The online evaluation form was available for students during the final two weeks of the semester, when it was linked to several announcements and messages within the Blackboard course management system.  Evaluations were submitted anonymously by 20 of the 24 students enrolled in the course.

A summary of the responses follows.  Note that not every student provided an “open-ended” response to each question.

Category 1: Overall Course Management

1. The course as a whole was:

EXCELLENT (5) ----- (1) POOR
Range:  3-5
Average: 4.7
5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5

Burks rocks!

This course was very organized and very well designed. The course was thought provoking and very informative. I learned a great deal from this course.

I enjoyed the variety of material covered and the posting of not only you, but of the entire class. It was the most engaging class this semester.

Really excellent class participation and teacher involvement.

I'm not big on Internet use, but this class helped me understand why it is necessary.

I realy liked the concept of discussing all areas of hte course and getting feedback from not only the instructor but fellow classmates.

Very well organized online course.  All of the information we needed as students was available to us somewhere on Blackboard.  If I had a question I was able to find the answer for myself.

I learned many things that I did not know and some that I had never heard of before.  I learned to write a paper on topics that had nothing to do with my major.  I enjoyed the open discussions with my classmates and the feeling of connectedness despite our never having met.  I thought our professor was extremely understanding and very much in command of the course material.  He was always available to clear up any questions I had and was open to negotiation.

I really benefited a tremendous amount from this course. I would highly recommend this course to all UIS students!
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average: 4.8
5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

I really learned a lot!

The topics chosen were very well thought out. They were topics that need to be addressed and helped with understanding the daily issues faced.

I think all of the topics were relative to the course.

Some of the topics were completely new to me letting me actually learn something, not just review it.

Very good topics.  I learned alot from the different aspects in which we use the Internet.

The topics were all current issues in Internet use and technology.

The Pew Reports were easy to understand and I felt that there was a certain flow as the curriculum built throughout the semester.

The topics were very relevant to what's going on, and sparked some good discussions.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average: 4.7
5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

The papers were too long!

The assignments were very useful for understanding the issues.

Many of the assignments took additional reading or investigation which only enhanced my knowledge of them. I was unaware of some of the topics, so reading about new things is always good.

I really enjoyed the discussion between classmates.

The papers were a little hard, but it was a good amount of work.

I spent my time learning about things I did not know about and, to me, that is good use of a class.  That is what is supposed to happen in a course and I have to admit it has not happened that often for me in the past two years.

I enjoyed reading every report as well as the online discussions. I liked the freedom to choose my subject within certain parameters for the research papers.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average: 4.6
5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5

Too much work!

The amount of work required was very appropriate for the course. Not much and not so little that one feels they have finished the course without learning anything.

I put in at least 15 hours a week on this class.

I admit that this course was very balanced in the structure of homework and the balance of what was expected of myself.  GOOD!

Haha. Reluctantly, it was fair. I was sort of hoping it would be less demanding than it was. But now that I'm almost done, it's good.

It was a fair amount of work for a 4 credit course.  Not overwhelming, but deserving for four credits.

I thought the workload was fairly light, but in depth.

The work assigned was just right. It stretched me but I enjoyed the challenge.

There was a good amount of work, but I found myself often having trouble to catch up with the other discussions while they were going on because of my being busy taking care of other things.  That's mostly my problem though, and as I saw no other students had major problems with it.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

I always knew exactly what to do.

This has been the most organized course I have taken, either online or in the classroom setting.

Very well organized.

Very, very well organized.

I knew what to expect all the time.  I appreciated this.

The web interface was easy to navigate. The discussions were very informative and helped me to gain a better understanding of the reports that I read.

6. I learned things in this course that will be very useful to me in the future.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average: 4.6
5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 4, 5, 5, 3, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4

I already am applying what I learned in this class.

Many of the topics we covered will be very useful to me in the future.

I now have some great ideas to put into motion when I have the time, such as Skype.

I use Firefox as a browser, booked a vacation online, know what a blog is, looked up election results online.  Totally applicable to real life.

I probably won't use these things in my career, but I will use some of them.

I have more knowledge of Internet capabilities.

Since technology is everchanging this course forced me to realize that there are many perspectives that I should consider when interfacing with information on the internet.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average: 4.9
5, 5, 4, 5, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

I had no idea that the Internet was so pervasive!

This course has improved my understanding of how the Internet is impacting our lives. The articles were helpful but the DB gave us a direct view of how the Internet was impacting others.

It showed that every age group looks at these issues differently. Really taught me a lot about internet uses and taught me uses I didn't know about before this.

