Online faculty often report a challenge in setting reasonable boundaries and finding work-life balance. They are a first line of support for students and, well beyond faculty expectations, often have many demands on their time each day. However, many faculty members have been teaching online for over a decade and evidence does exist to support the idea that a manageable schedule while teaching online can be achieved.

Presenters have a combined 25+ years of experience teaching online and will discuss challenges, barriers, and strategies that have helped them to make a successful transition to teaching online while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

This presentation informs on the progression of the first outcome of an action research that was conducted with a cohort of trainee teachers studying on the postgraduate initial teacher education programme (PGDE) at the University of Bolton (UK). The research focused on the impact of formative assessment strategies (peer and self-assessment) embedded in the course on pre-service trainee teachers’ learning and teaching skills.

One of the main findings of this study, was the considerable impact of learning cultures on the ways the trainees implemented formative assessment strategies in their practice. As part of the ‘interventions’, the authors suggested the development of an interactive video to facilitate the understanding of good/best practices, as well as to promote collaborative discussions among trainee teachers on how to enhance their teaching skills.

The presentation will report on the progression of this initial e-Intervention, and possible ways forward to strengthen the trainee teachers’ confidence and skills towards not only peer-assessment activities but also self-assessment and reflective approaches.

In what now seems ancient history, your second author took a class about International Technology Issues from the lead author when he was a doctoral student at the University of Central Florida.
Fast forward to 2005 when first author calls second author from his university in Brownsville, Texas. The conversation went something like this:

Sam: “Hi Doc, this is Sam. Do you remember when I took your class about international learning issues at UCF?”

Doc C.: Yes, what about it. Did you finally decide to travel with me to China?”

Sam: “Naw, I’m not ready to go there yet. I want to know if you could teach a class like that for my graduate students at UTB?”

Doc C:”Let me think about it. How much time do I have to give you a reply?”

Sam: “No hurry, Doc, take your time. Will five minutes be enough time for you to give me an answer?”

Doc C: How about now?”

Sam: Great! Oh, by the way, there’s one caveat, this is only taught via the internet, no face-to-face classes like we used to have!”

Doc C: “Umm, let me think about that…ok, let’s give it a go!”

Thus began the UCF-UTB connection that continues to this day!

This general session presentation is centered around the theme of lessons learned using the “Three P’s”(i.e., people, process, and product), a process/quality improvement model developed by Motorola. We will be examining the rationale for “re-birthing” a class taught three years prior to the request from UTB and determining if the previous content and delivery methods (product) would hold current in today’s eLearning environment given the same type of stakeholder (people) and similar instructional design considerations (process). That is, who were the people involved and where were they locate? What was the rationale for the class? Who were the students? Where were the students? Where was the professor? What was the mode of delivery? What were the average class numbers? What were the class objectives, rationale, and activities? How were the students evaluated? Were there any social good projects completed? Where did the content come from? What were the results? What were the student evaluations? What changes were made across time in course structure or content? What anomalies occurred that impacted the class?

The presentation will benefit those interested in teaching an elearning class on location and designing a course like that.

Two years ago, I received this email from a student: “hi im in ur clas wen is it” with no greeting or closing; I had no idea what class this student was talking about or who he or she was. Besides the obvious problems in spelling, grammar, and email etiquette, this actually speaks to an even bigger problem. It turns out that the class in question was an online class. We know our students are online on their phones and tablets practically 24/7, so why is online instruction such a problem? It is problematic in many ways even with seasoned students, but for students in developmental courses, the problems are more difficult. Many would say it is better not to offer these courses online for this very reason; however, these are often the students who most need an alternative venue because they are working, caring for young children and/or elders, and lack the resources to physically come to campus. Engagement is touted as the solution, but how do we achieve it? How do we even get them to the courses? The aim of this roundtable discussion is to discover what our students in the developmental courses need to be successful in the online venue and how best to create it with them. It is about promoting equal access to education in an unequal world.