Writing a column about a subject one really enjoys: ah, that is fun, to be sure! But there is a major caveat to this—it must be a topic that speaks to the audience’s interest: this is where the sweat and blood dripping from my forehead originates, for I want each column to be important, helpful, and timely (thus engaging!) for each person who reads it in every issue of Distance Learning. The ones I have included in this special all-Errol issue seem to meet that criterion, as they have received the greatest amount of positive reader feedback.
Selections for this edition of Distance Learning are divided between the two columns I write: “Try This” (each column subject-specific for distance learning) and “Ask Errol” (the only question and answer distance learning column being published). The former offer timely and important information to better enhance the teaching efforts of online educators; the latter reflect concerns, difficulties, and challenges experienced by distance learning instructors in the United States and abroad, with my efforts in offering responses to help untangle and clarify each question.
For 21 years I have been teaching online, developing e-learning courses, and training other educators in how to teach (or better teach) online; each year of doing this has been a joy! Yet distance learning continues to grow at an exponential rate, as does the seemingly endless release of new computer software, hardware, and social media programs. Thus, the pedagogical approaches to offering students a qualitative, interesting, and exciting learning experience become more complex; it is nearly impossible to remain on top of it all by ourselves, resulting in the importance of auxiliary input for all of us who teach courses at a distance.
As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. We learn from each other—the more input I receive from my distance learning teaching colleagues the more I can share with others. In the end, this collaborative effort is the greatest boon to e-learning: the human touch. Without it, computers become mere repositories of information; it is the online educator who is needed to bring this information to life.
And the better informed the distance educator, the better the course will be. Period.
About the author