I never realized how much the Internet affects our lives.

There were alot of areas in which I didn't realize that the Internet had an impact on.  I now know that without the Internet, then things would be much more complicated and I wouldn't be able to perform alot of my tasks now.

I already knew many of the technical aspects of Internet usage, but I never really considered the social aspects of it. This course enabled me to consider the effects of it socially.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.4
5, 5, 4, 5, 3, 3, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3

Yes, definitely!

The DBs really got us to critically think. The course itself was designed to make us think yet the DB comments from our peers expanded our thinking.

Forcing us to answer questions in a thoughtful manner made for excellent discussions.

The discussion postings helped me to compose my answers carefully, and I believe my critical thinking skills were more applied in this format than in a traditional setting.

Many of the class discussions ended up being just opinion questions, so I tried to participate in the discussions which were not participated in as much because they tend to be the more thoughtful ones.  There's probably not much the professor can do about this, as it's probably just the way students behave, but it's a thought.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.5
5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4 ,4, 3, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 4, 5, 3, 5

I really learned more in this class than any other class this semester.

I have met the objectives I had at the start of the semester as well as many objectives that I did not have.

Did not have many expectations but this class exceeded my expectations.

I did not really have many objectives at the start of the semester, but I feel I accomplished a great deal.

Definitely!
 

10. The instructor’s teaching style was appropriate for an online course.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.8
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

Burks is an Internet god!

The instructor's teaching style was excellent for an online course. The instructor should be leading courses on teaching online courses.

You were very available and responded to me very quickly, faster than some of my in class teachers.

The continuous feedback was helpful in understanding the topics of discussion.

Burks is a master at online teaching. It was my good fortune to experience him as my teacher. I hope to continue contact.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average: 4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5

Always!

Throughout the course the instructor showed both respect and concern for each of the students.

You helped me a lot through out the course.

Burks was always giving us a push toward working on our papers and letting us know at what point we should be.

I really liked the ability to get in touch with our instructor basically anytime we had a concern.  His responses were very detailed and were done in a very timely mannar.  This was one of the best instructors and courses that I have taken at UIS.

Burks was more than involved in this course. I could really feel that we were a community of learners.

You were very involved in the class and were always accessible whenever we needed anything.  That was much appreciated.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average: 4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

Very clear.

The instructor was very concerned with clearly communicating the information and ideas to the students; he repeatedly gave us the opportunity to ask questions if we needed clarification.

I never had any questions or concerns as to what my role was as a student; the directions were clear and to the point.

Totally clear.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.7
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5

He always was posting new articles about the topics.

My interests in this material were most definitely stimulated throughout the course.

Burks added comments and suggestions and even posted articles that correlated with what we were studying at the time. This gave us a real world example of the curriculum.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

I liked the use of rubrics in this class.

The instructor was very clear on what was expected in the area of performance.

What was expected of me was clear from the first day of class. You can see in the syllabus that it is put forth what is to be completed from week to week.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  5
Average:  5.0
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

He was online like 24/7 for the entire semester.

The instructor was always available. He always responded, quickly, to any question. All instructors should be as available as this instructor made himself.

I have never seen such prompt responses from a teacher before.

Above and beyond the call of duty!!

I can honestly say that I have never had an online instructor that was as available as Burks. It seemed like he was ALWAYS online. He also gave several options which to reach him.

I have never had a better instructor as far as being available and helping students.

I was amazed as to how promptly our questions were answered while the instructor was traveling around.

As  mentioned above, you were always accessible through either email, or the phone, or AIM.  That's a big plus.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  5
Average:  5.0
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Does Burks ever sleep?

Feedback was very prompt and very helpful.

Yes, he is always available!

VERY FAST RESPONSES....GREAT!!!

Even when Burks was at a conference he was always available on IM and he also responded to the discussions. There was never any downtime.
 

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.7
5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

For sure!

My learning of the course material was fully facilitated by the instructor.
 

YES, QUITE OFTEN (5) ----- (1) NO, HARDLY EVER
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.6
5, 5, 5, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5

Yes, he always was posting relevant articles from online news sources.

The relationship of the material and the world was brought to our attention daily.

I think more of the material was centrally focused on the impact it has or is having in the United States. Global impact can or could be inferred, but was not an overly large area of discussion.

The news stories being posted in various forms were always tying in what we were talking about with news events, so that was good for relevancy.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  4-5
Average: 4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

Very knowledgeable!

It is my opinion that this instructor knows more on this subject matter than do most of the experts in the Internet field.

