Summer 2009 Distance Education Survey Faculty Response
Summarized and Combined
What went well in Distance Learning Courses?
1. Cascading
Exams over the Text, where exams would close over an extended period of time.
2. Communication
protocols used to address the short falls of distance education. Daily web posting were used to communicate in
mass to the students, followed by individual e-mails.
3. The
course seems to be a hit with the great majority of students. The organization of the course site, the
tutorials, the content, and the tutoring (both online & f-2-f) seem to get
great comments from students. Overall,
the entire course went well.
4. This
is the most students I have ever had to respond to the on-line survey. I think it overall went well. I believe my
flexibility and theirs is apparent.
5. I
have taught this course many ways; however students express the blending of
face to face with online is the right level of support and interaction.
6. This
course only had 6 students respond.
That's a very small %, but this is also the last time this course will
be offered in our program of study. So I can't be too judgmental.
7. Students
were actively engaged in developing plans that were relevant to their
work. They learned valuable lessons in
the seminars that contributed to their development as school leaders.
8. Students
like the flexibility that the web-based learning provides.
9. Student
engagement in the face to face seminars.
10. They
enjoyed having the opportunity to discuss sensitive subjects, like race, both
in person and online.
11. The
students understood the assignments and found the presentation of material
good. Also, understood expectations and the grading system.
12. Students
felt the online course was well designed. They all indicated that feedback was
quick and timely.
13. Many
students mentioned how helpful the videos were for this course content.
Organization was said to be incredibly organized and perfectly paced. Students
liked being able to see all requirements and assignments at the beginning of
the semester.
14. Students
liked being on line, but what sometimes upset that I did not participate enough
during the time allowed for their discussion of each topic.
15. The
communication with students went quite well in this class. Students feel that
they got help from me timely.
16. Improved
student accountability for the material
17. First
- I am disappointed that only 16 of 36 students completed the online
evaluations. The majority of the responding students were challenged and felt
that the class resulted in learning.
18. The
review of the data as reported revealed that the class as a whole went very
well. The students participated in the learning experience and felt supported
when I was available to answer their questions personally.
19. "Student
enthusiasm and participation was outstanding. I had time to develop and post
all units before their class began so I could focus on dialogue with
students."
20. The
class went as planned and the student performance was above my
expectations. The online portion of the
course served its purpose and it was effective at communicating the desired
information to students.
21. The
course performed as planned. As the
first run with this format, I feel the course worked just fine.
22. The
students enjoyed the hands-on learning. Perhaps, I need to focus more on the
hands-on stuff rather than lecturing more
23. Although
the class was online, I made myself continuously accessible (cell phone number
provided), as well as responded/provided feedback within a timely manner.
24. Students
seemed to find the course relevant to their program of study and to the
portfolio exit requirement. They believed that the course prepared them for
future courses which are the intent of SPED 6721.
What was problematic or should be improved?
1. Spam
filter stopping e-mail attachments requiring individual approve for release.
2. Time
management. Attempting to deliver the
same quality of content to students where research papers are assigned and
graded resulted in a massive amount of time spent at the computer during the
term.
3. None
was mentioned over which I have control or would not compromised the integrity
of the learning experience & the rigor needed for the course. Giving more time in an open-book quiz will
surely invite less preparation ahead of the quiz.
4. Some
students are not aware of online resources, such as the library databases.
5. This
was/is a course that has had little on-line activities in the past, I made it
50/50 and I believe it worked out well for the last class.
6. Students
were overwhelmed with the amount of material presented online. I need to limit
the number of posts each person can put on the discussion board. Some students
did not want to read so many of others' posts.
7. Online
learning was not interactive enough and did not have enough engagement with new
information.
8. Since
the evaluations of the quizzes were subject to the final question, there was
some confusion. I give credit for student feedback for their answers which were
correct but disagreed with the fixed answers found on CourseDen.
9. Some
wanted more F2F contact. Difficulty finding partners for projects, lack of
personal interaction, and one wanted immediate feedback rather than waiting on
an email or discussion reply. Suggestion was made to offer optional live chat
once a week.
10. Some
students mentioned that an early online training session before classes
actually start would be advantageous. One student would like to see possibility
for late submissions, after midnight on due date.
11. This
is a very hard class to take online, and there are always some students who
fail to realize how much effort needs to be put into the class. I am not sure how to make it more clearly to
them.
12. "Need
to have course twice weekly instead of the scheduled once weekly. These
students were unfamiliar with CourseDen/Webct (juniors),
not used in pre-requisite courses for testing, etc. Would like to see CourseDen instruction as a
standard during student "
13. This
class did not like the online component (60%) and are not interested in a
completely online course; further, about 70% of the members of this class did
not feel more comfortable participating online when compared to the
face-to-face setting.
