This session is co-sponsored by the Learning Technology Team, the Teaching-Learning-Collaboration Group, the Integrate Group, and the University of Toronto Mississauga Library.
The twenty first century, with its user-friendly computer technology, availability of digital media, and “techno-savvy” students provides an ideal platform for the delivery of online courses. The Human Physiology online course offered by the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto (www.physiology.utoronto.ca) offers a quality learning experience, convenience, and flexibility. The course is delivered on Blackboard with captured videos and has a supportive, user-friendly course environment. This new online Basic Human Physiology course gives students more flexibility in terms of time and location, allowing self-directed learning within a semi-structured frame-work, and gives the opportunity to many non-University of Toronto students to complete the course. The online course consists of 51 online didactic lectures and corresponding topic-related “virtual labs” that involve computer simulations. The support for the online course consists of a faculty monitored discussion board, direct email access to the lecturers, virtual TA hours and opportunity to post and answer questions on the course discussion board 24/7.
It has proved popular with students with over 200 students having taken the course in the first year. It has also consistently ranked as the #1 Google search result for ‘human physiology web course’ for the last 6 months. Overall, our results suggest that the online course was as effective as the in-class course. Moreover, we found that the online course fostered the students’ ability for critical thinking and promoted problem solving skills. Results from analysis of course data, student surveys and course evaluations in the online course will be discussed and compared with traditional in class course delivery.