Online classes

[MUSIC] >>NARRATOR: This is not your mother
and fathers traditional classroom setting, but instead, its the new trend
in college instruction: online classes. Here at Camden-Carroll library,
more than a dozen Morehead State University professors
are sharing ideas and strategies in teaching online classes and
how to engage a whole new generation of college students. The goal is to make
online courses easily accessible, flexible, and efficient, with students having
the all-important support of MSU professors. >>MILLER: The online courses that
were developing this week are really a new way of looking at learning and
we are actually developing courses so that students understand
what the objectives are.

The objectives are listed out very plainly. >>JERDE: You know, we can put
textbook readings on there, we can have notes from the class,
but we also try to incorporate some video, we incorporate some things where they
work in groups discussing things. We just try to enrich the course
in such a way that it isnt just reading a bunch of stuff and taking a test.
Which, you dont do that just in the classroom anyway. >>BOISVERT: Using Blackboard as a means
to teach and to engage students in content I didnt think it was a good idea or possible,
and now I understand that not only is it completely possible, it is a good means
of providing access to higher education to those who may not be able to get to it,
or have the privileges that other people have and participating in a workshop like this
provides me with the means to make that access possible to everybody.

>>NARRATOR: In addition
to having classes online, MSU offers several degree programs
completely online including: MBA, MA in English, graduate programs
in education, graduate and undergraduate programs in Industrial &
Engineering Technology, as well as several minor options. >>MILLER: In our units,
we have an introduction of material, our presentation like we would in class,
then we have practice activities, and then theres a formal assessment
But all of them are aligned specifically to the student learning objectives
that we have in the course. >>JERDE: For some of us,
its a brand new time, the first time weve ever taught a course,
and other times, like for myself, Ive been teaching online
but Ive reworked the course a little bit to make it easier to follow,
and make things where Im actually testing what Im showing them and so on,
so its much easier and its more straight-forward for the students
to follow what Im trying to do because in most of our cases,
we never see the students. >>NARRATOR: The popularity
of online classes is increasing.

Theyre Much More affordable
and Much More convenient! >>BOISVERT: The message that
I wanted to convey in my presentation was the differences between
where I started when I taught the course last fall, and where I am now
for when I teach the course this coming fall, and the differences that I came to understand
and the mistakes that I made, and how I was able to fix them and
organize the course in a way that makes sense to someone whos not in it yet. >>SHAVERS: I think its helped me
to really think about how my students learn, where they are cognitively, and how I can
begin to assess that in a way thats fair to them but also that makes sense to them,
and I think its helped me to make sure that my online classes are as great
as my face-to-face classes..