UGA Online celebrated this year’s 32 Online Learning Faculty Fellows at a luncheon last Wednesday at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

The program highlighted the impact of faculty fellows’ courses and some of their innovative components. Several presentations by faculty fellows highlighted their experiences with UGA Online.

“Developing online courses can be challenging. However, through collaboration with our online learning faculty fellows, solutions lead to engaging online courses for our students,” said Instructional Designer Flint Buchanan.

There were 27 participants in total at the event. Faculty presented in person as well as via Blackboard Collaborate from as far as Colorado and even Germany. Each worked with their own various internal components to discover what worked best between the instructors and respective students. In addition to various administrative personnel, the program was also attended by the VP for Provost, Dr. Rahul Shrivastav.

Kristin Anderson, an interpersonal communication course instructor said, “I was able to connect with my students right away and really personalize the tone. It’s been consistent with the learning in my face-to-face classes. I know that when my students leave at the end of the summer term, they really have a strong foundation in interpersonal communication. They can compete with the face-to-face classes.”

Vera Lee-Schoenfeld is an associate professor of linguistics who currently teaches LING2100 online where she integrates lightboard technology. One of her students said, “I enjoyed being taught as if I were in an actual classroom. I felt like I knew my professor better with that technology and that helped me pay attention and better retain the information.”

We would like all of the Online Learning Faculty Fellows to know that they are deeply appreciated and that we, along with the rest of the University of Georgia community, are immensely grateful for them.