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Showing posts from February, 2013

eMajor's Dr Whisler Brings Fun and Passion to Online Teaching

As an Associate Professor in the Adult & Career Education Department in the College of Education at Valdosta State University, Dr. Whisler teaches on-campus and online undergraduate and graduate VSU courses, as well as eMajor classes. In addition to teaching eMajor classes, Dr. Whisler is the Associate Professor & OAT-OBC Advisor in the Adult & Career Education Department in the College of Education at Valdosta State University. Teaching through eMajor has made her a better face-to-face teacher because of her online teaching experience. "Teaching online has taught me the importance of pre-planning and communicating instructions clearly," Dr. Whisler says. "Interacting with online students needs to be a priority for online instructors, and it presents unique challenges", she says. Some online students call her, and those on campus stop by her office - but most communication occurs through email and discussion forums.  Dr. Whisler tries to communicate cle

Behind the Scenes with Dr. Farooq Khan (Chemistry faculty)

Hello, I am Dr. Farooq Khan and I am the Professor of Chemistry, and Interim Dean, College of Science and Mathematics at the University of West Georgia. There are several major differences in face-to-face and online classes.   In a face-to-face class, there are students who rarely speak up.   In eCore classes, discussions are required, so that there is no “quiet” student.   Second, in a face-to-face class, I inject quite a bit of humor.   I would have to work hard at writing humorous lines for eCore courses while ensuring that I am not taken out of context.   As a result, I am a very solemn eCore instructor.   Finally, in eCore Chemistry, I find that ideas that can be expressed very simply in a face-to-face environment (simple figures, formulae, equations, etc.), take a lot more ingenuity.   One of the things I do differently using eCore than my face-to-face class is that I am more serious. Secondly, I try to be very careful in defining expectations and deadlines