Jane Leight

Carol, You bring up an excellent point about online students being self-motivated. That is one quality that is nonnegotiable in the online learning environment. Thanks for your input :) Jane

You bring up a good point that the Design Specification document would be a great tool for the vendor. Some companies prefer to forgo the whole design specification process and choose, instead, to have the vendor design a prototype from a general description of what is required and work from there. Sort of like the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words." Perhaps the best method would be the one that is quicker and cheaper; without sacrificing quality, of course. Have you ever been involved in online course design? Jane

I like your idea. In some courses the paper may be a response to a case study or simply to a list of questions. This method will work well for smaller groups... or for larger ones if you are a workaholic :) Do you think that multiple-choice and true/false tests are less effective than your method in assessing what students have learned? Just wondering... Jane

I agree with you that asynchronous discussion is more convenient. The time factor certainly is one of the benefits of online education. In addition, I think that being able to read the comments of your peers rather than hear them, allows you to really grasp what is being said. You can also formulate your own thoughts before putting them into writing. For these reasons, asynchronous discussion is my personal favorite. Thanks for your input. Jane

When you mentioned Myers-Briggs it made me wonder whether there would be a significant difference between online students and traditionally-educated students as far as test results. In other words, do certain personality types tend to choose online education? Interesting. I take it that you would use Myers-Briggs as your gauge over how the student earned his or her degree. Am I right? Do you think that a degree earned online is as good as one earned through traditional channels? I am interested in your thoughts :) Jane

Shohreh, I agree with you about open book exams. I think that anything that gets students to open their books is good. With online learning, I don't believe there is a way to avoid students using their textbooks. It is best to design exams that encourage them to state what they learned in their textbooks in another way and even expound on that knowledge. Good point :) Jane

As a seasoned user of the ISD checklist, would you say that your method is preferable to some type of rapid prototyping method of designing courses? I am interested in your experience in this area. Thanks, I enjoyed having you in the class. :) Jane

Hi Karen, Do you think that using a design specification document is preferable to having the designer create a prototype, which would be improved through multiple communication with you? Which would be quicker? :) Jane

Hi Karen, It sounds like your course could be easily converted to an online format for the theory portion. Do you think that the physical aspect of the student assessment could be done online with e-Touch? :) Jane

Hi Karen, Do you think that asynchronous communication lends itself to deeper learning? Or,is the dynamic of a chat room better for learning? I am interested in your thoughts. :) Jane