Student Home Pages Personalize Distance Learning
From TeachToolsWiki
Dr. Mary Ann Allison, Assistant Professor in Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations in the School of Communication, recently taught Mass Media: History & Development as a fully-online course.
Dr. Allison made the course media rich, using videos, podcasts, and Powerpoint lectures with audio to engage the students. There were many opportunities for student-to-student and student-to-faculty interactions using the Discussion Board, live chat and topic research.
In the course Satisfaction Survey, the students commented that they enjoyed the experience and would like to see more courses like this one. Some students also reported missing the face-to-face interaction one gets in a classroom-based course.
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A Human Face To help get the students to know each other and create a sense of community, Professor Allison asked her students to each create a personal homepage within the Blackboard course. Her instructions were specific but clearly encouraging to the students. They were asked to include some background information and to think hard about things they have accomplished. Providing leading questions allowed even the most modest students the framework to open up about themselves. | 
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Where they grew up and went to high school, their major, minor, and standing at Hofstra, where they work, career plans and geographically where they were as they took the class were all details that the students provided the first section of their homepage.
In a second section, students were asked what communication media they use and how they use it, if they produce, direct, write, deliver, or perform in any mass medium, and what they expected to learn in this class. The students were also asked to upload a picture of themselves and to include contact information so their fellow classmembers and Dr. Allison could get in touch with them.
Online, In Life
In future courses that she teaches, Dr. Allison plans to have her students in on-campus courses as well as distance learning classes create personal homepages as a way to get to know each other and make their course experience more personal and alive.
Need Help?
Faculty Computing Services is here to help. Come to 215 McEwen Hall and get more tips on making Student Homepages in Blackboard work for you.
