Articles

Interactive Web Conferencing Brings Big Benefits to the Online Classroom

Interactive, synchronous web conferencing software such as WebEx, Blackboard Collaborate and even Skype are innovative tools that can be implemented by faculty teaching both hybrid and fully online courses. When faculty at Towson University began using WebEx to incorporate a synchronous component to their courses, they discovered that interactive web conferencing (IWC) delivers many benefits.

Linda Macaulay EdD and La Tonya Dyer November 14, 2011

Does Extra Credit Have a Place in the College Classroom?

Some instructors never offer it under any circumstances. Others embrace it as a way to help students learn the course material or improve a disappointing test score. And a small minority, if pushed, will admit they only offer it when students wear them down until they finally gave in to it.

Mary Bart November 9, 2011

Supporting International Students in the Online Environment

The online learning platform is gaining popularity worldwide. Ambient Insight found that 12 million post-secondary students currently take online courses and this number is expected

Tracey Pritchard EdD November 7, 2011

Report Uncovers the Hidden Costs of Managing Syllabi

How much time do you spend each semester creating, updating or maintaining your course syllabi?

According to a new report released today by the Syllabus Institute, on average instructors spend more than 24 hours creating a new course syllabus. The average instructor also spends 6.5 hours updating their syllabus for a new semester and nearly 3.5 hours maintaining their syllabus throughout a semester.

Mary Bart November 3, 2011

Getting Immediate Student Feedback the Plus/Delta Way

Professors teach in a vacuum; we enter the classroom, deliver our lessons, and leave, and rarely get any feedback on the quality of our instruction before the end of the semester when formal faculty evaluations are completed by students. Other than grades on tests and other assessments, we really don’t know for sure if students are learning what we are teaching, and we often don’t have a good handle on whether our instruction is working.

Susan Codone PhD November 2, 2011

Using the Reader’s Guide to Increase Reading Compliance and Metacognitive Awareness

For many college instructors, getting students to read their textbooks is a continuous struggle. Not only are students unmotivated to read, but even when students do read they often lack the necessary skills to fully comprehend the material. As a result, instructors may subtly or unwittingly communicate that reading the textbook is not necessary in order to pass a course. This communication can take the form of providing students with elaborate study guides or notes that summarize the reading or include all the answers to upcoming tests or quizzes.

Tiffany F. Culver PhD October 31, 2011

Teaching Strategy Mirrors Workforce Expectations

As an instructor of Cisco Networking Academy training for 12 years, I’ve tried many types of teaching strategies. The students in this area of the CIS Department bring various technical and soft skills to the classroom, from less-than-fundamental to exceptional. In relation to these skills,
The National Business Education Association (Glenn, 2011) reported that workforce requirements suggest that educational institutions should do more to help their students develop the “four Cs”: critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration.

Ken Scott EdD October 28, 2011

Determining the Best Technology for Your Students, Your Course, and You

The number of technologies available to both higher education institutions and individual instructors seems to grow each day. With tools that promise to increase engagement, communication, interaction, efficiencies, and learning, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. It’s also easy to make bad choices — choices that could result in wasted money, time, or learning opportunities, all the while causing undue frustration for students and faculty alike.

Mary Bart October 26, 2011

Teach Like It’s 1990: Online Teaching Fundamentals Are Always in Style

The list of technological add-ons to enhance our teaching efforts seems to be endless and growing. Yet as these add-ons continue to grow in use, a problem has also begun to surface: the online instructor who relies on these “cool” apps and software so heavily that he or she begins to neglect the basics of teaching.

Errol Craig Sull October 21, 2011

For Better Research Assignments, Ask a Librarian

A recent survey of faculty handouts for research assignments found that most of the handouts provided details for length, citation guide style and how to get assistance from the faculty member. What wasn’t included was a critical need for most undergraduate students: context for the research topic.

Beth Schuck October 17, 2011

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