Very knowledgeable.

Very!
 

EXCELLENT (5) ----- (1) POOR
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.9
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

Outstanding teacher!

Overall this instructor has all the attributes that one is looking for in an instructor and I would have a hard time finding one that I thought was any better.

I hope I can take more online classes taught by Burks.

Nice Job.
 

21. There were positive interactions between the instructor and the students.

ALMOST ALWAYS (5) ----- (1) ALMOST NEVER
Range:  4-5
Average:  4.8
5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5

Definitely!

The instructor interacted continually with the students and was always positive with his interactions.

Burks was always there to put in a word or two which helped tremendously when we were having a problem or needed some clarification.
 

COMMUNITY SPIRIT (5) ----- (1) ISOLATION
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.7
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 3

I really got to know a number of the other students very well.

The interactions in this course with classmates were always a community effort and were very helpful.

This class has been by far has had the most peer to peer interaction then any of my current or previous classes.

There were no confrontations, just discussion. Everyone was adult enough to discuss and disagree.

The community spirit element showed through, but frequently I felt like the only way to be included was to be a constant (several times a day) commenter on the message boards. I would have liked to participate more, but my schedule just didn't allow it.

I really enjoyed meeting my fellow classmates. I felt that the class really worked together.

I felt semi-isolated in some of the discussions because I'm not a primarily online student, so I had trouble socializing with others solely through the online means.  I also suffered from a lack of time to get on the forums and post a lot, so I missed out on that.

TOO LARGE (5) ----- (1) TOO SMALL
Range:  3-4
Average:  3.2
3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3

Just right!

This is a hard question to answer. The amount of students was great for discussions but at times it was hard to read all the students responses since there were so many students yet having all the input/thoughts was great.

Class size is not really a concern with online classes so much as a conventional Class. The only thing is whether the teacher can keep up and give everyone the attention that is needed. As long as that is done, then class size is not a problem.

Okay, but sometimes I felt as if I had a lot of responses to make.

I think the number of students was appropriate, however, it made it difficult to be able to hold discussions with all the students.

Probably the same as a typical classroom.  One of the larger online courses that I have taken though.  No hard times!

Due to the many postings required of the students the discussion boards filled up quickly and it was sometimes difficult and/or annoying to find my postings in order to respond.  With well over 100 postings each week it was a bit overwhelming.

It seemed there were enough students to interact in good discussions about the topics.

Perfect size.

Number of students was just fine, no complaints here.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.7
5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5

Yes, for sure.

I felt very comfortable with using the technologies in this course.

I was nervous about the plagiarism test before the papers could be submitted. I still am unsure how it works. I assume if the paper is accepted it was judged to be ok?

I enjoy learning online and felt comfortable with the technologies we used.

Everything was quite easy, and I didn't find anything that was potentially confusing for anyone.  It was all straightforward.

25. My learning style is appropriate for an online course.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  2-5
Average:  4.4
5, 5, 5, 4, 2, 5, 5, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 2, 5, 5, 3, 5, 3, 1

I am motivated and have self-discipline, so I really like online classes.

I have done well with the online course and do believe that my learning style enables me to do well with this type of learning.

I think I need to be a little more motivated, but I seemed to do well.

Maybe it's just convention, but I found myself longing for traditional lecture format. I naturally learn very well by seeing a person present information in all five senses. I suspect I digest information much more readily when I can see them and engaged them instantly. Also, I'm not much of a self-starter. Without a defined class meeting time, motivation was a constant struggle. [score of 2]

I really enjoyed this online class, but I don't think I'll take one again because I don't think it fits my learning style.  I'm the type of person who learns best through interaction with others, and I feel a lot of that interaction is lost when learning online. [score of 1]

STRONGLY AGREE (5) ----- (1) STRONGLY DISAGREE
Range:  3-5
Average:  4.6
5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 3, 5, 5, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 4

I really liked the weekly discussions with the other students.

The activities within the course definitely helped me learn much more than I would have learned on my own.

It gave me parameters which needed to be met and caused me to focus on the topics at hand at a more in-depth level.

I totally agree. The interactive discussions with the students helped me more than lecturing from a teacher would have.
 

27. What did you like most about this course?

That it was online.

What I liked most about the course was seeing how the Internet impacts others' lives and how it impacts my own life. The discussions were excellent.

The interaction between the students and the teacher as well as the topics of discussion.

The course was well organized. You always know what was due and when.

My first learning experience online, I enjoyed the unique approach to learning and felt like I gained a lot from the course.

