Instructor Showcase Archive

Paul Roberts, Associate Professor of Technology at The University of Texas at Tyler College of Business and Technology, has been with UT Tyler for 12 years and teaches several courses via ITV and extensively utilizes Blackboard in his on-campus courses.

His first experience with “distance” education came in 1992 when upon being hired was told his first class was in Mexia. After one semester of driving the 200+ mile round trip, he was thrilled when the ITV locations were added and the trip to Mexia now only required a 30 second walk down the hall. Dr. Roberts has taught more than 30 ITV classes with up to 4 different sites for each class.

Paul has found that teaching via distance delivery has challenged him to work harder to get the interaction of all sites. He has each student fill out a 4X6 information card, then works from the top of the deck to call on students. This ensures that all students in all locations will be called up. The deck is also randomly shuffled to keep students from “checking out” after being called upon. “ I have found it is important to visit each site to get to know the students face to face when possible . . . I also encourage them to stop by my office if they are ever on campus.”

When he’s not teaching, Paul enjoys spending time with his wife and 13, 10 and 2 year old sons. He also enjoys, golf, woodworking and competing in triathlons. He also coaches his son’s baseball and basketball teams. He also teaches an 11th and 12th grade Sunday school class in his church.

When it comes to technology, Paris Junior College history instructor Lisa Johnson is your classic early adopter.

“I really like technology, that’s true,” she says with a grin, making the statement seem more a confession than an admission.

She’s not alone. Her students like technology, as well, and have filled two sections of an online U.S. History course she teaches for the spring semester at PJC.

Johnson credits a colleague for introducing her to the potential that computers and the Internet hold for education, and her first tentative steps into high-tech teaching were aimed simply at improving her existing courses.

“I did it basically to enhance my traditional classes,” she said of posting assignments, notes, maps and other materials online to aid students who had problems or had missed classes due to illness. “All that sort of matured,” she said, adding that it was a series of gradual steps that eventually led to her full-blown Internet-based courses.

That “maturing” hasn’t stopped. Johnson now is developing an Internet-based Western Civilization course to be offered in the fall semester, even as her existing Internet courses continue to break new ground.

“Right now I’m doing a project (in the U.S. History courses) with discussion postings and chat,” she said.

The project involves interviews conducted by students, the results of which are posted and discussed via WebCT’s chat and forum services.

Internet-based courses can take more time to manage, she said, but their benefits outweigh that minor inconvenience.

Plus, she really does like technology.

Technology and the sciences are inseparable, so it was natural for Michael Barnett, an instructor of biology and geology at Paris Junior College, to connect teaching and the Internet.

"I attended a workshop featuring WebCT capabilities and realized that the material that I use in the classroom could easily be converted to Web-based instruction," said Barnett. "The biggest obstacle was how to supply the laboratory."

Barnett explored several ways to "supply the laboratory," picked the one that worked best and introduced an Internet-based geology class at Paris Junior College for the spring semester of 2000. A general biology class joined his Internet offerings for the spring semester of 2004.

Many of the students in his Internet-based classes are from the college's off-campus centers in Greenville and Sulphur Springs.

"This type of instruction has allowed me to expand and develop new techniques that I use in my traditional classes," Barnett said. "Paris Junior College's support for our Internet classes has been excellent."

Barnett, himself a graduate of Paris Junior College, holds a bachelor's degree in biology and agriculture and a master's in biology from Texas A&M University - Commerce. He has also completed further graduate work in Earth sciences and biology.

His wife Terry teaches second grade in the Paris Independent School District. His youngest son Randy is a senior at Paris High School and will attend Texas Tech University in the fall.

Anita Ferguson, coordinator of the Office Technology program at Paris Junior College, knows a good thing when she sees it and quickly realized the Internet's potential for online instruction.

"I became curious as to what all was involved in offering an Internet class," she said. "I enjoy learning new technology and methods of presenting information to students and noting the results.

