By my rough estimate, after 16 years of online instruction, I have taught over 150 classes. As I reflect on the end of another semester, I’m struck by the way in which online teaching has changed since I first began. First is the ease of access to an online course. In the mid 1990’s, access was through a dial-up connection via a modem. If you haven’t heard a modem connection sound, think fax machine scream or listen here. Oh, how we loved that sound of connection. I am aware that some online learners still don’t have the fastest connection due to their locations, but it is certainly an improvement over dial-up. Another change is the delivery of content. Gone is the correspondence course feel of an online course. The learner is no longer limited to one way text delivery of content. With the advent of Web 2.0 tools and other social media advances, online learning is multifaceted with podcasts, webinars, online chats, etc. Visually online courses have also changed. I remember creating my own icons and placing them in courses. Now, learning management systems have their their own branding images, and it seems all upgrades are trying to produce the next season’s fashion trend in online design look.
What hasn’t changed the past sixteen years is the importance of the instructor’s attention to the course content being delivered. Students are still consumers of the knowledge being taught and deserve the best delivery of that information. As delivery methods improve and students become more critical consumers of online courses, instructors must be prepared to meet the challenge of best-practices in online teaching.
MSU offers student evaluations of the courses I teach, and I reward students with a few bonus points for completing those evaluations. The points don’t move anyone’s final grade, but it provides students the motivation to do the eval. I don’t see the evaluations until after the course ends, so students are free to be share honestly. I use those evaluations to make corrections in my courses. I find confirmation in approaches I have taken and also discover those techniques that weren’t effective. I have time before the next semester begins to make adjustments and implement worthy suggestions.
The end of a semester is an interesting time. One moment I have all the responsibility of online teaching on my shoulders and after I hit the submit final grades button, I have no responsibilities at all. There is no transition, no smooth move from one stage to another. It’s like I have a job one moment and I’m out of a job the next. But, the beginning of the next semester or course comes sooner than I think, and I need to learn to enjoy those few days or weeks of reprieve to recharge, refresh and rework my courses for the next online teaching adventure.
