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= Creating an Online Course  =

“Access and affordability are the primary reasons Lamar’s online offerings have attracted more than 4,000 students among its three Master’s Degree programs.” (June, 2009) Online education has made a huge impact at Lamar University since Hurricane Rita. “Within three years of the disaster, Lamar became the largest educator of teachers in Texas.” (June, 2009) Students enrolled in program where I work either live on or off campus and may be enrolled in online classes. I see tremendous opportunities to expand our program services by offering additional online courses at no cost to students. Since our program receives federal funds we are now being required to provide information about financial literacy. With an already full schedule, and with many students working part time, it is often a challenge to get students to attend another meeting, lecture, or sit through a Powerpoint presentation. We have to think of innovative ways to deliver this information in a format that will meet students’ needs. Online courses or mini-modules could be created to provide information about study skills or address professional development needs that would help ensure student academic success.

In A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning it states that "Online teachers and researchers studying online learning report several key skills for online teachers that should be enhanced through professional development opportunities:" (April, 2007) The article lists the need to improve the skills of teachers in the arears of communication, time management, teacher planning, learning styles, and adapting course content and instruction to the needs of students with disabilities. In my opinion K-12 teachers would benefit from staff development that is targeted at increasing their Web 2.0 collaboration and networking skills. If these skills are strong it will enable them to be successful in creating and navigating in online learning environments. Using wikis, blogs, and d iscussion boards allows for collaboration between educators, and provides interaction that is beneficial to their own professional development as well as improving the learning of students. One of the many advantages of delivering staff development online is that it allows the courses to be made available at the time and place of the teacher's choosing and we know that time is a valuable commodity in today's world. I predict that online teaching and learning will continue to have a huge impact on the business world. Employers are already using online resources to handle human resource paperwork, train new employees, and provide continual staff development. With the baby boomers retiring, there is a tremendous need to efficiently train workers more than ever before. Online resources will enable employers to become more competitive by creatively finding ways to provide ongoing training to their staff. This could also mean that the workforce will become even more competitive as employees will need to have the most current computer skills and be able to work collaboratively in a global society.

LU reaches thousands online. (June, 2009) Retrieved on May 4th, 2010 from Lamar University's website: []

Watson,J. (2007). A national primer on k-12 online learning. //North American Council for Online Learning//. Retrieved May 5th, 2010 from []

According to an article I read by Jamie Littlefield, "Employers have a vested interest in making sure employees have the knowledge and skills that will help them succeed at work." I feel that with the number of baby boomers retiring, and with the challenges that we are facing in our national economy, we will begin to see employers becoming more competitive by offering alternative benefits to employees in the form of tuition reimbursement for education. Employees will be more likely to stick with a company when they are relying on their employer to fund their education which results in less turn-around and more employee loyalty. By earning a degree in a field related to your job, you not only become a better employee but employers know that education is the key to on-the-job success. Online learning will be a critical factor in meeting the needs of today's workforce.

Littlefield, J. (2010). How to convince your employer to pay for your education. //About.com.// Retrieved on May 5th, 2010 from []



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