"As I experimented with online courses, I could see the results of the convenience and the ability to offer the course to a larger number of students who might not otherwise be able to take college courses."

Ferguson now teaches three sections of Medical Terminology online and has provided ITV courses in connection with Paris Junior College's Sulphur Springs campus. Online course offerings will continue to expand, she said, but noted such classes aren't for everyone.

"Some students still prefer to attend class because they need this type of interaction with the instructor, other students and the classroom setting."

Ferguson received her associate's degree in Applied Science from Paris Junior College and her bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas A&M University - Commerce. She has completed additional graduate work at North Texas State University, South West Texas State University, as well as at Texas A&M University - Commerce.

Mr. Mason is as popular with his distance learners as he is with his face-to-face students. Two years ago, he introduced Speech 1315 via Interactive Videoconferencing (ITV) to Early Admissions high school students at Timpson and later Waskom. Presently, he is teaching his first online version of the class. In preparation for teaching via distance delivery methods, Mr. Mason completed the Distance Learning Training Program at Panola College. Mr. Mason’s love of teaching keeps him open to new ideas. His students usually just refer to him as “awesome.” Recently one student commented, “When Mr. Mason asks, ‘How are you today?’ it is not rhetorical. He really wants to know.” Countless others have stated that he helped them overcome their fear of public speaking.

Freddy Mason touches the lives of hundreds of students through class and club activities, as well as performances, whether they are in speech, drama, instrumental music, art, or choir.

Vernon Wilder, Associate Professor of History and Government at Texarkana College, has hit the "trifecta of teaching" -- he teaches traditional on-campus courses, over the internet, and this semester he’s added an ITV or interactive videoconferencing course to his portfolio.

Since he first began developing online courses in 1999, Mr. Wilder has added online Federal Government and Texas Government classes to his growing list of distance delivered courses. This is the first semester Mr. Wilder is putting his NETnet Classroom Training to use – he’s offering a dual credit Federal Government class to students at McLeod High via interactive videoconferencing. (Read more about Texarkana College’s collaboration with McLeod ISD.) In addition to teaching both online and via ITV, Mr. Wilder also teaches web-enhanced face-to-face classes.

Mr. Wilder’s internet students appreciate the convenience and flexibility online classes afford them, as one student relates: "I found this class to be more convenient for me since I do shift work. Please start offering more internet courses."

And bolstering the claim that distance learning courses are sometimes a better fit with a particular student’s learning style than a face-to-face class, another student heartily endorses Mr. Wilder’s online course: "I would recommend this class to anyone willing to do their work and study. I feel I have learned more through this class over the internet than I would have ever learned in a classroom. I love it!"

(Take a look at more testimonials from satisfied distance learning students.)

Dr. Larry Lowry is an associate professor in Occupational Health Sciences at The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler and an adjunct faculty member of Stephen F. Austin State University. He has a BS in Chemistry from San Jose State University, a PhD in comparative biochemistry from The University of California at Davis and post-doctoral training in Clinical Chemistry at Ohio State University. He has served as a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Cincinnati and worked at Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Missouri before coming to Tyler.

Dr. Lowry has been teaching courses in advanced environmental health and toxicology using interactive videoconferencing (ITV) since 1996. The Masters in Environmental Science program combines the health science expertise in Tyler with the basic science expertise in Nacogdoches. He has seen the program grow from a few students to about 30-35 students per year.

He compares the early days of distance learning when classes were interrupted by the ubiquitous backhoe cutting through the direct T-1 line to Nacogdoches to the current state-of-the-art NETnet classrooms where the instructor camera automatically follows his wandering presentation style. Dr. Lowry maintains that despite the advantages of ITV for both the student and the faculty, it is essential to visit the remote site and experience the “body chemistry” of direct student contact, the only missing link to ITV. One recent example of the value of ITV was a three-way hookup between Tyler, Nacogdoches, and Washington, DC so a student on a special fellowship could participate in class presentations while fulfilling her fellowship in Washington.

