David Miller

Discussion Comment

Module four of this class provided some excellent information regarding how to assist students with learning disabilities be successful. One statement in particular greatly resonated with me: "Try to capitalize on the big three that your students bring to class: their abilities, experiences, and motivation. These along with modifications you make in sharing the course content and competencies will help you to meet their learning needs. An added benefit of these efforts will be that your other students will profit from your instructional delivery as well."

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Diverse Learning

One of the pertinent concepts that was presented during this module dealt with how to assist students with reading comprehension deficiencies effectively learn important concepts. This topic greatly resonated with me since I recently had a student in a Strategic management and Policy class express her concern and frustration regarding her inability to understand the instructions and concepts related to developing a variety of strategic decesion-making matrices. What I discovered was that I needed to present the concepts in a visual format which provided the student with the long-term impact that these matrices had in assisting leaders in making the… >>>

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Organizaing Student Learning Groups

One of the most important dynamics I've come to appreciate during my tenure as an adjunct instructor, is the effective use of "Learning Groups." Although this particular course made several excellent points, one point in particular greatly resonated with me. "Impart students with the skills that they need to succeed in groups. Many students have never worked in a group setting. They need some practice in areas like discussion, active listening, giving and receiving constructive criticism, and managing disagreements." Just curious, what learning group methods have you found to be successful?

David Miller

Discussion Comment

The Importance Maintaining Eye Contact in the Classroom

As both a campus-based and online instructor I have found it imperative to maintain good eye contact in order to ensure students are comfortable and engaged in the classroom. One of the pertinent articles that I've discovered online discusses 6 ways to framatically improve your eye contact skills. Of course when conducting a lecture online you must maintain eye contact in a much different fashion thatn in the traditional classroom. For example, I make it a practice to continually encourage students to share their experiences that pertain to the topics of discussion. I also draw them into illustrations by using… >>>

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Active Learning

Having served as an adjunct instructor for both online and campus-based classrooms for the past two years, it has been quite interesting to compare and contrast various methods of teaching. During this course module it was very enlightening to review the specifics regarding low and high risk activities for active learning. In the future I will be much better prepared regarding how to effectively integrate both type of activities into the classroom setting. I came across an excellent quote that is very applicable to this course. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning. It is a product… >>>

David Miller

Discussion Comment

The Disruptive Student

It's quite ironic that during my very first online teaching assignment (two years ago), I experienced one of my most challenging students in the online environment. This particular student I would classify as both a "noisy" as well as "disruptive" student. The course involved Human Resources Management and this particular student was very unhappy that she was required to take this class in conjunction with her degree program. In addition, she obviously had an axe to grind with some HR professional(s) earlier in her career. She openly share her position that HR Departments were a waste of time and that… >>>

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Live Chats versus No Live Chats

I've taught in several online learning environments to include courses that require weekly live chats and those that do not. Although live chats are not included in grading rubrics, I have found that students who participate in live chats typically experience a much more enriching learning experience. Live chats also provide an opportunity for the instructor and student to develop rapport, once again providing the student with a more enriching experience.

David Miller

Discussion Comment

The Introduction

One of the most important aspects of instructing an online course is to provide a comprehensive introduction of yourself to your class. If your university requires online chats, the first chat of each course is an excellent opportunity to provide an introduction of yourself as the instructor as well as review course expectations, late work policies, and recommendations as to how to be successful in the course. Students appreciate an instructor who is genuine in regards to their desire to see each student succeed in the classroom.

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Evolution of Online Learning

It wasn't that long ago that many educational institutions as well as employers were reluctant to recognize the quality of online degrees. In fact, many educational institutions were concerned that their "brand" would be watered down if they were to offer online degree programs in addition to their traditional campus-based programs. While serving as an online instructor for the past two years, it has been interesting to observe the significant increase in the number of colleges and universities that now offer online degree programs. In fact, practically every major university today now offers online degree programs. How do employers now… >>>

David Miller

Discussion Comment

Learning Styles

One of the major mistakes that instructors can make in the classroom is to consistently teach course content without varying their teaching techniques. The term "andragogy" means "the art or science of teaching adults." According to that definition, then if we are to be effective instructors, then we need to become in essence, "artists." Mortimer Ardler states â€œThe purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.â€ Our objective as instructors should be to encourage and participate in the continuous learning of our students.