The CMS
I have been with many institutions who only provide perfunctory training and it hardly covers the CMS (LMS). I tend to be wary of these institutions. Chris
Christopher,
Good advice for individuals thinking about becoming online instructors. There are many opportunities out there so don't be afraid to explore them to determine if you are going to be supported and informed as you need to be to be effective in your teaching.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Having served as an online instructor at more than one institution, I agree with your general observations….pre-instructional training, in my view, is vital to effective online facilitation….without it, an instructor can demonstrate insufficient familiarity with the Course Management System and perhaps project uncertainty to students…what’s more is that the instructor is unlikely to be sufficiently equipped to optimize the learning experience for students.
Dr. Sidney,
The pre-instructional training as I read it here would be for faculty. What about students? Should they have pre-instructional training on how to be an effective online student?
Herbert Brown III
Absolutely....training for students is just as essential as faculty training.........
Dr. Sidney,
I agree, but sometimes I think some institutions forget the importance of student training for them to be successful in their online courses.
Herbert Brown III
The features of various CMS are continually being added to and improved, while new CMS are published. Add to this that the underlying technologies such as tablets and the availability of wireless and cellular internet make fully utilizing a CMS a moving target.
Kevin,
True, the technology is changing in leaps and bounds. There is no single language they are designed in either. JAVA, PHP, MYSQL, you name it.
Herbert Brown III