One noteworthy experience several years ago was an unannounced visit from Austin–based TIF (Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund) officials to Dr. Lowry’s toxicology class. At the time of the visit, Dr. Lowry was engaged in a heated discussion with a student in Nacogdoches about the ethics of doing toxicology research on human subjects. The visitors were impressed with the interactive nature of ITV, quietly nodded their heads and went on with their visit.

Dr. Lowry also co-directs the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH), an educational and consultation services program that covers Texas and surrounding states. ITV has been used in a number of his presentations and meetings with sponsors. Dr. Lowry recently re-designed the web page for the center.

Jon Jonz, Professor of English at Texas A&M University-Commerce, has been a member of the A&M-Commerce faculty for 25 years. Jon’s doctorate, in Linguistics and Language Pedagogy, is from the University of New Mexico. Jon teaches in the undergraduate and graduate teacher preparation programs as well as in the TESOL Professional Certificate and Applied Linguistics Master’s degree programs. His courses, taught via interactive video, are The Structure of English, General Linguistics, and Psycholinguistics. He and his colleague in the Department of Literature and Languages, Robert Baumgardner, recently developed a new graduate-level interactive video course, Language & Culture in the Classroom, which is now regularly available in the summer.

He is one of the first Texas A&M-Commerce professors to take his courses into the electronic media, having taught his original interactive video course in the fall term of 1997. In the seven years since then, the entire graduate TESOL Professional Certificate program has become available on interactive video, as has the bulk of the Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics. The goal is to have the entire Master’s program available at a distance within the next two years. All courses are available in Commerce, Corsicana, Mesquite, Paris, and Sherman.

Jon claims to have set the Literature and Languages departmental record for teaching students at a distance when recently two of his Master’s degree students, who had taken all available interactive video courses while in northeast Texas, finished their program requirements, including oral defense of thesis, after returning home to Beijing, China and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

(Visit the Texas A&M-Commerce Literature and Languages home page to find out more about their programs, or visit Dr. Jonz's home page to see his course schedule for Spring 2004)

Mike McGowan, instructor of music, has taught at Panola College for the past five years. Mr. McGowan received a master’s degree in music composition and theory from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Arkansas State University. In 1996, he earned certification as a Certified Novell Administrator. He is presently enrolled in doctoral classes in distance education at the University of Texas at Tyler. Prior to joining the faculty at Panola College, he directed bands in east Texas community colleges and high schools for sixteen years.

Mr. McGowan teaches freshman music theory as a face-to-face class, an ITV class, and also as a web-based class. He has taught music appreciation as an online class for the past three years. This semester his ITV music theory class includes students from Panola College and Angelina College. Students from Texarkana College will join the ITV class in the spring semester. Beginning in the fall of 2004, both freshman and sophomore music theory will be taught via ITV. He also plans to offer music theory through the Virtual College of Texas and to teach music appreciation as a hybrid class in the future. (Listen to some of the music created by Mr. McGowan's students!)

Barbara Haas, Associate Professor of Nursing at The University of Texas at Tyler College of Nursing and Health Sciences, has been with UT Tyler for 12 years and teaches Adult Health Nursing via ITV and Nursing Research both ITV and online. She recently developed a new graduate level Health Promotion course that is available online this fall.

A bona fide distance education ‘veteran,’ Barbara holds the distinction of ‘beaming’ the very first nursing course to the UT Tyler Palestine campus when it opened in August 1995. She says of this experience, “I came to campus the Sunday evening before my 9:00 a.m. class on Monday to familiarize myself with the equipment – they were still installing and hoping it would work!” Fortunately for Barbara and her students, all systems were go by class time, and she has never looked back. In fact, Barbara has taught ITV courses every semester since then, and now teaches online courses as well.

