Herbert Brown III

Location: appalachian state university - boone, nc - usa

About me

Herb Brown is a professor and program director in the business and information technology education program at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He directs the Graduate program in New Media/Global Education and Online Teaching and Learning at Appstate. He has taught information technology, instructional technology, and business education courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels for 20 years and served 10 years in the role of Director of Technology for several universities. He has held teaching and administrative positions at James Madison University, The University of Virginia's College at Wise, the University of South Carolina and Appalachian State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Vocational Education with a cognate in Computer Information Systems from Virginia Tech. His articles have appeared in Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, and the NABTE Journal.

Interests

online teaching and learning, career and technical education, business & information technology education

Skills

online teaching and learning, teaching methodology, information technology education, web development/design

Website

http://edtech.appstate.edu

Activity

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Melinda , I agree that faculty support is crucial to the success of any online strategic implementation. I have seen money and equipment thrown at faculty to encourage them to teach online just to have few people embrace it and the technology sit idol. Training and mentoring is the key. If you can show and help faculty understand the tools and visualize how their course can work online they are more likely to be successful. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Susan, I agree these are all important variables in the ideal ratio. I also realize that administrators do not always determine optimal ratios based on research and experiences, but usually on optimal return on investment and profit ratios. This can make it difficult with some classes. I have also had very large classes and they are very challenging to provide the same quality interaction you can provide in a course with a more optimal ratio. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

Russell, I have seen this behavior as well. I try to address this with VERY clear and detailed course expectations which address what students should expect out of the course and I am very upfront about the workload for the course. I also make sure I give them a detailed schedule at the beginning so that they students can see the amount of work required, the assignments, and I try to help them organize their work and submissions. I set clear deadlines and expect the students to meet them. After the first couple of assignments they get a feel for… >>>

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

Dr. Naomi, Communication is critical and I agree tone is very important. I find when I get in a hurry I come across in my postings in a much more direct way, which is often viewed by the students as harsh criticism. It is not intended that way, but I didn't watch my tone and was too blunt in the details of elements that need work. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Christopher, This range also helps to ensure a fairly good group dynamic in discussions. If you only have 4 students, you don't get much variety; however, with 15-20 the student to student interaction is better and it is still manageable for the instructor. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Dr. Naomi, This is a good list. These all appear to be student-centered expectations. Do you include what students should expect from their instructor within some of these and other categories? Should faculty have expectations to meet as well? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Russell, I think you will find that your ratio based on your experience is very similar to most other individual's experiences. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Russell, I think you will find that your ratio based on your experience is very similar to most other individual's experiences. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

sydney, I agree that is can be a personal preference; however, administrators establish optimal ratios all the time for programs they manage. If you were the administrator and had to set an optimal range, what would you set? I do understand that the type of content and level of the content can influence this as well. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Bari, Wow, 1 student. You can't have a lot of student to student interaction with one :-) 60 on the other hand would make it very challenging to interact in a personal way with each of the 60 students as well. Herbert Brown III

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