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

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

Tony, What about telemedicine? There are systems being used today for counseling (remotely), telemedicine, and others that would fall within the categories you list. I would agree in general that these areas are probably not best for online learning; however, they do exist in some places and to some extent. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Engaging Learners in Discussion

Michael, These are all great ideas to engage learners in discussions and obtain meaningful responses. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Engaging Learners in Discussion

Tony, Examples (yours) and personal experiences (the students) help the students connect their new learning to previous knowledge and experience - thus producing learning (constuctivist approach). Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Managing Learner Behaviors

Tony, Good start...can you provide some specific details on what you mean and how it applies to this scenario? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Michael, I agree with this size for the average class. I think it also varies based on the level and type of content in the course. I would also say this is might be an optimal course size for an average teaching load. If you are teaching overloads, then the overall total number of students increases and the same problems begin to appear (slow responsiveness). Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Faculty Expectations

Tony, If you don't go over the rules of the road, how to the students know your expectations? Do you address it in other ways? Any examples? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Will Online Learning Replace the Traditional Classroom?

Tony, I agree with the idea of enhancement. Can you speak a little more to the way you view this? Any personal examples? Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Managing Learner Behaviors

Michael, I like your approach of using their objective and based on some feedback from them, they might get a richer experience if the assignment is tweaked slightly. It fundamentally is the identical assignment, but maybe in a direction of their interest. I believe assignments in general should be designed in such a way to address student diversity. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

The Optimal Online Student-Instructor Ratio

Errol, As you noted, there is NO one right answer. It was designed for just your response; one that identifies the myrid of variables that effect an optimal online student-instructor teaching ration. All of the items you mentioned are correct, as well as the content of the course and other variables. My magic number is 15-25 or so, but that varies greatly depending on the course. Herbert Brown III

Herbert Brown III

Discussion Comment

Instructor Presence

Tina , All great comments. The personal instructor experiences as related to the course content provide the students with a real world image of how the content is actually applied. The second part is just as vital; allowing students to connect the new information to their existing knowledge and/or personal experiences (the constructist learning theory). Herbert Brown III

End of Content