Barbara has found that teaching via distance delivery has challenged her to become an even better teacher, and she is still discovering ways to make her ITV and online courses more personable. She says, “I take pictures of the students the first day of class (with their permission) and use the pictures to 'call' on students for opinions - it helps me get to know them and they get to know each other. I will often place the picture under the document camera so all three campuses can see what "Joe" looks like - lots of giggles and groans!” The groaning is good-natured, given that the feedback Barbara receives from her remote site students is that they like being asked their ideas and opinions. This interaction with the local site makes them feel much more a part of the class and not like “second-class citizens.” (Visit the NETnet Interaction Strategies page for more tips on adding interactivity and humanizing distance ed courses)

In addition to enhancing student-to-student interaction, Barbara emphasizes the importance of instructor-to-student interaction. Her students repeatedly praise her prompt feedback and organizational skills - valued qualities in a distance education instructor.

Ken Critten, Master Instructor, Computer Aided Drafting Technology at Texas State Technical College Marshall has been an active faculty member since 1996. A graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in Engineering Technology, Ken started his engineering career with the Westinghouse Corporation in 1970. He brings a wealth of industry experience to the Distance Learning virtual classroom from which his students receive great insight and benefit.

He is the pioneer instructor in Texas State Technical College Marshall's new College Connections Program whereby dual credit college courses are being delivered via NETnet and Distance Learning directly to local area high schools. New to ITV concepts, Ken has dedicated countless hours to the preparation and development of this technology in order to take advantage of the technology's ability to reach out to students located at outlying schools. (Visit NETnet's Course Development module to view tips and strategies for developing your own Internet or ITV courses).

The initial College Connections pilot CAD course is being delivered to Hallsville High School located in East Texas. Plans are currently underway to extend this, and other courses, to as many other high schools as can be reached through this technology. Ken has been instrumental in the formation and outreach of TSTC's College Connections Program. For more information about TSTC's College Connections Program contact Irene Cravey at 903-923-3312.

Texas A&M University at Texarkana’s BAAS program - a nontraditional degree program for working adults - boasts two outstanding distance educators, Dr. Glenda Ballard and Gaynell Green, who also share responsibility for coordinating the program.

Glenda, Associate Professor of Adult Education and BAAS Program Coordinator, and Gaynell, Lecturer of Adult Education and Assistant Coordinator of the BAAS Program, are both adult educators. They specialize in nontraditional, adult education opportunities, and enjoy being able to reach out to other adults for whom distance to the university is a hindrance. Glenda and Gaynell find it very rewarding to see their students earning BAAS degrees - after discovering that technology can bridge the distance and provide them with access to higher education.

The BAAS degree program began incorporating distance education into the curriculum in the Spring of 1999. Thus far, the program’s most successful collaboration has been with the Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) campus. Glenda elaborates: "The NTCC Program really took off, and we now have approximately 40 students in that area who are completing their degrees with TAMU-T." Texas A&M University at Texarkana serves as an instructor site that sends courses to students at NTCC via interactive videoconferencing technologies.

Mindy Nobles, Director of Distance Education at Northeast Texas Community College, is enthusiastic about the benefits the students derive from the partnership between TAMU-T and NTCC: “Our collaboration with TAMU-T has been even more successful because of NETnet. The opportunity to take ITV courses has made a real difference for our students. They can advance through the program more rapidly, and it saves them money. Dr. Ballard and Ms. Green are innovative and effective ITV instructors.”

Gaynell has found that some of the greatest challenges in the ITV environment can be sustaining student participation and creating a relaxed atmosphere for the students. (Visit the General Interaction Strategies page for ideas on creating 'icebreakers' for your distance education classes).

While Glenda appreciates the convenience ITV courses provide her students and enjoys working "outside the box" with the new technologies, she is candid about the ways in which she has had to adapt to this new environment. Teaching via distance technologies means “you have to have your plans made and can't shift gears as easily as you can in a face-to-face setting.” (Get ideas about contingency plans and download the Course Chunking Workbook to help plan your distance ed class).

What are students saying about their distance education courses with Dr. Ballard and Ms. Green?

“I would not be where I am today, graduating in December 2003, if I had not been able to take these ITV classes.”

