January 2005

Online Classroom January 2005 full issue PDF
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Course Design, Monitoring Help Ensure Academic Honesty
In one of the first online courses taught by Barbara Christe, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, it was obvious that two students completed an online exam together. They submitted questions in the same order and changed their answers within seconds of each other. When confronted, these students admitted to using cell phones to collaborate on the exam, but they said they were unaware this was wrong because working together was not expressly forbidden.

Tips from the Pros: Teaming Up With Librarians
As you develop your online courses, consider seeking help from a librarian.

Who is Bill Reed?
To students, Bill Reed is that classmate in the photograph wearing a baseball cap that covers most of his face holding up a big fish he presumably caught. He participates in the course less than most students but otherwise seems to be an OK guy. To Barbara Christe, assistant professor of electrical engineering technology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Bill Reed is a virtual secret agent who gathers important assessment information and insights into student interaction.

Facilitating Team Learning Means More Than Just Assigning Team Projects
Nearly all the courses Muhammad Betz teaches for the University of Phoenix feature team learning, an element he hopes to include in the online courses he teaches at his home institution, Southeastern Oklahoma State University. To do that successfully, he will have to do more than simply modify his assignments.

Teaching an Existing Online Course
You may be called on to teach an online course that was created by somebody else. The degree to which you will be able to modify it to suit your approach to the content, your students’ needs, and your teaching style will depend on your institution’s rules regarding course modification and ownership.

Online Student Reflects on Threaded Discussions
When Bhupinder Virk began the online teaching and learning master’s program through California State University-Hayward, she was skeptical of using discussion boards, despite her instructors’ emphasis on their importance. “I was a lurker in the beginning. It took me three or four courses before I felt comfortable [participating in threaded discussions],” Virk says.

The Benefits of Being an Online Adjunct
The University of Phoenix model of online course delivery does not grant the individual instructor the flexibility that many institutions give faculty members, but the experience offers other rewards, including a solid foundation in online instruction and course design worth emulating, says Muhammad Betz, professor and department chair of the educational instruction and leadership department at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.