Faculty shared an online course  they located and described features of it they liked and did not like.

Ginny

Ginny found her online course at MERLOT (http://www.merlot.org) , which is a peer-reviewed website for online resources. The course Ginny likes is at http://ublib.buffalo.edu She liked the way it was organized, had lots of white space, good table of contents on the side that linked to major headings on the page, all the links worked, and there was an option to make a print copy of each page.

Mark Bond

Mark  liked a Criminal Justice course he found that was offered by the American Public University System. The syllabus was very detailed, contained lots of web links, was user friendly, included grading rubrics, the gradebook was appealing, and students could open their quizzes and see the corrected answers.  There was a lot of scrolling on some pages (the recommendation is to try to keep screens to no more than two pages of scrolling).

Mark would like to see more critical thinking activities in the course. He's seen a scavenger hunt wherein students are directed to find activities/answers within a course or on the web and he likes that idea. He'd like to direct students to lots of research links on the web.

Peggy suggested that each DLMG faculty create a website that describes their online course (once your course is developed). It should be outside of your WebCT course (not password protected) so that students interested in your course can access it. Ideally it will be linked to your department homepage. Then when students inquire about the details of your course, you can direct them to this site. It will save you a lot of time in the future. For an example, Peggy's online biology course description can be seen at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~johnson/online100.html

You want to include some information about you in your online course - a biography and/or a photograph, notes about your hobbies, etc. Students benefit from seeing you as a real person.

Rodger Schenks

Rodger liked an onine Inclusive Recreation course, PRM 326, at NAU.  It was very well organized (easy to navigate). A photograph of the textbook was included (good idea!) so students can see what they are to purchase. The course included photographs and clip art that made it more interesting. Information on how to communicate with the instructor was included as well as extensive links to library resources. One item missing was a link to the department and/or university homepage.  

Nicole Lohrbeer

Nicole looked at a number of WebCT Exemplary Course Winners (available from link on Peggy's DLMG Resource Page at http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~johnson/DLMGRSRC.HTM)

She looked at an Eastern Religions class that was well-organized, attractively designed with lots of graphics to add interest, good analogies, and was very student support centered. Some of the headings on pages did not match the Table of Contents exactly however. Nicole appreciated the overview of why this course was selected for an Exemplary WebCT course.