Monday, November 17, 2008

This Week is BLACKBOARD WEEK!

This week is BLACKBOARD WEEK!


Monday - "Weekly Topic Announcement"/"Ask a Professor" (Response - Next Tues. 11/25/08)


Tuesday -  "How to Cheat on Blackboard"


Thursday - "Benefits of Using Blackboard for Testing"


Next Week  - "My Response to the "Ask a Professor" Question"/New Topic

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Do Students Prefer Online Courses?

        This week, registration started at my university. Every semester, I virtually watch the enrollment in each of my classes. I am not a huge football fan, but my view of class registration is similar to the NFL draft. The team (classroom) dynamic seems to change as the enrollment changes. It appears that many of the students in my classes were referred by other students who took the class before. This helps to keep a steady line of "academic minded" students as well as "class clowns" every semester. :)

        When examining the enrollment each semester, I pay particular attention to the following: (a) the number of women and men, (b) the majors that may potentially add to the dynamic context of my course, and (c) the amount of students who enroll in a class that is held at a morning time vs. an afternoon time.

        This semester's registration period is slightly different for me. I am teaching three sections of COMS 101 (Fundamentals of Human Communication) in the spring, because this will be my first semester teaching an online course at a university (I taught a similar course at a community college). The students seem to be very interested in my online COMS 101 course. At this time, I have more students in my COMS 101 online course than my three sections of COMS 101 (face to face classes) combined. I have to keep in mind that many students have not registered yet, but it seems that they are excited about taking an online course. Next semester, I plan to conduct a few assessments in both types of classroom environments (face to face and virtual). I cannot wait to see the results!

Is anyone else encountering this situation (increased enrollment in online courses vs. face to face courses)?
Millennial Professor


Tuesday, November 4, 2008

My "Virtual Vacation" to Focus on the Presidential Campaign

Readers,

During the past couple of weeks, I took a "virtual vacation" from the blog to focus on the presidential campaigns. Today, my information overload illness will be cured by the announcement of the new President of the United States. For now, my eyes continue to watch CNN/MSNBC/FOX, my ears continue to listen to the aforementioned stations via Sirius radio in the car, and my computer screen is fixed on the CNN electoral map. 

No matter who wins the election today, the results will be monumental. As a millennial, I am focused on the future of this country and the impact that I can make. Please bear with me through the next few days and the blog will be "renewed".

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

College Students with Learning Disabilities

One of my favorite people on campus is the Director of Disability Services. Through her position, she helps students with physical, psychological, or learning disabilities. This position is vital on our campus, because it seems that more of the students from the millennial generation arrive in the college environment with learning disabilities that were diagnosed from high school.
Every year, I remind the students in my classes to tell disability services if they had a diagnosed learning disability from high school. However, some students choose not to have their learning disability on file with the university.
This is unfortunate, because disability services can make slight or significant accomodations for students with a diagnosed learning disability (i.e. - a text to voice reader, more test time. In fact, on September 17th, NPR Education wrote an article titled "10 Tips for College Students with Disabilities". This article focuses on a book by clinical psychologist and author Kathleen G. Nadeau entitled "Survival Guide for College Students". In her book, she reported that college students with learning disabilities should develop learning and organization strategies as a coping mechanism.

Please read the article here - 10 Tips for College Students with Disabilities.

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor/Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards