October 2005

Making the Net More than Just Surf-Turf

E-Learning Companion Promotes Success in the Online Classroom

BY JAMIE L. FREEDMAN

The popularity of online courses has soared in the past decade, opening exciting new doors and posing myriad challenges for college students worldwide. GW Professors Ryan Watkins and Michael Corry are helping students click their way to online success through their new reference guide, E-Learning Companion (Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA, 2005).

Packed with valuable strategies, techniques, and tutorials for mastering learning online, the book has quickly registered 27,000 sales and has been purchased in bulk by more than 50 colleges. GW bought copies of the book for all 2,350 incoming freshmen this fall; copies were placed in students’ dorm rooms prior to their arrival on campus. “There’s little question that new students must master our technology environment to optimize their academic performance,” explains Frederic Siegel, associate vice president and dean of freshmen, who was the driving force behind the book-purchasing scheme for the freshman class. “Entering freshmen come to us with a range of skills: the E-Learning Companion gives everyone a starting point as they begin their careers here, as it’s useful for the savvy technophile and a fine beginning for the less sophisticated.”

That’s just what Corry and Watkins, both Graduate School of Education and Human Development associate professors of educational technology leadership, had in mind when they wrote the book. Both Corry, who directs the educational technology leadership program, and Watkins have taught online courses for years. Currently teaching an online master’s degree program at GW, they regularly witness the unique struggles facing students taking online courses.

“The learning skills and study habits necessary for success in the online classroom are not the same as those utilized in a face-to-face environment,” says Corry, who’s taught at GW for nine years. “Once we realized that there were not any books out there addressing the needs of e-learners, we decided to write our own. We’d learned a lot from teaching at a distance for years and wanted to share that knowledge with online students.”

The book arms students with the information and skills they need to achieve success in the dynamic online environment. “We teach readers how to use Blackboard and WebCT, touching upon topics like getting and staying motivated in an online class, building positive online relationships, evaluating online resources, staying organized using Microsoft Windows, and using e-mail and online real-time chat to build a sense of community,” says Corry. E-Learning Companion features hundreds of valuable tips — from time management skills to how to read critically online — to help students gain the most from their online course experiences. Other highlights of the book include an e-learning readiness self-assessment and more than 30 tutorials providing clear, illustrated examples of how to use essential e-learning tools.

“The book teaches students how to build upon traditional study skills in order to develop the necessary new strategies for success in e-learning,” adds Watkins. “A whole range of different issues arise when doing online coursework, like e-mail etiquette, online group dynamics, and how to take notes on PDF.”

GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, who prepared the book’s forward, writes enthusiastically about E-Learning Companion. “Everyone talks about the potential of computers and the Internet to enhance education, but not until now has anyone produced a useful guide that students can use to do something about it,” he writes. “Here you’ll find tips and tutorials, exercises and checklists; but you’ll find more than that — you’ll find ways to harness your time and talent to ensure online success.”

The authors will soon begin work on a second edition of the Companion, due to hit bookstores in 2007. “Since technology changes so quickly, we’ll probably have to produce a new edition every three years or so to keep things fresh,” says Corry. In the meantime, he and Watkins will continue to promote achievement in the online classroom. “We’re having a lot of fun helping students succeed in e-learning,” Corry states. “It’s exciting to add to the richness of the learning experience at GW.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu