ID Experience: ARTED 7000

Past experience is a great learning tool, but it can also be a barrier. Christine Morris, Professor in the Department of Arts Administration, Education and Policy, overcame past challenges when designing an online version of Arts Administration, Education and Policy 7000.1, Concepts, Theories and Issues in Art Education.

While teaching an online course from South America, Christine had a difficult online teaching experience. Students were consistently having connection problems. In response, Christine accumulated a massive cell phone bill through multiple phone calls to technology support to try and solve the issues. Christine was able to overcome these challenges and offer a successful course, however the experience was a challenge that was at the front of her thoughts when course development of 7000.1 began.

Christine met the challenge head on and worked throughout the summer to gather materials surrounding her course development that was scheduled to occur autumn semester. Christine had been granted a course teaching release autumn semester to develop her course and she wanted to make the most of her time. Throughout the autumn semester, Christine worked one-on-one with Jacob Bane, Senior Instructional Designer and Outreach Coordinator with the Office of Distance Education and eLearning, to develop her course. Through weekly conversations, Christine and Jacob were able to brainstorm ideas on how to effectively deliver the materials that Christine had gathered in an online environment.

Christine and Jacob were able to discuss best practices and the new technologies available. Christine fully embraced the process and new tools. Students in Christine’s course are all teachers. As a final exam, students are asked to teach a lesson in their classrooms and document the experience. Students then present to their classmates through the webinar tool Carmen Connect on their lesson. Students are able to present and discuss their experience in real time during one of three available presentation times. Presentation materials are also uploaded to the course Discussion Board for those students who are not able to attend every presentation.

Christine was able to overcome past experiences to create an engaging online educational experience for students. To learn more about Christine’s course, please view her course introduction video for students.