BACKGROUND
Winthrop University currently undergoes a two-step process to establish and form an online course through the Online Learning Department. First, in order to establish an online course, an Online Course Request form must be completed. This form has to be completed each time a course is anticipated to be offered online, even if it has already been previously taught. In addition, it has to be detailed in describing how the online system will be used in the course. The Online Course Request from must be completed and turned in to the Online Learning Department no later than 10 days prior to the official state date of the course.
Secondly, once the course is established through the Online Learning Department, the instructor is left …show more content…
During the implementation of any online course, instructors already know what information they will use as a foundation for the course and then attempt to incorporate some relevant outside information, such as research articles or scholarly journals. This is a standard practice for all courses, whether face-to-face (F2F), hybrid, or online. However, the delivery of the information is the key difference when it comes to online courses, which has the most consequential impact on the students, instructors, and the course itself. This is the area that most instructors struggle with while designing an online course because they have to make sure that the same information presented in a F2F course is presented in a similar way through an online …show more content…
Currently stated by policy, instructors are to attend one training session to be qualified or prepared to teach an online course for the first time. However, it is not determined which of the offered trainings have to be attended, such as a basic or advanced training session. For example, an instructor may feel that a basic training would not offer the material believed to be needed, thus attending an advanced training session. In doing so, the instructor could be in a position where the material presented is too far advanced from his or her current knowledge and the potential implementation of the presented material is lost. However, the instructor is still able to continue with the online course because he or she attended that one training. This effectively limits the amount of effort the instructor can put into the course because of the lack of knowledge or preparedness
Winthrop University currently undergoes a two-step process to establish and form an online course through the Online Learning Department. First, in order to establish an online course, an Online Course Request form must be completed. This form has to be completed each time a course is anticipated to be offered online, even if it has already been previously taught. In addition, it has to be detailed in describing how the online system will be used in the course. The Online Course Request from must be completed and turned in to the Online Learning Department no later than 10 days prior to the official state date of the course.
Secondly, once the course is established through the Online Learning Department, the instructor is left …show more content…
During the implementation of any online course, instructors already know what information they will use as a foundation for the course and then attempt to incorporate some relevant outside information, such as research articles or scholarly journals. This is a standard practice for all courses, whether face-to-face (F2F), hybrid, or online. However, the delivery of the information is the key difference when it comes to online courses, which has the most consequential impact on the students, instructors, and the course itself. This is the area that most instructors struggle with while designing an online course because they have to make sure that the same information presented in a F2F course is presented in a similar way through an online …show more content…
Currently stated by policy, instructors are to attend one training session to be qualified or prepared to teach an online course for the first time. However, it is not determined which of the offered trainings have to be attended, such as a basic or advanced training session. For example, an instructor may feel that a basic training would not offer the material believed to be needed, thus attending an advanced training session. In doing so, the instructor could be in a position where the material presented is too far advanced from his or her current knowledge and the potential implementation of the presented material is lost. However, the instructor is still able to continue with the online course because he or she attended that one training. This effectively limits the amount of effort the instructor can put into the course because of the lack of knowledge or preparedness