taken when one has a very open schedule. Planning for my
summer and fall courses was definitely affected by the amount of time needed for
this course. • Yes! This course will benefit anyone who is ready to teach online, as well as
teachers in the f2f world. This course is set up for real learning and growth.
My only regret is that I didn’t take this course earlier. Have you considered
phase 2?
• Yes, I would, but I would be very clear about the fact that it might take them longer
than they expect. I had no idea that I would have to put so many hours into this
course. It was worth it, but I wasn’t prepared.
• Absolutely. Apart from teaching online, I learned a great deal about outcome based
course design and alignment. As a new teacher at SHU, inheriting lots of old syllabi,
I probably would have accepted these without questioning them and taken years to
develop the “experience” level needed to feel confident in justifying substantial
revisions. However, because of this course I feel that I have the SHU and research-
based backing to make changes, even as a new adjunct.
• I would encourage someone to take the course. There are fundamentals and higher
level skill sets that the course has made me aware of that I otherwise would have not
known about or considered. One thing I would tell the other person is the amount of
time is something out of the ordinary of what they may expect. Also, if possible they
should get familiar with power points, Jing, Voice Thread, Soft Chalk before the
class begins, so the technology learning curve won’t be as dramatic or traumatic for
them as it was for me.
• No, I would not advise others to take this course. I felt like it kept me from high quality designing and facilitating of the two courses I am teaching this summer. For me, the course was not well organized. There were items all over the place – posted over and over again. It was extremely busy. Also, there was the challenge of having 4 different instructors.
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• I would advise others to take this course because it goes way beyond the technical
aspects of teaching online. It stresses the sometimes underappreciated value of
online courses and how the online learning experience is indeed a powerful way for
learners to reach higher levels of thinking.
• Perhaps, the Course may be too rigorous for many adjunct Professors who also
have a full-time job. The value that we bring to the students is by melding our
real-world experience with academic learning. I can see some folks dropping out
once they understand the time and effort commitment. Just my personal
perspective. Having said this, I did get a lot of value from the
Course.
• I feel very confident about the discussion thread carrying the bulk of the
interaction of students. I have learned new programs that will jazz up my
presentations. Self-assessment tools are great at letting the student help with
their grading and knowing where they stand in the class.
• Yes, and it was nice to take in the Spring when I was not actively teaching. It was a
great refresher in learning about outcomes and great way to connect with others
outside my discipline.
• I would definitely recommend it to others.
• Yes, I would recommend others take the class, but caution them to have the time to
pay the course justice. My travel schedule made course completion a challenge.
Being sick for most of the past 8 days did me no favors either .
3. What would be the one thing in this course that you think should definitely be kept
in?
• It was helpful to work on each piece in the course shell. This required application of
information. Taking a look at an organizational plan was a holistic way for me to
determine that I was addressing the most important elements.
• It was beneficial to have us use voice-over/ Jing. This will be a wonderful
enhancement to my courses. I already use Soft Chalk and Articulate with courses
that I have created with Power Point. I can better enhance with Jing!
• Working on your course shell and sharing it with the class. Seeing other student’s
ideas and solutions was helpful.
• Threaded discussions would have been more beneficial to not have an assignment
to complete/upload and then discuss/respond. Only a scenario or discussion
question and then responses would have better suited the time constraints for
completing this course.
• Keep in the step-by-step development of one’s own course shell. • Projects that require learners to try a new technology.
• I think the information on how to set up a course shell is crucial. There are many
other important topics that should be left in…..but that comes to mind first.
• Doing the course shell.
• As intense as the course was, I think that everything we studied and were assigned
to accomplish, was spot on for this course and will be extremely valuable for online
teaching assignments and very useful in a F2F context as well.
• Seeing how others design their actual e-college courses. I did not,
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however, feel comfortable rating another participant’s course. Giving comments was easy, but I do not feel it is my role to rate another’s course; that is the role of their supervisor.
• Actually I think the design exercise which encouraged us to go outside our tool
box helped me the most and should definitely be kept in.
• I am not kidding, everything was important, no need to take anything out. It all
built on itself.
• Using the critical elements design diagram.
• I do not have any specific recommendations regarding taking anything out or
leaving anything in. It was all good.
• Building the course shell in eCollege; sharing elements of our work with the group
(very helpful); Discussions on learning outcomes was very good.
4. Is there any one thing in this course that you think should definitely be eliminated?
• The course was a lot of work. Sometimes I felt like 3 responses to discussion topics
were too much and included agreement statements rather than additional questions
that would have continued a more in-depth conversation. There is something I
would add. For those who are unfamiliar with pieces of technology, I would suggest
a face-to-face orientation to using technology tools. The how-to videos were helpful
but often did not give enough specifics. Working with tools prior to the course might
eliminate some initial frustrations.
• I understand threaded discussions are an integral part on an on-line class.
However, I felt at times the discussions were becoming somewhat redundant.
Maybe less?
• The reading at the beginning of the course could be pared down. The material on
learning outcomes was helpful, but other readings were less so.
• Responding to three colleagues and over multiple days on most threaded discussions
seemed time consuming and redundant. I appreciate that I have a shell started for my
enhanced fall course, but I am ready to get back to textbook reading and lesson
planning.
• No. I found it helpful to break into smaller groups; I’d suggest a little more of
that because it’s more manageable and easier to get to know people.
• Some of the discussion questions could be eliminated. Some generated a lot of good
ideas and conversation, others were less effective. I am wondering about the idea of
just keeping some things in the course shell across the board, rather than having
each instructor load them on their own. For example, if the mission statement
should appear on every syllabus, why not just include that as a standard item in the
course shell…likewise the plagiarism statements, and info. on learning disabilities,
the link to the library and the link to technology help should just be standard
buttons. This would REALLY help to focus Module 4 as a time to be more creative
with the instructors own material. Just a thought!
• The number of discussion-thread posts and standards for some of the posts seem
overly high to the point that it creates redundancy. For example, when critiquing a
colleague’s welcome video, often the most useful comments will deal with sound
quality, etc. and it seems tedious to try and intellectualize this kind of feedback into a
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citation/reference. It’s really disappointing that we didn’t get to try/use the Live
features. The Module SAs seemed a little inconsistent—sometimes we rated
ourselves on course shells, other times it was excluded. It would have been good to
be paired for course shell review with someone in your Module 2 group, so that you
know what went into the outcome review process/logic behind why outcomes are
they way they are.
• The only thing that could be not necessarily eliminated but at least cut down, is the
amount of resource material included in some of the Doc sharing or webliography
units. We have learned that too much information can overload the senses and is not
as effective in certain environments. I felt overwhelmed at times, as I was unsure of
what type of resource material to refer to. There were so many choices, that I got
“bogged” down in making a selection and in this course we don’t have the mental or
physical time to spend on that type of issue. JUST MY 2 CENTS, as I am sure others
may disagree and like the voluminous amount of information to choose from.
• Posting 3 different days on threaded discussions. One of the benefits of online learning is being able to complete your work at
your convenience. It was extremely stressful to have to count days and posts rather than comfortably participate in a discussion.
Throughout this course my motto has been “just do it!” I did it, but not sure if it was up to OLAC’s specifications. I spent a great deal of time on assignments that seemed like “busy work.” If I had
been able to apply my new learning to courses I am actually
teaching in ways that were beneficial to me and my students, I
would have appreciated the course much more. I know that differentiation is challenging and I appreciate all the
work that each of you have put into the OLAC course. I know you
cannot tell it from my reflection, but I am someone who loves to
learn! As a teacher and a learner, I feel it is extremely beneficial to discover what students already know and are able to do. Then I
am able to design assignments that help them grow as learners. One size does not fit all.
• Honestly, I thought the course was well-designed and I am hard pressed to find
something that should be eliminated. Exploring online courses from other schools
possibly could be presented in video form as a demonstration of what not to do,
instead of having us explore on our own.
• I would recommend One Discussion per week rather than Two Discussions
per week.
• No, in fact, I think that a few more things should be added, specifically at least a
test of the “Live” feature, and a Jing on the Gradebook function.
• I cannot think of any off hand. Thanks for an engaging and relevant course!
• I do have one suggestion, however. I recall that in the introduction, there was a
mention that it was better to log on for a couple of hours three times a week than
several hours once. I recall the specific statement to look at your calendar now and
find where you can block out two hours three different days each week. For me, at
least, this significantly understated the amount of time that I needed to complete the
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course. This may have been due to the fact that I was learning both basic course
design theory as well as on line technique, but I would say that my time investment
was more in the neighborhood 10 – 12 hours per week or more. I am not
complaining about this, rather suggesting that I think that the expectations should
be increased somewhat.
• I think there are too many discussion and with too many people. I understand the
rationale to replicate a real class. That said the most useful discussions I found were
Week 3 & 4 (Lilianna’s Module 2) because we were put in a smaller group. It made
the discussions more meaningful for me because I was able to more closely follow
the posts. The larger forums are difficult to follow especially when challenged with
the crazy schedule I had these past 8 weeks.
OLAC Course
Evaluation Fall
2014
For our last self-assessment, please let us know not just how this last module went for you,
but also any overall comments and observations you have about the course. Future
revisions are based on participant performance and input, so your feedback is definitely
important.
In particular, please consider all of the following questions as you think about your
experiences over the past 8 weeks:
1. Do you feel better prepared for teaching online now than you did 8 weeks ago?
Can you comment on how specifically you feel better prepared or not better
prepared?
• Yes, as it allowed practice on technology which for me was the scariest part of the
course. I liked thinking through the organization and also the ability to share and
discuss challenges.
• Thank you so much for all of your suggestions and guidance in these last 8 weeks. I
feel very prepared to tackle my own class at this point. Additionally, I know that there
is a support network of other faculty that have been where I am now.
Before this class began, I probably wouldn’t have felt as comfortable bothering Liliana,
Mike, or Mary with questions about course design or course content (Gail alone
probably would have received all of my questions ad nauseam!) Now, I feel like I
know each of you quite a bit more and would feel very comfortable asking for advice.
It has also been a long time since I have been in a classroom, and going back to basics
with course objectives and learning outcomes was extremely helpful to me. My
experience previously, had been mostly at the upper elementary, junior high and later at
the graduate level with creating lesson plans. I quickly found that lesson plans for an
online class are a little different! The discussion boards were very helpful as we moved
through this exercise, having some folks who have taught online before was helpful.
The technical aspect, especially the course shell design exercise, was the probably the
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most helpful to me. This really forced me to pull all of my information together and
draw on all the different design exercises that we completed. I was finally able to see
what the finished product was supposed to look like and analyze where I needed to
improve.
• I can navigate eCollege much more comfortably and effectively no; I understand
critical elements, their connectedness and who to present it to a class in an online
environment; I now have experience using other technology such as VoiceThread; I’m
much more mindful of the importance of using various resources to assist in student
learning: text, photos, video, discussion boards, etc.; I cannot imagine anyone could
honestly say they are ‘not’ better prepared after taking this course.
• Yes, I have seen the ‘other side’ of eCollege. I feel like the university should look
at switching to a modern learning platform with increased functionality.
• Absolutely!!!! I am now familiar with e-College as the online delivery system. I have
been exposed to many exercises and received relevant feedback, in order to not only tackle the
assignments, but also master the techniques. The reading materials I think were the most
helpful. While I am far from mastering the theory of online teaching, I am at least aware of it.
This course enabled me to meet the needs of a diverse group of online learners. I never before
considered or did I have any practical knowledge, why it is essential to deliver the same content
in many different ways.
2. Would you advise others to take this course? Why, or why not?
• Yes I would recommend but note on number 3 and 4.
• I believe that anyone who would like to teach an online class should have to complete this
course. Even for those who have taught online, taking this course not only familiarizes the
student with the delivery platform (ECollege), but also with other professors, and Siena.
On the flip side, I also think the course gives the SHU faculty insight into what type of
potential teachers that they may be hiring.
• Only if they plan to teach online. It’s simply too much work to casually take.
• I had no idea on how to use eCollege as a professor before this course. I would not advise
seasoned professors in taking this course; a large portion of the course seemed to be
dedicated on how to teach versus how to teach online. The only benefit I see would be
learning how to use eCollege (Which can honestly be done by oneself.).
• Absolutely… The course material and the experiential exercises contributed greatly to
my becoming an effective online instructor.
3. What would be the one thing in this course that you think should definitely be kept
in?
• The project, and really all aspects to leading into the project. There seems to be a leap from
the last exercise to the final project. Not sure why but may have just become busy at work
and missed something there. I was surprised as I thought I had more completed! So it was
on me but just was a gap. I will admit to being slightly shocked by the peer review. I think I
will leave it at that. I would prefer to have my course reviewed by a peer that I had an
established rapport. I did have a couple of folks and would have valued their input more.
In this case, I have disregarded most of the comments.
• I think that all of the elements in this course were instrumental to the final project. I
think that all items were critical with my favorite being the course shell design.
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• I think the course is solid as is .
• The development of a partial course.
• Theory and Practice of Online Learning, e-book provided by Athabasca
University: Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 . I not only would recommend to keep this in, but
perhaps assigning more chapters from the book for subsequent weeks might be appropriate.
As a novice to online teaching I found the information extremely helpful and it kind of
setup the whole course. The week 1 readings essentially substantiated all subsequent
experiential exercises.
