Anita Hapshie

Most of my BSN and all of my MSN were online. Time management was the biggest thing for me to adapt to between working full time and going to school full time. Relaying this message to students helps them. Telling them to keep their goal in mind as a constant reminder of where they want to go is also something to help support them. Sending email reminders assists with keeping them on track and can be useful by just supporting them. 

Even when the response of the student is less than expected, keep your reply to them supportive and encourage them to do better. Let them know that they did a good job or excellent job. Encouragement keeps them wanting to participate and learn.

Giving the students a brief introduction to yourself is a great way to share your experience, how you were once a student, and that throughout life we continue to learn. I encourage the students to open up a little about themselves as well to try to "get to know" them. I have also shared stories from my experiences that pertain to what we are learning. This gives them an idea of what they may see in their professional experience.

The hardest part with e-learning is getting comfortable with the system, learning how to post events, and learning to set up the grading system, especially for group projects. You must also learn how to create workspaces for group projects. It is essential to know how to set up the grade book and encouraging students to use the system. Having a supportive IT is best when it supports instructors as well as students.

I have gotten some ideas on how to improve one of my courses if not all of them. In some ways, it helps the students and provides several different types of learning for the different types of learners. It can reinforce what was taught in the classroom.

It is important for students to have timely feedback and to know why their selection is incorrect. That keeps them on the right course and in some ways helps them review.

I learned a little more about synchronous and asynchronous learning to enhance what I already do.

Use the learning environment to stimulate learning in an interactive way that will engage all types of learners. The other key issue is to keep them engaged. Repeating what is important in different ways will reach several different types of learners as well.

I learned about the Solomon act and the protections in place for online environments. As a former students in online classes, you sign the form and hardly ever look at the fine print. But, online classes are a lot easier to attend when you have a busy lifestyle and want to furhter your education.