Experience Online Learning

“When I first started teaching online, I sought to recreate the face-to-face classroom on a digital platform. Over time, the boundless teaching and student learning possibilities offered in an online environment manifested themselves, and I explored new avenues of instruction.

Neither my students nor I were limited by time and space.  A discussion could last an entire week, 24 hours a day. There can be several threads of a discussion occurring simultaneously as students debated key issues. Students have time to think about how they will respond to another student’s comments, and they can proofread their writing before submitting it.

Students who could not make it to class on a physical campus because of their work schedules and/or family obligations, were now fully engaged with their classmates when it was convenient for them. About a third of my students are online after 8 p.m. and several after 10 p.m. 

I have had students who were posting from Korea, China and other countries or were stationed at a military base somewhere in the United States or other parts of the world. My recorded lecture screencasts can be paused, rewound or played repeatedly at the pace set by the students themselves.

In five years of teaching online, I have completely revised my lectures three times to keep them updated with the latest research. All my lectures are closed-captioned. I use documentaries, websites and YouTube videos to supplement the free digital textbooks I assign.

I am accessible to my students 24 hours a day by email and for 12 hours a day by phone. Every day, I check my email when I get up in the morning, and then a dozen times during the day and one more time at 10 p.m. 

Students who are shy have no problems interacting with other students online — they live in a world in which they text friends and relatives all the time. If I see a student struggling, I give them a call at a time that is convenient for them. I do provide students with the possibilities of a makeup if their circumstances for learning have been disrupted, and the online platforms make it easy for me to do so. 

An “access Institution” takes on a whole new meaning with online teaching. With perfectly acceptable laptops at $200, low-cost cell phones and plans that provide a mobile hotspot, internet providers giving deep discounts to low income families, public Wi-Fi availability at most businesses and plenty of computers on campuses and at public libraries, students can join in the online learning revolution more easily than ever before.   

Online teaching is still in its infancy. As technology changes, we are learning new ways of using the online environment to meet our educational objectives and serve the needs of our students. 

Online education works in harmony with the physical campuses — we are all on a quest to provide avenues for learning that encourage our students to realize their dreams so they can share their talents with their communities and the rest of the world.”