<p>-In my professional life I design and develop online courses and classes. I’ve done this for universities, corporations, and professional associations with continuing ed requirements and certification exams. I have designed courses for undergrads (some of which were at a remedial level), Ph.D candidates, high level executives, beginning employees, mid-career level employees, and in general a wide range of learners. I’ve also personally completed several graduate level courses online to add to my skill set so I know first hand what it’s like to be an online student. </p>
<p>Just as in a face to face classroom, there are good classes and bad classes. I won’t go into my entire work process, etc. to tell you how I design what I consider to be a good class. I can tell you that I design based upon my knowledge about how people learn in general and based upon a growing body of research about online learners. The internet and computers or tablets are simply another means of delivering instruction–just like a lecture or a book. At the core is whether a course is well designed and delivered. I come from a background of face to face teaching and instruction and moved into elearning.</p>
<p>People are often concerned with the possibility of cheating. Quite honestly preventing cheating is one of the easiest issues to overcome. There are numerous ways to do this from the way the course is designed to how students take any exams. Advancing technology makes this less and less of an issue. A good designer will know how to accommodate for this concern. </p>
<p>Now that I feel like I’ve posted a brief resume and defended my profession, I need to enjoy a day off.</p>