More from Insider Higher Ed article about teaching online

This article is good enough that it gets two posts from me!

Career Advice: Take a Walk on the Wired Side - Inside Higher Ed

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that online teaching is easy once you get your course “set.” First of all, it will take you awhile to master the vicissitudes of whatever Web-based program your school uses. I’ve used four now and their logics are about as interchangeable as AC adaptors. Second, expect to spend more time preparing for an online course. You can’t “massage” anything online; every word you post must be clear, every assignment must be self-explanatory, and each learning module must be 100 percent self-contained. You don’t have the luxury of the routine self-adjustments that you can do in the classroom. You will also spend more time doing gate-keeping tasks such as checking to see who hasn’t logged in for awhile, contacting wayward students, and redirecting discussions. In addition you’ll burn more hours grading as students won’t be around to discuss their evaluations; hence your written feedback will be more extensive.

If you decide to give online teaching a try, here are some suggestions:

* Discuss pay upfront.
* Own what you post.
* Be careful of copyright law.
* Make sure your assignments are doable.
* Don’t plan on synchronous learning.
* Limit text-heavy lectures.
* Be very active in discussion.
* Set guidelines on posting.
* Have a plan to deal with inappropriate postings.

News: 'Show Me the Money' - Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/11/enroll

Career Advice: Take a Walk on the Wired Side - Inside Higher Ed

Rob Weir gives a good summary of teaching online. I don't agree with everything he says, but I do believe he gets most of it absolutely right. I encourage you to read the full article in Inside Higher Ed (May 11, 2009) but here are some nuggets:

Career Advice: Take a Walk on the Wired Side - Inside Higher Ed:

"There are several seemingly counterintuitive experiences I’ve had with online courses. In summary:

-Older students generally perform better than younger ones.
-The range of achievement is much narrower.
-Online courses work best when they mirror live classes.
-Discussion is generally more robust online.
-An online course definitely will not run itself"

Western Governors University To Launch Nation's First Competency-Based B.S. In Nursing Leading To RN Licensure

Western Governors University To Launch Nation's First Competency-Based B.S. In Nursing Leading To RN Licensure:

If this were math class, the problem would be stated something like this:
Number of nurses needed minus number of nurses available equals shortage of nurses.
NN - NA = NS

"Last year, more than 50,000 applicants to nursing schools were turned away, despite a nationwide shortage of registered nurses. To address this crisis in U.S. healthcare, Western Governors University, has joined with state workforce agencies as well as healthcare institutions to develop the first national, accredited, online competency-based bachelor's degree program aimed at preparing students for initial licensure as registered nurses."

A Student's Thoughts on Distance Learning

Internet has the possibility of cutting out lecture-based classes altogether. This student at UK describes an increasingly popular scenario and does so in a way that make some sense. He questions the large-lecture, location based courses that so many institutions still deliver. He's missing one critical piece, though - that delivery of content via technology is great but there still must be interaction and assessment. He's gone in the right direction and all we need to do is follow up by enhancing the learning experience.