4. Is there any one thing in this course that you think should definitely be eliminated?
• There are times where it is a bit “too” academic in language and theory. I am a working
business professional and think this is true for many adjuncts so it is a little intimidating. I
have enjoyed the class and learned quite a bit in fine-tuning this course and thinking about
others that I teach although did not develop.
• I cannot see any one item that I would remove. Thank you again!
• Since I’m new, I don’t feel confident in suggesting one thing that should be kept
or eliminated. I still have a lot to learn and much more work to accomplish before I
could offer my course shell as complete and ready to go but I have a strong enough
foundation to offer a solid platform on which to teach online. Overall, I think it’d be
very helpful to have adjunct professors be part of a continued conversation about how to
improve . . . maybe this exists. If not, I know I could learn from others on how to
utilize other tools (technology) moving forward.
• Some of the learning outcome lessons, redundant welcome message assignments. I feel
prepared to develop my course once I have all of the proper documentation ie: instructor
access to test banks, textbook, book website etc.
• Can’t think of anything right at this moment. Overall, this course was absolutely
fantastic. I think all faculty from which I ever took a mediocre online course should be
required to take this course… Excellent stuff… Thank you Mary, Liliana, Gail, and
Mike for providing an online teaching experience form which I will benefit for the rest
of my life… be in while teaching online, or simple communicating with others. Great
Job!
OLAC Course Evaluation
Winter 2014
For our last self-assessment, please let us know not just how this last module went for you,
but also any overall comments and observations you have about the course. Future
revisions are based on participant performance and input, so your feedback is definitely
important.
In particular, please consider all of the following questions as you think about your
experiences over the past 8 weeks:
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1. Do you feel better prepared for teaching online now than you did 8 weeks ago?
Can you comment on how specifically you feel better prepared or not better
prepared?
• Absolutely. New tools and practice using them. Working within a community
of practice and getting feedback from colleagues and experienced online
instructors.
• Yes, I am definitely better prepared! I am especially more aware of the multiple
tools available for creating presentations. While I knew how to create
PowerPoints, the knowledge gained in this course was useful for adding
enhancements to PowerPoint presentations, particularly in the online
environment. Adding features such as audio and video elements are definitely a
plus. Also, the tools I learned are very useful for enhancing lecture materials.
Rather than flat- only written- lectures, I know how to add videos within the
documents to keep students engaged in the content. Lastly, I appreciate the
lessons on tying together course objectives and expected outcomes in a way
that creates consistency throughout the course-thanks!
• Yes. I read both technical documents and theoretical documents pertaining
toonlinetraining.Ididnotunderstandthelevelofcomplexityinvolved in
theprocess. Ihave a location to go toforresources. Ihave theclassmates
and am betterprepared to ask therightquestions if I needhelp. I feel I am
readytoengagewiththestudentbody.
• I feel better prepared to teach an online course but not ready to teach 100% online yet. This course has been a good learning experience for me. I can tell now that it is over it got me out of my comfort zone and taught me a great deal. My hybrid courses are going to be much better organized. I also can visualize teaching an all online course if given enough time to prepare it an with support from the experts at SHU
• The last eight weeks in this course have been exciting, motivating, educational,
and stressful!! I learned so much in this course and I am anxious to carry it into the
classes I teach online for Siena Heights. I feel much more prepared to teach online
effectively and I was able to get some new ideas and solutions for problems
encountered or questioned in the past. One of the things I learned was how to
effectively “be a presence” in an online classroom and build rapport with the
students, so they realize they have an instructor and not a facilitator.
• Yes, certainly and with enthusiasm. Many of the teaching strategies I used in F2F classes such as the Socratic method of
facilitating learning may be better suited Online since strategies are needed to keep students engaged. In addition the use of media audio/visual tools F2F are transferable to Online teaching— and perhaps more accessible due to the availability “at your finger tips” on the world wide web. I am better prepared because I have experienced the process. While I have just gotten my feet wet, I realize there are unlimited sources for learning best practices for facilitating learning Online. I value the variety of methods used by SHU instructors for delivering the
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instruction including the fact that the instructors “team” taught which gave me an appreciation for the effectiveness of different teaching styles and which ones I responded to and what methods they used to keep us engaged.
• As a result of this rigorous format I feel much more confident and comfortable
teaching a blended course.
• I definitely feel better prepared for online instruction, as this course has provided
numerous tools and ideas for reaching various types of students.
2. Would you advise others to take this course? Why, or why not?
• Yes, for the reasons listed above.
