Cats and Dogs in Online Universities

I just returned a few days ago from our annual DLA Conference where my colleague, Janice Hilyard of Darton College, received a well-deserved Wagner Award. In her acceptance speech, she spoke of how far advanced the marketing techniques of for-profit online institutions are as compared to traditional institutions. In her quest to learn more about their recruitment processes, she said she often asks for information in her dog's name. Then when phone calls come in asking for "Sadie Hilyard," she knows who they are from. So, beware, my cat may soon be requesting information from an institution near you.

When Online Universities Flounder

Recently, some online initiatives in higher education have made the news, but not because of their success, but because of their failure to meet hopes and expectations. This week it was the Global Campus of the Universityof Illinois (story). Why do some struggle to attract enrollments in spite of millions of dollars invested where others easily thrive? I think that one primary reason has to do with administrative structures. Too often, these structure are cumbersome and clunky, and try to fit key processes - such as course development and student support - into traditional frameworks. For online programs to meet their potential, programs must be set up in a way that allow for rapid decision making and response times to issues rather than waiting on faculty committees. Faculty must be involved in the course development process as content experts, but as invited or paid team members rather than the drivers of the process. This is a key reason why for-profit insitutions and two-year colleges seem to grow more quickly - even when their tuition is high. Other elements of success: developing a pool of qualified faculty ready for last-minute assignments, a self-sustaining budget, and a strong student support system.

Four Rules for Facebook Friendships with Students

It seems like just a mere year or so ago, I thought that never in a zillion years would I befriend any of my students on Facebook, for fear that I would seem like one of those middle-aged-people-in-denial who frequents bars for 20-somethings, or worse - simply "creepy." Now, even in my relatively sparse use of Facebook, I've been amazed, first-hand, at its sheer power and force at breaking down social barriers and building or rebuilding relationships (ex: my 7th-grade best friend whom I probably would have never happened to cross paths with again is now my Facebook friend, among others). Now, one of THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES in the online classroom is clearly building a sense of community, creating a personal environment, feeling truly connected, blah,blah, blah. So, with so many folks on Facebook (and over 1200 more have joined since I started writing this just a few minutes ag0), the question of whether or not to integrate it somehow with online teaching is no longer if - but when. To reduce my worries about privacy, appropriateness, etc., I've made myself a little list of Facebook rules.

1. Be real, but not overly revealing. This means no heavy political banter, no off-color remarks, and a careful eye for embarassing photos from the long-ago past, posted by friends and "tagged" to me. Revealing too much is just like going to a company cocktail party and drinking too much and thus saying too much - except that on Facebook it might be there forever.
2. Make it useful and efficient. If I'm going to put some time into Facebook each week, I might as well multi-task. Use it for some virtual office hours and pre-exam study sessions.
3. Protect your privacy. Leave off the home address and make sure that Facebook settings are such that profiles, postings are not available to those beyond the "friend" list.
4. Make sure it's optional for students. Most students are going to be on Facebook. But some are not, and do not want to be - or maybe they are and they just don't want to be your "friend." They must feel no disadvantage whatsoever for this choice.

Advice from Students: How to Succeed in an Online Class

One of my areas of passion is online retention - so I've talked to a lot of students (both informally and through research) in trying to see why some succeed where others fail. Interestingly, when talking to students who withdrew from online courses, I've realized that reasons were rarely related to instructor issues. More often than not, the students did not fully realize what taking an online course would be like. Their advice to other students:

1. Understand that you will spend a lot of time on the computer.
2. Log in to your online course every day.
3. Expect to do a lot of reading - probably more than in a f2f course.
4. Know where to go for help, and don't hesitate to ask for it.
5. Get started on the course as soon as possible - log in on the very first day of class.
6. Don't wait until the due dates to post discussion assignments.

I use these tips, and variations of them, in both online and f2f orientations for online students. Yes, they may seem quite elementary to those of us who teach, support or otherwise breathe online learning, but now I realize that we can't overestimate how critical it is for new online students to know what to expect before their courses start.

A Hip, New Blackboard

Today brought the long-awaited release of the much hyped Blackboard 9. According to Inside Higher Ed, early reviewers are impressed with its snazzier, cleaner look and easily-modified login pages. This version also allows those who loathe change to choose different looks instead, such as older versions of Blackboard and the clunky WebCT templates (these are starting to seem almost retro now). Also - cool changes in the interface itself, allowing course designers to click and drag elements around on the page. What I like most, though, is the integration with social tools, such as FaceBook - students can get reminders of test and assignment due dates at their favorite social sites without entering Blackboard. Blackboard 9 would probably be the most exciting new technology I've seen all week if my husband hadn't come home with a Wii Fit the other day.

Fun Idea for Posting Instructor Photo in Online Course

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the importance of instructors putting their photos in their online course. Now it's probably better to have it up there in the beginning of the course, but here's a neat idea that I've done before if you want to wait a couple of weeks into the course. Post four pictures - one of yourself and three of other people who look quite different from you. Let students guess, based on what they've gleaned from your interactions, which one is the real you. In my experience, only about 15 percent picked the real me, and it was a bit of a fun time for all. Fun is always good.

Why Didn't I Think of This?: Student Teachers in Virtual High School

There's needs to be a new word like maybe jealyspired to describe how one feels when they read about something so good and so cool that they actually feel totally inspired but also jealous about not being The One to think of it. That's how I feel about what University of Central Florida and Florida Virtual High School are doing. UCF's student teachers will spend seven weeks of their student teaching in the online classroom. The implications are really big on this one, and to be honest, this isn't the first time I've been jealyspired by UCF or FVHS.