Saving Your Sanity When Teaching in an Online Environment: Lessons Learned

Abstract

To address critical shortages of special education personnel in rural areas, institutions of higher education are using the Internet to bring personnel preparation programs to prospective and practicing teachers in rural communities. However, often instructors of such courses receive little to no training on how to design and implement a course in the online environment. While learning management systems may differ at various colleges and universities, there are many helpful strategies that can make the processes of course development and implementation easier for the novice and experienced online instructor. In this article, four instructors from two different universities with substantial distance education experience offer practical tips for creating and managing online courses.

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