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Renee Citlau and her colleagues at Cypress High School in Anaheim, California, were puzzled why a student was performing much better in the online class Citlau taught than in his face-to-face classes, so she asked him why. The answer was heartbreaking.

“I feel more comfortable in my online class because no one can hear my voice and make fun of my accent.”

Renee Citlau, the 2013 Online Teacher of the Year, tells that story not to pull at heartstrings, but to demonstrate the potential of online classes to encourage student engagement and foster a sense of community.

“In the online classroom, it’s so important that community is developed, and we know that because we really have to work at making that online course engaging, or our students aren’t going to come back,” she said.

Renee, an online business teacher at Cypress High School, spearheaded the Anaheim Union High School District’s online program in 2007, and now helps her fellow teachers incorporate online tools into their classrooms. She uses Blackboard Collaborate to meet with students in her online classes through weekly virtual sessions.

We had the honor of sitting down with Renee in our Washington, D.C., offices and hearing from the best in the business what classroom teachers can learn from online teachers. Watch Renee explain the importance of developing community in online classes:

To learn more, check out EdTech: Focus on K-12’s interview with Renee on 5 Must-Have Elements for Every Online Class.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Barbara Klett at Central Oregon Community College.  I simply started with, “Can you tell me about your relationship with Blackboard?”  Her response pleased me to the point that I asked if I could share her sentiments with the Blackboard community through our blog.  I’m thrilled to let you in on our discussion.  And, thanks, Barbara, for your willingness to share with others your thoughts on what you are seeing from Blackboard.

 

Here are some excerpts from my conversation with Barbara…

We recently announced that Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) won a Gates Foundation grant for the creation of a Developmental Education Math MOOC. Tri-C chose to use CourseSites (powered by Blackboard) as their MOOC platform of choice. We checked with Dr. Charles Dull, Assistant Dean of eLearning and Innovation at Tri-C, to understand their motivation for creating a MOOC and its design goals.

Sign up for the Tri-C Pre-Algebra MOOC starting April 1^st and check out the CourseSites MOOC Catalog to see what other institutions are doing.

Q: Why did you create a Math MOOC specifically for Developmental Education? Who was the course designed for?

A: The Tri-C Math MOOC was created for multiple audiences, including first generation college students, adult students, and high school students who need to prepare to enter DevEd courses post-graduation. It is also designed for students who need help bringing their math skills to a college-ready level or improving math placement scores by preparing them prior for taking the test. The intent for the MOOC is to allow students to lessen their time spent in remedial coursework by testing into a higher level math than they otherwise would have without taking the MOOC.

Q: How will the creation of this MOOC help you meet your institution-wide goals?

Guest post by Suzan Harkness Ph.D., Director of the Center for Academic Technology, University of the District of Columbia and ACE Fellow, Mount St. Mary’s University Class of 2012-2013

No matter how endowed or respected the institution, there are five essential elements of equal importance that bind together to affect the functioning of the other in a successful online initiative. Successful online initiatives require a basic understanding of how core elements work together and separately to create a sound and successful online education program or college. Building a successful online model is much like baking bread – there are really five key ingredients that make or break the recipe.

Flour – Flour provides the foundation for all other ingredients – Colleges and universities need a sound strategic plan, supportive infrastructure, policies and procedures, and dedicated budget to support the strategic initiative.

Yeast – Yeast is a living organism that grows and reproduces – Colleges and universities need their strategy and key administrators, faculty and staff to grow the initiative through peer review, peer-to-peer learning, collegial collaboration, collaborative support structures and shared services, vision, and continual improvement. A program, staff, faculty, and vision in the technological paradigm that does not grow and stay current will rapidly become out-of-date and insignificant.

Learning is not a spectator sport. Learning requires discussion, engagement and debate, all while actively looking back on experiences and interacting with others.

Katherine Dowdell, District Chair for Social and Behavioral Sciences at Des Moines Area Community College, knows how difficult it can be to encourage students to engage in their education. Katherine began her tenure teaching online courses after volunteering for the role never having previously done it. Seven years later, she’s now coaching colleagues on how to be successful online.

Katherine’s tip on getting student’s engaged? Set up an engagement triple play. Online classrooms can facilitate student engagement in new and different ways than in-person training. With online learning: 1. Students engage with instructors. 2. Students engage with content. 3. Students engage with one another.

58% of faculty members say that the growth of online education makes them more fearful than excited. Originally, Katherine wasn’t sure that her students were “getting it.” Her fears subsided, though, and she’s helped us put together an Instructor’s Field Guide titled, 5 Ways to Get Started with the Online Classroom.