George, I'm the Program Advisor for the E-Learning and Online
Teaching Graduate Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin
Stout. For the last six years we've been building our e-learning
program. I feel it is absolutely essential for faculty to have deep
training in the art of teaching online. This is an ongoing need for
veteran and new online teachers. The technology changes so rapidly
learning never stops.
We work with both D2L and Moodle (my personal favorite). Both
programs present a constant learning curve. However the technology is
second to the techniques needed to promote online collaboration,
meaningful discussion, and media enhanced thinking.
E-Learning is a very public way to teach. Everything you do is on the
record and in the database. If you fail to deliver the word of mouth
from students can shut down a program. For that reason, we need to
think of students as not just learners pursuing a goal, but valued
customers who should be treated with consideration and respect.
I've got some resources that will help you with best practices and
evaluation work.
http://www.diigo.com/list/wiredinstructor/online-intructor-toolkit
Best of luck with your program.
Dennis O'Connor
Program Advisor
E-Learning & Online Teaching
School of Education
Online Professional Development
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Wisconsin's Polytechnic University
530-318-1145 (Cell)
Skype: wiredinstructor2