Kathleen Umbeck Deardorff, Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator of Family Health Nursing at The University of Texas at Tyler College of Nursing and Health Sciences, has been a faculty member since 1992 and teaching via ITV since its inception.

Many of the hurdles she faced early on have been solved as instructors and technicians became familiar with the media sources, ITV equipment, and the strategies and techniques necessary to successfully convert a traditional face-to-face class to a distance-delivered class. In the days before technical assistants, the ITV instructors relied on the remote sites to let them know when they had moved off camera or had forgotten to switch between media sources. Now - with the help of the technical assistants - the ITV instructors have learned to move around more during the presentations and no longer feel bound to the ITV equipment.

Interaction between Kathleen’s local and remote sites increased as she incorporated more case studies to encourage class participation. Allowing for the slight audio lag time and adjusting for class size are key elements in facilitating this particular interaction strategy. Kathleen has also received positive feedback from her remote site students for using PowerPoint presentations as visual aides, rather than putting an entire lecture on slides.

Kathleen finds that the remote site students generally appreciate the availability of ITV courses, since the alternative would be coming to all the way to Tyler. In fact, she notes that the local (UTT main campus) students are sometimes temporarily disconcerted when the instruction is delivered from a remote site, since they are more accustomed to the proximity of the lecturer.

As anyone who’s been on camera knows, there are some definite “personal presentation” do’s and don’ts each instructor must learn. For Kathleen and her cohorts, discovering which clothes were complimentary (and which weren’t!) was second only to realizing the importance of having well-groomed nails, which are magnified when using the document camera. “For some reason we could never get our dean or ITV to pay for a manicure!” Kathleen says with a laugh. (Visit NETnet’s Basic ITV Skills page for more videoconferencing tips).

Howard Cox, Angelina College's own "Mr. Distance Learning" was first introduced to distance learning when, at age 14, he participated in an ETV “Quiz Kid” program that aired on cable television in 1972.

In 1987, while working for the human resources department of Lennox Industries in Fort Worth, Howard conducted training sessions at multiple factory sites via closed-circuit TV, one of the earlier distance education delivery methods.

By 1997 Howard was teaching Business English to geographically dispersed Mississippi county extension secretaries through a Mississippi State University program which transmitted compressed video through ordinary phone land lines. That same year he taught his first asynchronous online course. The technology has come a long way since those days, as Howard reminisces: “Our server would allow me to upload all the text I wanted, but it could handle only one or two pictures at a time and the internet links to other sites hardly ever worked. Still we thought we were cutting edge.”

Howard currently teaches both online and interactive videoconferencing courses for Angelina College. An enthusiastic proponent of distance instruction, Howard explains: “I’ve never gotten over how technology helps to unleash my creativity when I teach. It’s just plain fun.”

(Visit NETnet's Virtual Field Trip/Webquest page to generate your own ideas for ITV and online creative collaborations - between students or with other faculty members.)

Joe Butler is not only a pioneer distance learning instructor at Panola College, but he is also a faculty mentor, DL support person, WebCT administrator, and one of the trainers in the College’s DL Training Certification Program. Respected by peers and students alike, Joe approaches difficult situations with humor and commitment. He teaches face-to-face classes as well as Internet and Interactive Videoconferencing (ITV) and is anxious to teach using the NETnet equipment. In addition, Joe currently serves as the president of the Panola Faculty Association.

According to the Director of Distance Learning at Panola College, “Joe is a professional who demonstrates enthusiasm for technology and mathematics. He inspires both his early admissions and traditional college students. Joe has been instrumental in the success of the DL program at Panola College.”

At the next meeting of the East Texas Regional Group of the Texas Distance Learning Association, Joe Butler will co-present a talk on "Best (and Worst) ITV Practices" with SFA's Dixie Mercer. This joint session will originate from the Stephen F. Austin and Panola College NETnet Classrooms on April 3, 2003 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. For more information about the meeting or the presentation, contact Ann Morris.