The involvement of teacher and students with each other and learning about new internet applications

The varying opinions of the students and the ability to express them so freely without being cut off by an instructor trying to get their lesson in on time.

The interaction between students.  It seems as if there was more here than in a real class room.

The aspect that I enjoyed the most was all the interactions that took place between the students.

I liked the idea of the weekly discussion board and able to communicate with all the classmates.

Instructor interaction.

I liked the free-form chance to involve myself. 24-hours a day access to the materials.

The organization.  It was nice to a part of an organized class with all of the professors expectations up front.

The interaction among the students and professor.  Many online classes are more like an independent study class.  This class stressed the importance of student and teacher interaction.

The best part of this course was the instructor and how he put things together for this course.

The constant interaction between students with view points and opinions.

The instructor was excellent, material was relevant, and it was a good experience overall.

I guess I dislike the papers we had to write. Not because the assignment was difficult, but I just dislike writing in general.

Nothing.

I cannot think of anything that I would put in this category; there was not a thing about this course that I did not like.

The problem with almost all classes is the person who makes a posting on the last day of the assignment.

The biggest thing I did not like about his course is the phase one forums for the papers. It is not fair for students to have to rely upon others for part of their grade. Whether or not I get a good grade on a paper should be entirely up to me and my writing ability, not whether or not someone chose to take the time to put comments on a discussion board. I have a problem with having to quote other students from the phase one discussion forums in the papers. Quoting other students is not a problem, but having to rely on feedback that is rarely there is a problem. Writing a paper is not a group effort, and should not be treated as such. I need to have control over the writing of my papers, and this course tried to take that control away.

Blackboard, though easy to navigate, is sometimes tedious work to navigate, especially for discussion boards with many posts.  In a few years, I think a more manageable system would improve the quality of online learning.

Wading through 2-300 postings per week

The amount of people in the class made the discussion boards very time consuming but still there are points to be made for everyone.

Having to write the 2000 original word papers.

Of course writing the papers, but who likes to write papers. :-)  I wish there was one paper where we could pick any topic pertaining to Internet, not just ones that we read about in the PEP reports.

A lot of reading.

Paradoxically, it might be the same answer to no. 27. The online format is very convienent, but I learned a lot less than I would have taking the exact same curricullum [sic] in a lecture style.

The volume of postings each week and trying to weed through them to find my original posting as well as the responses I gave to others.

N/A

That I never got to meet my fellow classmates in person, I would have liked to.

The inability to see each other to gain an even better understanding of each other and our thoughts on the Internet.

This was my first experience with online courses, and I've found that they don't really fit my learning style, so I probably would have liked this course better if it wasn't online.  This is just a personal preference, though.

YES (2) ----- (1) NO
Range:  1-2
Average:  1.3
1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2

My work and family keep me from taking courses on a college campus.  Fine as is.

I would not have been able to take this course if it were not online, my schedule would not allow for a classroom setting. I do not see any need for improvement for this course. I do see that other courses/instructors could use this course as a guide to improve.

I would like to see mandatory posting dates, so that everyone has a chance to read and review the posting of their classmates and then have ample time to respond and start a dialogue about the issue.

No more phase one discussions on the papers. No more requirement to quote other students in the papers.

It was great!! Thanks.

It has a great layout so I don't think that there could be much done to improve on it, but like I said the papers were a little hard so maybe make the homework a little harder and the papers a little easier.

Being able to take this course online was great. Since I live a great distance from UIS, this was very convenient for me.

No areas needed, maybe a forum to share Instant Messenger names might be helpful.

Unless it were offered on a Monday or Thursday night, probably not. Better reading materials. The Pew reports were extremely informative, but the writers didn't make much of an effort to create intriguing prose. Reading through the cumulative reports (which often just took the form of regurgitating data in paragraph form) was laborious at times.  ***Despite my generally negative comments throughout this evaluation, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the experience and did learn a lot. It was just a difficult format to get used to.

Physically, no - I live too far away.  If you mean that it is possible to take this course in a traditional classroom setting, then absolutely., The class ran very smoothly. I don't really see how it can be improved.

I would not have been able to take it due to family circumstances that would not have allowed me to travel to campus at all. There is nothing that I can think of, sorry.

This course is really meant to be taught online.  It was awesome.

It's fine just the way it is.

I'm a traditional student staying on campus, so I'd certainly be able to take it., I'd recommend more Elluminate sessions, if at all possible.  I know we had very low turnout for some of them due to people's scheduling conflicts, but making them more frequent would allow more people to participate in them.