Establishing connections with students is a key ingredient for a successful online experience.  In on-campus classes students have face-to-face real time interplay with the professor.  We must create that same experience online. To that end, I include my picture in the Cyber Café bio.  In addition, I create a picture gallery where students can post photos and talk to each other.  Midway through the course, I begin a DQ thread called How are you doing?  Even though we have the QFI forum, students can reveal their accomplishments and apprehensions, as well as ask questions about practicums, assignments, and general education matters.  We get a lot of candid remarks about the course and people can share common problems.   A sense of community and movement towards a common goal develops.

 Immediate and specific feedback that speeds us to our common goal is important.  In the case of the discussion forum, I respond to every initial DQ reply with probing questions, reactions, personal experiences, and current research.  In addition, I note replies and work to continue the discussion so that we can look at the issues from multiple perspectives. This is time consuming, I know.  However, students tell me that they appreciate the way I pay attention to the course.   They like that I am visible each day and throughout the discussion, thus cementing the professional connections we have to one another.

Faculty Spotlight:

Diane Elliott is originally from Chicago, Illinois. She earned her undergraduate degree in French and her graduate degree in Elementary Education. 

She has taught grades 1-6, worked for the Language Acquisition department, as well as for Title 1 outreach programs.  She was a Title 1 math specialist, the computer/media specialist in a Title 1 school, and is currently working as a Title 1 Intervention Specialist.  In addition, she teaches at a local community college as an on-campus instructor.  For over 20 years she was a summer school administrator and tutored high school French, study skills, and math.  She has been an online instructor for Grand Canyon University for over 10 years.

Diane is married with two grown children.  In her spare time she takes her two therapy dogs to hospice facilities, a local elementary school, and nursing homes.