Remote employees, particularly, remote faculty members and instructors can sometimes feel disconnected from their colleagues and supervisors. In response to this, two years ago, Kaplan University launched an internal campaign to support our core values by establishing a group of employee volunteers (“The Difference Makers”) who actively build community in the workplace for both ground and remote employees spanning locations across the United States and globally around the world.

While nearly a dozen of these volunteer groups serve the ground locations, one unique aspect of this campaign is the virtual group, “The Virtual Difference Makers” whose mission is to outreach to over 4,000 remote employees, encompassing full-time faculty, part-time faculty, tutors, administrators and any other telecommuting employee.
This volunteer group (itself comprised of full and part time employees ranging from faculty to administrative and executive staff as well as clinical staff) has faced challenges of not only conducting effective outreach for virtual employees, but working effectively as a remote team themselves.

By adapting ground-based activities as well as creating online-only activities,this group has increased communication and participation from virtual employees with plans to launch a Healthy 2015 campaign, as a continuation of our monthly live Wellness presentations over the last 2 years. We also plan to continue growth in charitable work, and engage all virtual employees in continuing to make Kaplan a “Great Place” for our staff, administration and faculty members. In recognition of this group’s work, the Virtual Difference Makers received one of Kaplan University’s highest honors, The Kaplan Way Leadership Award for 2013.

With the growing popularity of online courses, it’s important for instructors as they transition from on ground to online facilitation to understand aspects that truly create an engaging environment for the students in the digital world. Online classes are not extremely different than on ground. However, the interactions that take place are different, and facilitation should address a few key elements. The students will for sure feel supported and engaged and typically leave the class feeling as if they truly gained new knowledge as well as confidence. The first step for any instructor facilitating online course is to understand the students in today’s society and their diversity.

As instructors we get into a pattern and often forget what it was like to be a first time online student. We need to put ourselves in their shoes and realize that they are all different. We often become accustom to hearing excuses for late work, and why something cannot be done. This can make us as faculty rigid in how we deal with students causing the students to distance themselves from us as educators and the classroom environment.

One of the key elements we should incorporate is open communication with our students. Deal with them on an individual basis instead of lumping them in a group. It really takes pressure off of you as an instructor and the student. It is important to write to the students to get to know them. Keep in mind their background and diversity and be sure to address all the aspects that will encapsulate what the student might need in terms of feedback and support. A successful course is an active course, which simply means the course seems that it is active, and the instructor is engaging on a regular basis. Addressing all the needs of the students as well as supporting them, and using opportunities to expand upon the content of the course and use that content to teach the students. Another important element is to be encouraging. When offering feedback, but it’s also critical to give detailed feedback even if criticism so that the student can take away elements that will help them grow and learn more as they proceed through their online programs. You also want to use feedback methods that work with their individual needs and learning styles. A good way to relate to the students is to use a sense of humor and to talk to the students in a conversational style to help create a relationship with the students and hopefully bring them out of there shall that they might express some of those ideas that they may not in an on ground environment.

The main point of our jobs is to ensure that our students are getting the most out of our classes and knowing that as they move to their next class we have given them an experience that left a lasting good impression. To summarize the presentation we will focus on techniques applicable to the facilitation of online courses. Topics include:

• Making a powerful first impression as the class begins. This is a critical component in that it allows the professor to express their credentials and show their credibility to the students as well as begin a personal relationship with those students. The level of learning and collaboration will be much more fruitful if this occurs.
• Understanding what the students needs are so that the feedback can accommodate the various levels of skill, as well as the students diversity using technology or simply communicating online.
• Using media tools to create a more enriching experience for the online student in that media tools can bring voice and video to students creating a more personable feedback process and eliminate any unclear points that can commonly be made through the written word and lack clarity that media can offer.
• Infusing conversational style to feedback so that the readers feel as if they are being connected to personally and touch on the process for perhaps offering humor and fun in feedback to keep things light yet constructive.

By the year 2018, 65% of all jobs available to Hawaii students will require some postsecondary training or education1. More University of Hawai‘i System students were enrolled in remedial or developmental math courses (36%) than college-level math courses (24%) in 2012. The Online Learning Academy at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) is striving to prepare students in math for successful futures in either postsecondary training programs or higher education.

The OLA provides free online math tutoring to all Hawaii Department of Education students state-wide. Live, online tutoring with a university student provides a math support solution, especially for schools in rural and/or remote areas. In addition to online tutoring, the OLA offers free math prep programs, using the online platform called EdReady, for commonly used college math placement exams (e.g., ACT, SAT and COMPASS).

This session will present how online technology is a viable solution for students seeking additional academic support in math. Best practices for e-learning, college readiness preparation and online mentoring will be discussed as part of the presentation. The presentation will also discuss future plans for implementing EdReady and online tutoring to a wider audience.

The purpose of TechLogic is to provide a platform for thoughtful, logical, and collaborative exchange about teaching and learning with technology at the University of Hawai‘i. TechLogic@UH provides an annual system-based, community-driven platform for developing a community of practice grounded in context and experience. This session will present the rationale and theoretical construct for developing a community of practice around educational technology at UH Manoa, “tech story” about the development and institutional challenges, and solicit feedback for continued growth aligned with the goal and purpose.