Many years ago I came to believe that thoughtfully constructed online courses have the potential to provide greater learning outcomes than traditional face-to-face instruction.  In turn, I elected to put all of the courses I teach online.  Yet, at the same time that I have developed numerous courses for online delivery, I find that it is necessary to almost continually update and expand each course site as I learn more and more about the most effective means for maximizing e-learning outcomes.

In terms of an overall teaching goal:  I strive to make my courses worthwhile.  In particular, I want my courses to contribute to the academic goals of my students as well as provide the specific learning outcomes necessary for my students’ further academic progress.  Also, I want my students to experience the joy of learning as they become active learners and construct learning communities with each other in each of my online course sites.  That is, learning is known to be enhanced by experiential opportunities and students, particularly adult students, learn from each other as well as from the instructor.

Looking specifically at the nontraditional, continuing education students I teach, I engineer my course sites to maximize the learning attributes of adult learners.  Traditional students (or students aged 18 to 24 that went straight from high school to college) have limited experiences, readily accept an instructor’s decrees when it comes to the how, what, when, and where of learning, and acquire knowledge for future use.  In contrast, adult learners that are older and working have extensive experiences (and like to share these experiences with others), like to define the how, what, when, and where of learning, and acquire information for problem solving in the present.  My online courses are designed to meet the unique needs of adult learners.

Finally, when it comes to measuring my success in achieving the above teaching goals, I hope to motivate my students to push and/or stretch themselves to achieve more and to come away from my course(s) with a sense of internal academic motivators (or personal satisfaction from a job well done) versus external academic motivators (or grades).  In turn, course evaluation comments like “I worked harder in this course than I did in my other courses but enjoyed this course more” are the type I hope to receive since they demonstrate the level of engagement necessary for active learning.