After teaching some fully online courses since 2000, I took my first one recently, an intensive, two-week course on how to evaluate online courses. And it wasn't pretty.
The course had recently been revised, and I found the site confusing. I was really busy when the course started, so I put off the first quiz for a couple of days, then didn't read the instructions carefully so flunked it. That got my attention, and I buckled down and did very well in the rest of the course, but it took much more time than it was supposed to. The instructor didn't send feedback as promptly as I would have liked, but it was very detailed and precise. She reassured me that I could do the work, and she didn't make the work easier.
I learned a great deal in the course about how to evaluate and improve online courses--my own and those of others. Just as important, I was impressed by how frustrating it is to feel confused in an online course. I was reminded that fear can be a great motivator; it has been many, many years since I have felt fear as a student--though I still have nightmares about being in college and forgetting that I have a final.
So I plan on subjecting myself to more experiences like this. Professors are seldom challenged. Once we get our Ph.D. and our job, we typically "settle in" and get comfortable with being in control and treated with a great deal of deference. It felt good to be pushed to master a new set of materials, to overcome some adversity. And I am now much more motivated to make sure that my courses are clear and logical.
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