14. One
thing that I have identified as being problematic is the syllabus quiz which
had 2-3 questions about where certain information can be found. I will change
the way that the syllabus is uploaded in the course from a MS word format to a
PDF format.
15. In
this course, there were no substantial problems with the online portion. The quality of the online materials could be
improved to take greater advantage of the interactivity on line, but this will
require slow modification over time to ensure that.
16. Some
students have difficulty with the interface.
Computer savvy students found it "clunky". Less computer savvy students felt it was
fine. I should point out that I
specifically asked about these things in the course, so my answers reflect
anecdotal
17. They
wanted me more involved with the online discussion. The journaling idea did not work. They turned in a word attachment at the end
of the course instead of doing entries all along the way as I had wanted.
18. I
need to get more training on features like Camtasia
and Wimba. I've had the training in the past, but
separate from the class and without application, I lost it/forgot what was
learned.
19. SPED
6721 is one of the most difficult courses for students and instructor when it
is taught during the short summer term. Some students felt that they did not
have enough time to do the readings, but I do not think that the amount of
reading was unrealizable.
What do you plan to change based on student feedback?
1. Reduce
the research paper content to accommodate the uncontrollable class sizes.
2. Based
on the majority of students input, I will try to keep doing what I am already
doing. I anticipate natural progression
and update of course material. This
course is revised annually during the summer months.
3. I
will add more on-line lessons. Seems I'm
doing a pretty good job.
4. The
normal updating and refinement of the curriculum.
5. Clearly
defined grading system; better training for performance coaches functioning as
teaching assistants.
6. I
will limit the number of posts each person can put on the discussion board or
not make it mandatory for them to read them all.
7. Use
a larger variety of presentation materials. Extension of resources for problem
solving exercises.
8. I
do allow for late submissions during fall and spring semesters, but summer
session is so short that it would not be practical to allow for late
submissions on all assignments.
9. Perhaps
add more student/instructor online interaction - a discussion board may be
stimulating for this group.
10. Schedule
the course for more than 3 1/2 weeks.
11. "1.
Writing or changes in language can be first up, since they are easier topics,
to ease students into learning about linguistics. Put phonetics back up earlier
in the course, before Morphology and Syntax. Change Syntax assignment.
12. Adding
an additional face to face session, even if it is an optional session to
address student concerns and questions.
What was the biggest adjustment required for distance
instructors?
1. Loss
of face to face contact. No distance
education course can equal real time interaction with a group. Lack of non
verbal quest or reading a crowd.
2. After
having taught online for so many semesters I have come to accept the issues
associated with connectivity not being seamless or transparent.
3. Packaging
the course for asynchronous delivery. I
normally spend the entire summer creating the course and its content. The development of extensive & high
quality online offerings will grow with appropriate incentives. Online classes
take a great deal
4. Deciding
how to promote the necessary interaction
5. This
was the first time this course was taught in the first semester of our new
performance based program.
6. Simplify;
simplify all things such as directions, assignment directions, and quiz and
exam directions. Examples and more examples
7. The
lack of direct student contact was addressed primarily by providing additional
presentation materials and utilizing email to answer questions.
8. The
largest adjustment I made was to limit the number of students in each group. I made
that quite clear in my syllabus so students formed their groups with a limited
number of students.
9. Technological
innovations...love the graduate students in distant learning department; they
were very helpful in addressing issues that would arise in the system.
10. I
have taught distance courses frequently - am always interested in learning new
strategies.
11. The
largest adjustment that I made was in allowing the students to call, text, or
email me anytime. I was always available via blackberry. It became a very
taxing to do this, but given the student population and generational
differences.
12. Becoming
comfortable with the use of WIMBA. I had very good technical support although
there are continuing problems with consistent audio quality.
13. Getting
materials in a format accessible to all students required modification of some
course materials (newer version of Office to older version).
How was the level of student services, DDEC, and instructor
support?
1. Based
on the respondent size of 8 out of 37 there are serious issues with the current
design of using online evaluations as direct substitutes for in-class
surveying.
2. The
people who provide our local non-academic support are simply fantastic! They
are hardworking and pleasant. However, I
would like two issues to be addressed: the first issue, updating of course
rosters.
3. Students
are just not aware.
4. Again,
students are not well-versed with these resources.
5. Student
rated help at 3.5.
6. Most
students reported that distance help was very useful (4.5).
7. Rating
was 3.6. One student mentioned in notes that the one time she called help line,
there was no assistance for her.
8. Graduate
students from distant education were wonderful!
9. I
did not perceive any difficulties for students - it did not appear to be a
problem for students according to the surveys.
10. DL
folks are great. However, the DL Course Evaluation says little about the course
content or the instructor.
11. Only
2 students responded and these two students were very positive about online
learning.