Background
In the fall of 2016, I offered the EDFN 604: Education and Public Policy course asynchronously online. At that time, the course was offered once annually.
Until enrollment grew, the course filled, and there was a waitlist….then it was offered twice annually.
Until enrollment grew more…and it was offered three times annually.
Until the enrollment grew even more…and it is now offered four times annually in fall, winter, spring and summer semesters. Each semester the course fills or nearly fills at a cap of 25 students. It is common for the course to fill several months in advance of the start date.
How did you make this happen?
I didn’t set out to grow course enrollment. But, I did focus to the students who were taking the course, what the course was required to include, what I felt the course should include, and what mattered most to my students. I also reflected each semester and made revisions to make the course better in every possible way. EDFN 604 is an elective course for graduate students within the College of Education and Human Services and it is one of many electives that students have to choose from. Students in this course are typically between 30-50 years old and are school teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, administrators, coaches, or in sports management. At a previous university, I had the same array of students and also those in exercise physiology.
About Me
I am a Professor of Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania where I teach master’s and doctoral courses in education and educational leadership and director the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership Prior to this appointment, I was an Associate Professor of Education at West Liberty University in West Virginia and also have served as a school teacher and school and district administrator. I am the founder and editor of The Excellence in Education Journal (ISSN 2474-4166, indexed by ERIC and EBSCO) and you can read more about me on our website: www.excellenceineducationjournal.org I am definitely a digital immigrant and, aside from a few short workplace workshops, I have no special training or degrees in creating online courses, technology, etc.
My first two degrees are music education and organ performance and my second two degrees are in Education Administration. I have worked full time in the field of education for 34 years. Concurrently, I previously worked as a church music director/organist/choir director for 20 years. For the last 10 years, I have concurrently worked weekends in the winter as a downhill ski school instructor at an area resort. Granted these are an interesting array of experiences! Variety has been a spice in my professional life…and also one that has helped me to develop a broad perspective and skillset.
Purpose of this Site
In this site, I present EDFN 604: Education and Public Policy as an example of an asynchronous, online graduate course that has had considerable success (measuring success through enrollment, student course evaluations, student comments, and students referring other students to take the course). I provide it as a model to anyone seeking an example of how to create an online course, especially an asynchronous course, for adult learners.
Organization of this Site
This site includes the following course material examples below:
Keys to Designing an Online Asynchronous Course, Welcome Email/How to Begin this Course/Overview, Syllabus, and sample Weekly Modules.
I hope you find this site to be helpful as you construct your online, asynchronous graduate courses! Please feel free to contact me at the email below with any questions or if you'd like to discuss more.
All the Best,
Ann Cancilla Gaudino, Ed.D.
Professor, Millersville University
Contact: ann.gaudino@millersville.edu
Background
In the fall of 2016, I offered the EDFN 604: Education and Public Policy course asynchronously online. At that time, the course was offered once annually.
Until enrollment grew, the course filled, and there was a waitlist….then it was offered twice annually.
Until enrollment grew more…and it was offered three times annually.
Until the enrollment grew even more…and it is now offered four times annually in fall, winter, spring and summer semesters. Each semester the course fills or nearly fills at a cap of 25 students. It is common for the course to fill several months in advance of the start date.
How did you make this happen?
I didn’t set out to grow course enrollment. But, I did focus to the students who were taking the course, what the course was required to include, what I felt the course should include, and what mattered most to my students. I also reflected each semester and made revisions to make the course better in every possible way. EDFN 604 is an elective course for graduate students within the College of Education and Human Services and it is one of many electives that students have to choose from. Students in this course are typically between 30-50 years old and are school teachers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, administrators, coaches, or in sports management. At a previous university, I had the same array of students and also those in exercise physiology.
About Me
I am a Professor of Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania where I teach master’s and doctoral courses in education and educational leadership and director the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership Prior to this appointment, I was an Associate Professor of Education at West Liberty University in West Virginia and also have served as a school teacher and school and district administrator. I am the founder and editor of The Excellence in Education Journal (ISSN 2474-4166, indexed by ERIC and EBSCO) and you can read more about me on our website: www.excellenceineducationjournal.org I am definitely a digital immigrant and, aside from a few short workplace workshops, I have no special training or degrees in creating online courses, technology, etc.
