Making Contact with Students in Online Learning (Part 2 of 3)
Online Course Design with Multimedia
  Ken L. Haley

Many teachers involved in online education have participated in the trial and error approach to transferring materials from the traditional classroom to the online format. Many who have been in education for a while have also taught a new course in the traditional classroom for the first time without fully knowing exactly where the course was going. No problem. We just need to stay a week ahead of the students, right? And we just need a flexible syllabus that allows us to weave and bob as we wind our way through for the first time. I know. I have been there. However, transferring this organize-as-we-go approach to that first online class is likely a bad idea. The online class requires more organization than the traditional class.   full text

Editor's Note:
  Karen Heise

The View From Here:
Lynne Fukuda

Who are this issue's contributors?

Involve Me and I Will Understand: Effective Service Learning ... On A Platter
  Dexter R. Woods and Peter L. Banfe

The old Chinese proverb, "Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I may remember; involve me, and I will understand" has critical salience for modern educators. Involving students in actual experiences that anchor classroom theories with real world concepts facilitates long-term learning. Within the pedagogical literature, this is referred to as "experiential learning." One subset of experiential learning, "service learning," combines learning skills and values through experience. This paper outlines a unique experiment in service learning known as the "Global Village Caf¹" (GVC), an actual caf¹ designed to teach service learning, which we operate annually with exciting results..   full text

Grist for the Mill: Questions for You

Call for Papers

The Option of Collaboration
  Elizabeth K. Haller

I know that group work may be beneficial to my English 101: Freshman Composition students, but I didn't grasp the full extent of its benefits until I read Richard C. Raymond's essay, "Teaching Students to Revise: Theories and Practice," and Leanne B. Warshauer's essay, "Collaboration as a Process: Reinforcing the Workshop." Prior to the readings, I was hesitant to utilize collaboration in anything more than a subordinate manner because I couldn't understand the benefit behind students providing revision strategies to other students when they themselves were unable to detect issues in their own work. However, I have come to realize the importance of giving my students the opportunity to provide as much peer assistance as possible.  full text