Goals

At the College level, there have been discussions, and the topic of Online/Blended courses is being pursued. Aspects that have been addressed include who our target audience is, the platform, training and the presentation of the curriculum. Our audience can and does consist of both students at this campus and at the satellite locations at Carvel in Georgetown, Delaware. Current teaching methods are place-bound because students must travel to main campus to take part in our courses. The online aspect of courses will enable us to engage more students including others throughout the nation, as well as the possibility of international students. Synchronous distance learning is our most prominent use of online learning currently.

The professor may teach from main campus and employ students from our Georgetown campus at the same time. Though the merging of our two agriculture locations is most common at this time, it is possible that this technology may ease the burden on classroom space in our south campus classrooms by allowing students to remain on main campus and log in for class. Most of our synchronous distance learning includes group chats and live online presentations through Adobe connect. Pursuing asynchronous distance learning may be more applicable at the graduate level, where students have the maturity and time management skills to take it upon themselves to complete the required coursework prior to class, as this can sometimes be a disadvantage (Moffett & Mill, 2014) .

Another important factor that I am delighted to see the college taking into consideration in understanding that we must separate the curriculum into what are the "critical live" components and what can be taught online. This is of the utmost importance in my Animal & Food Science department. Problem-based learning (PBL) has been a very popular form of teaching, but as noted in a review of the literature by Bishop & Verleger (2013) this is only one of the many components of a students active learning.

• For our students to successfully learn we must remember that learning comes from connecting new concepts to already learned ones, having a framework that allows real-world problem solving and students setting their own goals (How People Learn, 2000).

• Using technology, Clark & Mayer's multimedia principals are important to follow:

  • Present words and pictures simultaneously

  • Exclude distractions

  • Present by narration in a conversational style

  • Break down complex lessons into sub-parts

  • Explain key terms in advance of the lesson