My first two degrees are music education and organ performance and my second two degrees are in Education Administration. I have worked full time in the field of education for 34 years. Concurrently, I previously worked as a church music director/organist/choir director for 20 years. For the last 10 years, I have concurrently worked weekends in the winter as a downhill ski school instructor at an area resort. Granted these are an interesting array of experiences! Variety has been a spice in my professional life…and also one that has helped me to develop a broad perspective and skillset.
Purpose of this Site
In this site, I present EDFN 604: Education and Public Policy as an example of an asynchronous, online graduate course that has had considerable success (measuring success through enrollment, student course evaluations, student comments, and students referring other students to take the course). I provide it as a model to anyone seeking an example of how to create an online course, especially an asynchronous course, for adult learners.
Organization of this Site
This site includes the following course material examples below:
Keys to Designing an Online Asynchronous Course, Welcome Email/How to Begin this Course/Overview, Syllabus, and sample Weekly Modules.
I hope you find this site to be helpful as you construct your online, asynchronous graduate courses! Please feel free to contact me at the email below with any questions or if you'd like to discuss more.
All the Best,
Ann Cancilla Gaudino, Ed.D.
Professor, Millersville University
Contact: ann.gaudino@millersville.edu
Keys to Designing an Online Synchronous Course
Please see the attached document with important tips for course creation.
Welcome Email and Announcement, How to Begin This Course Email and Announcement, Overview Module (in attachment below): About one month before the course begins, I send a Welcome Email to the students who are registered. I send this email again about a week before the course begins for those who register later. The Welcome also is placed as the first course Announcement. It contains information about the course that students often like to know in advance such as the start and end dates, texts etc. A few days before the course begins, I send the How to Begin this Course Email and also place it as the second Announcement. It is helpful when students first open the course site to know where to begin. This message directs students to the Overview. I present the Overview in both written and video form (see You Tube link in attachment). The video serves to present information in a visual/aural modality, and also serves as a way for students to get to make a personal connection by seeing and hearing from me. I make these videos using QuickTimePlayer which comes preloaded on my my MacBook Pro. It is quite simple to figure out. Sometimes, I have to do several "takes" of a video to get it just right. I then upload the videos to a private YouTube Channel (if you're new to creating and uploading You Tube videos, you can find more information about creating channels on the You Tube website).
Syllabus: This section contains the Syllabus Module (below) and Syllabus (attached). Having a well-constructed course syllabus in final form at the start of the course is essential as it gives adult learners a complete view of the course and what they are 'getting into' from day one. You'll notice in my syllabus that there is various basic information about the course and my contact information, however I also include a grading scale and the timeline at the end. The weeks of the timeline correspond exactly with the weekly modules (so items due are cross listed in both locations). Finally, I require each student to sign and submit the receipt on the last page of the syllabus verifying that they received and read the syllabus and had the opportunity to ask questions. Again, it's very important to have the syllabus and all components of the course completed and on the course site no later than the first day of class, and not to change them throughout the course.
Here is the Syllabus Module:
Syllabus Module
Please watch this video while you follow along with the syllabus which is attached below.
Once you have watched the video and read the syllabus, please copy and paste the syllabus receipt (last page of syllabus) in an email to me at ann.gaudino@millersville.edu.
Once you have submitted the syllabus receipt, please proceed to Week 1 Module.
Sample Modules: Week 1 Module, Week 3/4 Module, Week 6 Module: In this course, each week has a module. Although the length of the course can vary among semesters, it is important for students to have the same learning experiences. There are sometimes 5 modules (for a 5 week course) or 7 modules (for a 7 week course). In shorter course lengths, I double-up work from two weeks/modules into one week module so that students have the same learning opportunities with each offering of the course. You'll notice in this particular version of the course, I doubled-up the work of Week 3 and Week 4 to make the course length 6 weeks/6 Modules total. Again, I often include written directions, rubrics, Power Points etc. and also videos of materials. In addition, I include videos of me explaining topics and assignments. Below are several weekly modules along with their attachments.
Sample Course Power Point: ESSA.NCLB.Nation at Risk Power Point
Thank you for accessing this site focused to
Creating an Effective Online Asynchronous Graduate Course!
Ann Cancilla Gaudino, Ed.D.
ann.gaudino@millersville.edu