Goals should be reasonable, and students' progress toward them should be measurable. In my view, teachers need to consider carefully the course of development by which students move from dependency to independence, from structured activity to more open activity, from rigid production to flexible and imaginative creation. Our goals for a particular class should describe a trajectory of learning across multiple dimensions, and our measurements should be able to identify the paths taken by students and their progress from their individual starting points along that trajectory. I am particularly interested in students' development of their abilities to compose, collaborate, and communicate effectively in technologically-enhanced environments. Good teaching practice coordinates students' inherent drive for self-determination, our specific academic goals, engaging activities, and evidence that represents student achievement and performance.
Careful scaffolding is the key.
I've tried to accomplish this through creating innovative courses such as Virtual Worlds, Information Architecture, and Knowledge Ecologies. I believe it is essential. We improve undergraduate education not only through the courses we teach directly, but also through our influence on faculty and future faculty. I've also been involved in supporting and teaching undergraduate instructors through my work with the Online Learning Record and my role as director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab, as well as through my graduate course for future college faculty, Coursebuilding for the Electronic Classroom. The Online Learning Record, through its availability on the web, is used by a wide range of teachers at many different institutions.