The online evaluation form was available for students during the final week of the semester, where it was linked to the course website.  Evaluations were submitted anonymously by 13 of the 17 students in the course.  The data were collected in a FileMaker Pro database, a summary of the data (below) was created (an automated process within FileMaker Pro).

A summary of the 13 student responses follows.  Note that each evaluation form was given a number, and that not every student provided an “open-ended” response to each question.

1. The course as a whole was:

EXCELLENT (5) --------- VERY POOR (1)
Average: 4.8
Range: 4-5
(1) Great course!!! (4) In my on-line class experience, I've never had a professor who was more involved in the class. (5) I was bored but not your fault it is stuff i already Know but if I was new to the internet it would have been wonderful (6) I found your methods to be fun, interesting, and informative. The interaction between the class and yourself was great. I know that many students find online courses hard to follow, but with instructors like you, hopefully that will change. Keep up the good work? (7) I feel as if I have learned a great deal to get started in internet communication. (13) Every lecture topic was very helpful and informative.

WELL CHOSEN (5) --------- POORLY CHOSEN (1)
Average: 5
Range: 5-5
(3) Well thought up course plan. (4) This is a great class and your attention to detail in the preparation really shows! (6) I liked the supplemental articles that made us think of Internet issues that we would not have been exposed to on our own.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.4
Range: 1-5
(4) I've learned more about the Internet via this class than I ever thought possible. (5) I feel like the glossery assignments and the questions at the end of each lecture were a wast of time.  I feel like it did not help my learning and more hindered the ammount of time I spent on line because I had to find the answers to questions instead of exploring! (6) It helped me to better my research skills and to look at the validity of websites. (7) Great use of pointing students into a great set of learning sites! (13) Especially having the freedom to use my own interpretation of the subject matter.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.6
Range: 2-5
(1) Even more than I could have hoped for. (4) The class far exceeded my expectations. (6) I needed to learn how to better research information and I have accomplished that and more. (8) I thought more of a how to, what does this mean rather than a search and find would apply.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 3.4
Range: 1-5
(1) Too much work!  I really liked it, but it was way too much for a 2 credit hour course. (3) It seemed somewhat on the heavy side. (4) It is unfortunate this class is only a 2 credit hour class. (5) Too much work for a two hour credit elective.  I did not have this much work in some of my core classes and it has nothingto do with the fact that it was online. I have taken online courses before. (6) No problems keeping up with the assignments. Even the research paper assignment was given early so that we had plenty of time to conduct the research the topic and complete the paper with little, if any, stress. (7) Although the assignments took a large amount of time, I was a little slow at first.  The assignments were all very beneficial in helping me learn about the internet. (8) For two hours?  The reading and reasearching load was substanially unequal. (10) I felt there was way too much work for a two hour summer course.  Reading all of the postings took me at least four hours a week. (11) There is such a large profusion of information in this course that I was forced to manage my time very carefully. I did not have the luxury of leisurely perusing everything that was presented. I have been able to record a great deal of information that I will want to go back and spend more time on later, when time is not such a factor. (13) Not too much...not too little was just the right formula to let us use our heads (and experiences) for submitting answers.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.8
Range: 4-5
(1) You bet!! (4) I can honestly say I am using everything I've learned, daily at my job. (6) I have found 4-year institutions to use research and writing skills more often than any so I am sure that I will be able to use the skills learned in this course for a long time. (13) Using search engines to find information.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.5
Range: 1-5
(4) The assignments made sure we read the material, found the Internet sites and thoroughly reviewed them. Without the writing, how would you know? (5) IF you were only looking at our ability to find 10 web sites and critic them then why did we have to write a paper?  What did I learn from the paper that had nothing to do with working online? (6) Assignments were subject related, easy to follow, and did not take too much time to complete. (7) Great tool for organizing my thoughts and truly giving thought to the exercises! (13) My research paper allowed me to use HTML and e-mail attachment skills.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 5
Range: 5-5
(1) Oakley is an Internet God! (2) Appropriate is not the best adjective, more like magnificient, outstanding, or prodigious. (3) This is my first online course and I am very pleased with the timely manner the instructor wrote back to each and all of the students. (4) Dr. Oakley should be the poster child for on-line teaching. His total engagement with the class and interaction with each student has been impressive. I believe he understands the importance of encouraging each student and his teaching style reflects it. (5) It was wonderful to have all the feed back I honestly felt as if you spent as much time online as I did if not alot more time.  I was very impressed.  (What are you like in the classroom?) (6) GREAT INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS! (7) The interaction was exactly what was needed to keep the level of interest high.  I think that many would drop out if the instructor input was not so timely.  Thanks. (11) Burks has developed an exceptional style for online teaching and his dedication to the subject and his students is to be commended. (12) More than appropriate.  Feedback was plentiful and provided in a expediently. (13) Very "student friendly."

