{"id":2704,"date":"2025-01-08T14:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=2704"},"modified":"2025-01-08T14:35:55","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:35:55","slug":"a-personal-approach-to-online-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/a-personal-approach-to-online-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"A personal approach to online teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

One instructor’s journey to computer science learning accessible online<\/h2>\r\n
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by the Oregon State University College of Engineering. Read it in its original context<\/a> \u00bb<\/div>\r\n

Danielle Safonte\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0experiences as an online student helped prepare her for her role as an online computer science instructor and course development manager in the\u00a0School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Born and raised in New York, Safonte attended an engineering high school with aspirations of becoming a civil engineer. After a year in college, she shifted her focus to information technology, ultimately earning her bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees from the University of Phoenix.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While pursuing her degrees, Safonte worked part-time in various roles at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, which eventually led to her becoming an adjunct instructor for the City University of New York system. When lab space became limited in her CUNY embedded systems course, the university offered her the option to teach it in a hybrid format.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI had already been a student in an online program, but that was my introduction to online instruction as a teacher,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving been on the student side, I had a good idea of what students would want.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Seeking a more permanent position, Safonte joined Oregon State as an online computer science instructor in 2019. She soon developed the university\u2019s online Social and Ethical Issues in Computer Science course, which sharpened her interest in the science behind course development.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI really wanted to look more into the pedagogy involved in developing courses and the structure and architecture behind it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Managing and developing high-quality online courses<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Safonte has since obtained a\u00a0Quality Matters<\/a>\u00a0teaching certification, which holds her to rigorous standards for designing and delivering high-quality online and blended courses. Her social and ethical issues course was also QM-certified through a peer-review process that relies on research-based standards and emphasizes continuous improvement. Today, Safonte serves as a QM peer reviewer for courses at Oregon State and other universities.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Safonte\u2019s passion for course development led her to pursue a doctorate in education, focusing on online education and course development. She now manages most of the EECS-developed online courses in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, artificial intelligence, and engineering science.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In that role, Safonte conducts quality assurance checks on all EECS online courses before they are launched. A key component of her work is fostering a connection between students and their instructors, as well as among their peers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWhen we walk into a class as an instructor, we have that face-to-face interaction, and the students can read you,\u201d Safonte said. \u201cBut in an asynchronous, online course, it\u2019s very easy for a student to feel distant, like they don\u2019t have support, or like they are out there on their own.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To ensure students feel acknowledged and supported, Safonte creates video tips, sends progress report emails, and invites them to office hours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI try to keep those lines of communication open all the time, to bring that one-on-one aspect and to make that presence constant,\u201d Safonte said. \u201cWhen I\u2019m working with an instructor to develop a class, I have those processes built in for them, like simple weekly announcements or a progress track.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Safonte incorporates flexible due dates and allows students to choose how to apply class theories to assignments. She collaborates with instructors to ensure the skills taught are relevant to real-world job markets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cI encourage the instructors to put themselves in the position of a new graduate looking for a job,\u201d Safonte said. \u201cThey need to make sure the learning objectives are still relevant for that course.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Safonte\u2019s efforts were recognized with the 2024 Oregon State Ecampus\u00a0Excellence in Online Teaching and Student Engagement Award<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Outside work, Safonte enjoys traveling with her wife and two children and frequently hunts for Cretaceous fossils near their New Jersey home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe have found all kinds of fun things, like vertebrae and shark teeth, and things that are millions and millions of years old,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just absolutely fascinating that they\u2019re in our backyard.\u201d<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>One instructor’s journey to computer science learning accessible online Editor’s note: This article was originally published by the Oregon State University College of Engineering. Read it in its original context \u00bb Danielle Safonte\u2019s\u00a0experiences as an online student helped prepare her for her role as an online computer science instructor and course development manager in the\u00a0School … A personal approach to online teaching<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":2705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,678,8],"tags":[160,20,130,549,595],"class_list":["post-2704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-faculty-and-programs","category-students","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-computer-science","tag-online-teaching","tag-quality-matters","tag-school-of-electrical-engineering-and-computer-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/20230926_100611.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-HC","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1988,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/computer-science-student-smart-scholarship\/","url_meta":{"origin":2704,"position":0},"title":"Computer science student earns Department of Defense SMART scholarship","author":"Steve Lundeberg","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Vidhi Kadakia, a second-year undergraduate in OSU's College of Engineering, has been selected for the Department of Defense\u2019s Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation scholarship program, known as SMART. 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