Home // eLmL 2018, The Tenth International Conference on Mobile, Hybrid, and On-line Learning // View article

Best Practices in a Redesigned Online Computer Ethics Course

Authors:
Cynthia Lester

Keywords: computer ethics; community college; learning outcomes; online education; undergraduate computer science

Abstract:
The Babson Survey Research group, in its 13th annual survey of higher education, reported that one in four students is enrolled in online courses. The report also stated that the number of students taking online courses has continued its growth trend of the last 13 years where nearly 5.8 million students take online courses. Furthermore, approximately 28 percent of higher education students are enrolled in at least one online course. While these numbers are not surprising, they do confirm what most educators now know and that is students want to learn on their own terms and in their own environments. However, challenges in the perception of online education still persist, especially in the wake of the most recent scandals surrounding online for profit institutions. Moreover, how to best deliver quality online instruction still plagues many institutions whether they are traditional brick and mortar with an online campus or an online institution where the majority of the programs and students are fully online. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to provide a discourse on best practices in an online learning environment. More specifically, the work uses as its context an online computer ethics course aimed at students in a 2-year degree pathway, at a Research I university that was first piloted in 2014. Since then, the course has been revised and has become a regular offering, part of the required computer science curriculum. Also presented are challenges and lessons learned with hopes that they further the dialogue among educators on how best to design online courses and meet the needs of online students.

Pages: 66 to 71

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2018

Publication date: March 25, 2018

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4367

ISBN: 978-1-61208-619-4

Location: Rome, Italy

Dates: from March 25, 2018 to March 29, 2018