Incentives bring more courses online

Buffalo State College is "building an online community," said Meghan Pereira, an instructional designer for the Instruction Design Office.

Throughout recent years, Buffalo State has been moving to more online courses. There are 114 undergraduate and 61 graduate courses already offered online. This fall, 30 faculty members are developing new online courses, including intellectual foundations, major, and graduate courses.

With approval from Provost Dennis Ponton, Margaret Shaw-Burnett, the associate vice president of continuing professional studies, created a faculty incentive which started as a way to increase summer enrollment in Fall 2009.

Professors were offered $500 to develop a new online course, and another $500 to teach an online course during the summer.

"This incentive created a big boast to the online offerings for summer. In summer 2009, we offered 45 sections… and (in) summer 2011 we offered 125," she said. "It takes time to build an online course."

There are two types of training that instructors can participate in to learn how to make a successful online course. One type of training is through the State University of New York Center for Professional Development. Instructors enroll in SUNY Learning Network workshops that help them take the components of their course and put them into an online form.

The other option is to take a similar workshop on-campus. Pereira and Beth Burns, another instructional designer, mimic the workshops and do group trainings at Buffalo State. Faculty members have the choice of doing the workshops in person or online through Angel.

The workshops provide instructors with resources to include content and materials like movies, assessments and even group work in an online form for the students. Teachers are provided with the tools to make sure students are engaged in the class and not isolated as a result of the online environment.

Once they're created, both students and instructors find benefits as well as drawbacks with online courses.

There's a misconception that online courses are a "stroll on the beach," said professor Joe Marren, who teaches several courses online.

People take advantage of the time given to complete assignments and eventually find that online learning isn't easier or more convenient. Students have to become proactive, self-motivated and learn how to work independently, Marren said.

Many students put off the class work and miss deadlines, said Raquel Schmidt, chair of the exceptional education department.Students must learn to budget their time, she said. Schmidt provides bonus points for attendance and completed class work in her online classes, which can help students improve their grades if they struggle with tests.

 "I'm a visual, hands-on learner, and listening to lectures without seeing a professor was hard for me, said Bailey Hornung, a junior majoring in social work. "I didn't take as much information away from the class as I do when I physically go to class. "

Another disadvantage was that the grading for her course was solely based off of tests, Hornung said. For students who don't do well with tests, this can make success a struggle.

Marren said that he tries to help students who are visual learners as opposed to textual learners by having a variety of other assignments as opposed to tests or readings such as maps and cartoons.

One advantage of online courses is that students who wouldn't usually raise their hands or speak up in class are more willing to participate online, Schmidt said.

Hybrid courses mix online courses with occasional in-class meetings. There are 63 graduate and 160 undergraduate hybrid courses that have been recorded since 2009. Schmidt describes hybrid courses as a great introduction to online courses.

The college will "continue to see more classes online and we will learn how to make it a better experience for students," Schmidt said.

Colleen Young can be reached by email at young.record@live.com.