🚀 go-pugleaf

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a conference on online instruction for
community colleges. All of the presenters I heard or spoke with
emphasized the need for direct instructor contact with the students.
Most use email--a couple said they had tried chat, and found it
unsatisfactory. The prevailing model was online assignments turned in
via email, plus a class mailing list to provide asynchronous discussion.
One instructor even teaches a class in debating, using email for the
debates.

I came away with the feeling that this is no longer an
experimental technology--it is one that is being successfully used at
many colleges around the country. Completion rates were said to be
similar to those in traditional classroom-based sections of the same
courses. Two presenters mentioned that their student demographics were
 different for online courses--traditional and video classes run heavily
 to older women, while online classes attract a large percentage of
younger men.

Jean Hewlett
University of San Francisco
North Bay Regional Campus Library, Santa Rosa CA
hewlett@usfca.edu

All opinions expressed in this message are my own and no not represent
those of my employers.

Gill, Kathy wrote:
>
> from edupage:
>
> THE EVOLUTION OF ONLINE LEARNING
> IT training provider Infotec is changing the online learning
> environment to encourage distance learners, who have low course
> completion rates, to finish courses.  By 2005, at least 50 percent
> of IT training will happen online, according to International ata
> statistics.  However, most of today's online course designs focus
> on cutting-edge technology and the quality of course content, without
> providing a supportive environment for the student.  Infotec's online
> training (OLT) site, Infotec Online, recently began accepting students
> for Microsoft's MCSE certification program.  Infotec Online links every
> course to a Microsoft Certified Trainer, who develops the course
> syllabus, a basic course track, and lecture notes for each primary
> objective. Infotec director of distance learning C.J. Trayser says,
> "Students complete reading assignments with the guidance of the
> instructor's notes and are even periodically quizzed so the instructor
> can monitor their progress."  The program uses hard copy texts, which
> allow students to make notes and retain the material as a post-graduate
> reference.  In addition, the Infotec Online site promotes interaction
> between students by offering chats, a bulletin board, e-mail, and
> instructor lectures.  Although students can study and take tests and
> quizzes on their own time, each course has a time limit, the longest of
> which is nine weeks, which provides the motivation often lacking in OLT
> courses.  The site is heavily text-oriented, and does not make wide use
> of multimedia, since many students do not have the fastest modems or the
> latest hardware to accommodate the technology.  (Sun Server 04/99)
>
> kathy
>
> Kathy E. Gill
> AT&T Wireless, NBO Deployment
> Redmond Town Center, Bldg 4, 3155B
> 425.580.6459
> mailto:kathy.gill@attws.com
>
> You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of
> conversation.  -- Plato