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

The Responsibilities of Teaching Online

Randall, I agree with your comments. It is harder to stay engaged and maintain the same level of enthusiasm in an online course. There is something powerful in the personal interaction of a traditional classroom especially when students engage the content with you. It encourages me! I feel that way sometimes with online classes, but not typically at the same level. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

Tony, I like that your resource board is designed to allow students to share references with other students. This begins them toward building a sense of community and working through issues together - teamwork. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Managing Learner Behaviors

Tony, Great. I wanted to make sure that others reading this forum understood your process for engaging students. I use this as well and believe it is very effective. The main focus is engaging students and getting them to develop their critical thinking skills....one of the most mentioned skills that businesses want in their employees today. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Onyema, Have you ever tried to use some type of assignment or assessment tied to the expectations to ensure the students read them? Quizzes on the material, discussions on them, scavenger hunt assignment to answer questions from the expectations. Something to make sure the students engage the content? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

David, I agree 100%. In fact I find myself tweaking my expectations each semester when I run in to situations of possible misinterpretation. After a couple semesters they become really well defined....or at least until the next unique student interpretation :-) I don't believe they will ever become perfect. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Onyema, Are your chats "required" or are they optional. Do the students know they are required to participate in these live sessions at the beginning of the course? I have seen backlash from students that expect a more asynchronous approach and are then expected to regularly connect synchronously. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

David, I would agree that education will continue to evolve in both areas. We already see extensive use of hybrid classroom models at traditional universities. We also see flipped models were most of the knowledge content is provided in the online component of the course and the traditional classroom time is used for more discussions and other interactive activities. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Managing Learner Behaviors

Onyema, Good, so you would get some more information and specifics about the student's arguments with the assignments. More detailed information from the student might provide a different angle to the argument that you did not realize existed. If the student just has extensive prior knowledge of the subject, what would you do next? Would you consider alternative assignments? Why? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Responsibilities of Teaching Online

David, I agree that preparation of the content of the course and the organization will likely be the same. However, there are times that you have to re-vision the course for online delivery. For example, a discussion you have in a normal on-ground class might not work the same way in the online course and you need to look at ways to accomplish the same "learning" process but with different tools and strategies to reach the same goal. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

Michael, So if I am reading your post correctly...there might even be some courses that might be better online because of the content - such as the visual nature of an art history course. Maybe a media studies course where you are constantly online engaging and analyzing the media? Herbert Brown III

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