A couple of years ago, I was asked late one Friday night if I could teach an online course for a college in a mid-southern state. I was told that I would have 11 students and that none of the students had ever participated in an online course. Well, yes, I was up to the challenge and would be glad to teach the course. It was my first experience teaching online. The fear that the students were feeling was also present in my heart and mind, but I knew the platform, completed numerous hours of training on the course process, outline, attributes, etc. I thought I was ready to go.
I prepared for more than 30 hours during the weekend. I developed a Power Point presentation, set the syllabus, and reviewed the quizzes, mid-term and final. I provided chat room discussion guides for the students to follow in the interactive chat room. I developed resources for the students to use in the development of their class projects, including Internet sites and attached documents. I was more than just prepared, I was ready for anything and everything, or so I thought.
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In the corporate world, best practices provide the guidance needed to keep a company running smoothly. They supply the guidance necessary to maintain shareholder and client security and to ensure success for everyone involved. Best practices in online learning serve a similar purpose. By creating and adhering to pre-determined rules, goals and missions, institutions of higher learning can develop the best possible environment for education.
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For Dr. Julia Barnes, online instruction has proven to be an experience with many rewards. With ten years of online education experience, Barnes — currently teaching education courses as an adjunct faculty member at Anderson University — knows about the difference distance learning can make in an individual’s life. For the mass population of working professionals, online education offers many professionals opportunities for growth and advancement through a practical package of convenience, flexibility and affordability. However, from the perspective of a faculty member, making this process easily accessible to students comes with a substantial amount of work. More specifically, Barnes understands the valuable support a distance learning provider, such as The Learning House, Inc., can provide toward make life online trouble-free.
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For small, private, brick and mortar colleges and universities, the shift toward online education can often seem like a leap into the unknown. However, in the Spring of 2008, The Learning House, Inc. — a total online education solutions provider — took its own step into new territory with the launch of its pre-packaged Ready-To-Launch Online Programs.
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The times they are a changin’ … in higher education.
Geographic shifts, demographic shifts and other changes are contributing to potentially radical alterations in the field of post-secondary education and its production of college and university-bound high school graduates. In general, a significant change is expected in numbers, as downward trends in enrollment are predicted in coming years. As a result, colleges and universities across the nation are developing new initiatives in order to address these demographic variations, including increased financial aid options and the launch of new online education opportunities.
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Written and submitted by Dr. Stan Parker
In Growing by Degrees: On-line Education in the United States, 2005, the Sloan Foundation (2005) found that roughly 605 of the chief academic officers in the U.S. forecast that online education will be a part of their strategic plans for the future (Section 1:2, p.7). A year later and in a report called, Making the Grade: On-line Education in the United States, 2006, the Sloan Foundation (2006) reported that over two thirds of the largest institutions in the U.S. already had fully online programs up and going (p.7). In May 2007, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and the Sloan Foundation supported a study, Online Learning as a Strategic Asset, in which they surveyed over 200 presidents and chancellors on their views of online learning. The results revealed that an increasing number of higher education leaders feel that online education is critical to the long-term strategy of the institutions they serve. Almost half said that online education is already a tool they use to engage student populations. Supporting student access was the primary reason most gave for their current involvement in online education. Bottom line: Higher education sees the value and utility of distance and online education, and the medium is being embraced by ever-growing numbers of colleges and universities.
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The Learning House, Inc. has two important pieces of information to share. The company’s president and founder, Dr. Denzil Edge, will be receiving not one, but two awards from client schools honoring his contribution to the distance learning field.
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Call them rules of thumb or guiding principles, best practices should be established standards a company sets in order to serve as points of reference for all project developments. At The Learning House, Inc, dedication to best practices is an important part of our mission to offer proven, easy-to-use solutions for all of your online education needs.
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For over a century and a half, Hiwassee College has crafted its reputation on its ability to offer students a great beginning to both their higher education and lifelong objectives. This is why the institution has diligently worked to provide high quality, faith-based instruction to young adults who may otherwise not have the opportunity to further their education. Hiwassee’s latest project, the launch of a virtual campus, has enabled the college to make the same enriching offer to a wider audience of nontraditional students and adult learners.
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At first thought, the prospect of your classroom existing within a computer isn’t necessarily exciting, especially for those who spend their workdays in front of computer screens. Many first-time online students have similar concerns about online education, fearing impersonal technology and isolation from the instructor and fellow classmates.
With this thought in mind, there has to be a reason people come home from work and turn on their laptops. Features such as online chatting, interactive games and webcams bring personal touches and fun to a tool that — while “intelligent” — is inescapably lifeless. As a result, human ingenuity and need for connection has transformed the computer into a relationship-creating instrument. The online education industry has listened to what students want and need and now delivers their favorite online activities in the form of educational activities.
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