• Yes, I would definitely recommend it! Even though an instructor could have
enhancements added to their courses for them, it is beneficial to know how to
create these elements for yourself.
• Thiscoursewasverywellorganizedanditwould behelpful forany
instructor to complete.
• I would tell others to take the course because of the many good ideas and tips you get plus the exposure to the several site for audio/video links.
• I would definitely advise others to take this course; however, it involved a great
deal of computer time and fitting it into an already tight schedule was challenging.
But I did it!!! ☺(I needed a celebratory moment).
• Absolutely! I have known numerous Online instructors at different institutions. Two of those are in eCollege consortiums. I
am sure staff development programs are used to train the Online instructors but I have not seen any as thorough as this one. However, now that I have had this experience, I will be eager to
look for others in my work as a member of the HLC Peer Review
Corps visiting other institutions. This training will certainly add value to my work in that regard.
• I would recommend it. It is very intimidating if you are not used to teaching TOL
and are not familiar with all of the technology.
• I would advise anyone thinking of becoming an Online Instruction to participate in
this type of course, prior to their first class. Syllabus elements, student
engagement, goals/objectives and course organization are all explained in theory
and detail.
3. What would be the one thing in this course that you think should definitely be kept
in?
• I really liked having 4 different instructors so that we could experience 4 different
styles.
• The lessons on how to create, enhance, and add audio and visual material is
essential. Actually, I wish there was more time to experiment with the multiple
presentations options, such as Prezi and Jing, which were new to me. However,
since I have been introduced to these applications, I will definitely experiment
with using them.
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• The discussions were helpful but I think actually manipulating the
technology(settinguptheclass)ismorebeneficial.
• I would say all aspects of the course are helpful. It just seems to move very fast and includes a great deal of topics that are hard to get comfortable with quickly.
• I would keep everything in the class that is already there and I would not take
anything out. One of the things that taught me the most was watching our
instructors teach the class. To be a student and witness the amazing amount of
support provided to us was very helpful to me as an instructor (as well as a
student) and I will carry these lessons into my teaching. Thank you for an
amazing experience!!
• The Peer Review exercise seemed to be the highlight for me.
The Webinars were a nice helpful also. While somewhat
intangible, I would like to include the most important “one thing”
is the quality of instruction by the SHU staff and their commitment
to helping students achieve the outcomes and their individual learning goals.
• The Peer Review in Module 4.
• Interactive discussion questions should be kept, as they provide a forum for
student interaction
4. Is there any one thing in this course that you think should definitely be eliminated?
• Perhaps there would be some way to incorporate a “resource exploration” with a
partner in lieu of one of the presented discussion threads. That would give us a
little experience with working on a (albeit mini!) project with someone and allow
us to read about various resources that we just didn’t get to...yet.
• There were confusing elements in the beginning, such as explicit
timelines/deadlines for responding to discussion threads. Also, there was a lot of
instructional information presented in Module 1 that was overwhelming up-front.
I often did not know exactly where it fit at the time. Perhaps, it could be spread
out over the modules or broken into smaller sections so it does not feel like too
much information at the start. Overall, I greatly appreciated the opportunity to
learn new things. Thank you very much for everything.
• I think the rollingdeadlinecould be changed. Icameintothecoursewith
probably theleastexperienceinthecohort. Inevergaveupand asked for
help when needed. I really appreciated the structure and the organization
of thecourse. Ibuiltup my library of journalsandresources as well as
starteda new list of resources to usewith my class. Thereweretoo many
resourcestoreviewduringthecoursebutIpromisedmyselfIwouldspend
the summer pouring through them to learn more about teaching, online
teaching, teacher organizational tools, etc.
I reallyenjoyedthe training and if not formyschedule I thinkthe
experience was exceptional.
• I have found the course hard to follow. I don’t know if it is the multiple instructors or just my inexperience. The peer review experience was a good
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course capstone. I enjoyed going through the rubric and reading my cohort’s course shell. I am sure I will receive lots of constructive criticism from my peer reviewer.
• As a newcomer to Online teaching, I am probably not qualified to answer that question—however I will in one year after I have immersed myself in the process.
• I found the number of Discussion questions and seat time to be overly demanding.
• Overall, this course was a positive experience and well worth the time expended.
• The experience has been inspiring. I am eager to move forward in the cyber world of learning. I am owe a great deal to you, the SHU Online academy for creating the course. I am proud to serve in the SHU community. As an administrator, I have visited a number of institutions offering online learning and I have not seen any with SHU's commitment to faculty preparation like you and your colleagues have over the past several months.