OCG would like to extend a round of applause to Lorri MacDonald, who has officially been named the first Online Teacher of the Year. Lorri is an online high school teacher and offers introductory to advanced courses in forensic science.

Lorri teaches part-time for Michigan Virtual School, a division of Michigan Virtual University and developed the forensic science courses three years. She also teaches in the traditional classroom as well, where she has more than 20 years of experience at the middle school and high school levels.

Here is what Lorri has to say about the online learning environment:

“Online learning has changed my teaching practice in my face-to-face classroom…I have become more creative and constructivist by encouraging students to build on their own prior knowledge rather than relying on ‘pearls of wisdom’ dropped during lectures.”

She went on to say that “online learning is the way of the future, the way to reach more students in remote places and more students with up-to-date information.”

Well said, Lorri, I couldn’t agree more.

Additionally, I would say that online instructors must also deal with the challenge of connecting and developing a positive rapport with students in which they will never meet. This simply emphasizes the level of commitment of online instructors who must work to be available, communicate effectively, remain organized and implement creative ways to engage their students.

With that being said, I invite online students of all ages to leave a comment about one of their favorite online instructors so that we can recognize them here on OCG.

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