YES, QUITE OFTEN (5) --------- NO, HARDLY EVER (1)
Average: 5
Range: 5-5
(4) I appreciated his daily e-mails with internet resources for me to review. He didn't have to do that, but I appreciate that he took the time to do it! (6) Provided daily articles related to Internet issues, some of which we had discussed and some that provided us with additional information that we should think about when using the Internet. (10) I'm not sure what this question means. (11) E-mailing of news articles helped here. (13) Particularly enjoyed the personal e-mails sent on current events "for FYI."

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 5
Range: 5-5
(1) Oakley is an Internet God! (3) Very well versed in the subject matter. (4) He's the best! (6) He was able to answer questions we had with no problems. (7) Any and all questions were answered in a very, very thorough fashion-although sometimes it led to more questions.  Kept me thinking all the time. (11) exceptional (13) Liked the way you showed us your paper and assignments from last semester.

ALMOST ALWAYS (5) --------- ALMOST NEVER (1)
Average: 5
Range: 5-5
(2) Burk's socially interacted better than if it were in a classroom setting. (3) I would have to say ALWAYS. (4) Dr. Oakley spent an enormous amount of time responding to and engaging students during the semester. (6) Great Interaction! He was probably online more than many of us were. (7) Couldn't have been nicer. (8) Constant feedback on comments were welcomed. (9) I think you are a very pleasant person. (10) I thought the teacher did an excellent job in replying to postings. (13) ALWAYS!

COMMUNITY SPIRIT (5) --------- ISOLATION (1)
Average: 4.6
Range: 4-5
(1) I really got to know the other students!!! (2) It seemed like more or different students could have participated in the discussion. (4) Students didn't respond to each others comments as much as the professor, but there were some who did. (5) I have never been in an online class that had as much communication as this one did and I have worked in groups online I cannot tell you how hard that was (6) Students were responding to comments related to the class and also we were provided with a Lounge site where we could relax online and discuss other things. There was also a General Discussion where we could discuss course-related topics. (11) As can be expected, interaction improved as the semester progressed. I saw many examples of less technologically literate students being encouraged by peers as well as Burks. (13) Wished I had a computer to use anytime I felt the desire.

TOO LARGE (-2) --------- TOO SMALL (+2)
Average: -0.1
Range: -1 - 0
(3) It seemed like the correct amount of students to me. (4) pretty big class. (6) Seemed to be an adequate number (11) Maybe I shouldn't answer this question until all research papers have been posted. ;-)

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.8
Range: 3-5
(1) No problems at all! (2) Let me preface this answer, I was relatively uncomfortable in the very beginning, but the course was so didactically elucidated, I now feel very comfortable and secure. (3) The spell check on the web board is very cool. (6) At first it took a little time, but I quickly got the hang of it. (7) The course has actually given me courage to attempt new things.  It also gave me the knowledge to know what to try! (8) Once everything started to work. (13) Learning how to use and navigate the class WebBoard was a snap.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.3
Range: 1-5
(3) I think I prefer face to face interaction. (4) The more classes I take on-line, the more discipline I develop. (6) I believe that a student must be very disciplined in order to take an online course. There is also an advantage when a course like this one considers learning styles of all students and provides the same lecture in visual (powerpoint) and audio styles.

