March 2004

Full March 2004 issue in PDF format

Using Group Work to Promote Community, Sharing Expertise
As a former online learner, Valerie Taylor, an online instructor at De Anza College in California, understands the needs and frustrations of her online students and the importance of interaction and collaboration to motivate and improve learning outcomes.

Tips from the Pros
Guidelines for Successful Collaboration

Course Mapping Streamlines Course Development Process
Auburn University’s Distance Learning and Outreach Technology Office uses a course mapping technique that guides the course development process, reducing faculty anxiety and shortening the time needed for course development.

Professor Forgoes Exams, Uses Variety of Assessments
When Dee McConaughy, professor of early childhood development at Chesapeake College, considered assessment techniques as she developed her first online course, she decided against using online tests. In addition to the question of verifying the test-takers’ identities, she felt there were other assessment tools that better matched the course’s goals.

At-Home Chemistry Labs Provide Hands-on Learning for Online Students
Providing online students with labs that are comparable to those offered on campus is perhaps the biggest obstacle to developing online sciences lab courses. Some instructors feel that simulations do not provide enough realism, or that requiring students to access labs on-campus or at another location does not offer the flexibility that online learners want. A third alternative is to provide students with the means of performing labs at home.

Teaching Constructivism Via Compressed Interactive Video
When Charlene Johnson, associate professor of education at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, was asked to teach Classroom Learning Theory at a distance (via compressed interactive video), she was skeptical because her in-person teaching style is very hands on and interactive, and she was worried that that might be hard to do with her students at another location.

Understanding the TEACH Act
By Judy Dahl
“Draconian” is the word Dr. Fritz Dolak, copyright and electronic resources librarian at Ball State University in Indiana, uses to describe pre-TEACH Act copyright laws covering distance education. Dolak calls the TEACH Act, signed into law on November 2, 2002, “the latest attempt by the U.S. Congress to remedy the discrimination faced by instructors and students in distance education.”