STRONGLY AGREE (5) --------- STRONGLY DISAGREE (1)
Average: 4.8
Range: 3-5
(2) Positively, indubitably, and also without a doubt. (3) No question I learned more than I would have by myself. (5) Still a very basic course but I knew that when I signed up I just needed a two hour elective! (6) I would never have found this information on my own. (7) I would never have spent the time necessary if the assignments hadn't been so thorough.  It also helped to have strong instructor input.  His responses were always so well-put that it encouraged more thoughtfulness on my part in answering the questions. (13) I'm a person who needs structure.

(1) Prof. Oakley!! (2) It's hard to depict and isolate one particular topic, but I love the knowledge that I gained, and the espirit de corp shared by faculty and students. (3) The professor was very open to questions. (4) The professor and his presentation of the material. (5) The interation between students and the teacher it made the course fun! (6) The interaction and information provided in websites and articles. (7) I enjoyed the lectures and really appreciated the transcripts, as well.  The recommended sites for study were very valuable and I am certain that I will visit them again with more questions.  The interaction with the class and instructor was absolutely the best part, however!  I found myself looking forward to logging in and "going to class!" (8) I do feel more comfortable discussing this form of communication.  I'm not so computer illiterate anymore. (9) I liked being able to do the work at my own pace and on my own time. (10) I liked the flexibility of the course.  I didn't have to go to a class with a rigid schedule. (11) The entire format was excellent. The content was exactly what I was looking for. (12) First, I liked your teaching style!  Second, I liked the wealth of technology information I learned. (13) All of the lecture subjects.

(1) It was fine as is. (2) Nothing really salient.  The work load was an onus task, trying to concatenate working full time and studying; but that is to be expected--we are in college! (3) Work load seemed on the heavy side. (4) It is only worth 2 credit hours. (5) There really was two much work for a two hour credit I believe it should be a four hour credit (6) Can't think of one thing I did not like (7) I really can't think of anything that I didn't like.  Although I put in a great number of hours on this course, I'm not certain that it should have any more credit hours associated with it.  I think that I was just slow at first with the new terminology.  As I learned, the time expenditure evened out. (8) Frustration with the mechanical works of the animal. (9) Writing the paper. (10) I thought the amount of work was too much. (11) Workload. But this is college, not grade school. (12) The number of messages I would have to read after missing a day or two, LOL. (13) The fact that I took the course without a home computer.  I thought that not having one (with Internet service!) would not be too much of a problem.  Maybe taking the course in the Fall or Spring semester would have helped...?

(1) It was fine as is. (2) The only thing that would improve it for me is for me to get better computer equipment, e.g., like a T-1 line. (4) Improve the number of hours it is worth. (6) Would not change a thing! (7) Perhaps a little more depth in the lectures. (8) I certainly must be worth more than two hours. (9) I don't know. (10) I think less work should be given. (11) Don't remove content. Increase credit hours. (12) The only thing I could add would be better techniques for web searches. (13) It's FINE the way it is.  Have fun keeping pace with technology!

(1) Nope. (2) Thanks very much!! (3) nope (4) I hope to take another class taught by Dr. Oakley - I have been very impressed with him. He's obviously doing what he enjoys, and it shows. (6) I really enjoyed this course! (7) Thanks to Dr. Oakley for a great semester!  I had a wonderful time in my first internet class.  He'll be a hard act for anyone else to follow! (8) Vitiligo is a pain. (9) I enjoyed this course. I learned a lot. (11) Outstanding course. Probably the most useful college course I have taken to date (and I have somewhere around 80 hours). (12) Burks, it was a great class.  Your dedication and enthusaism to the subject matter and more importantly to your students is exceptional. (13) Hope to someday meet you in person, Burks.  May God bless you in all of your days here with us, and may He keep you safe in all of your travels.