Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2016 – Herkimer: Karen Nagle

Karen Nagle is an Associate Professor of Business at Herkimer County Community College. She began teaching at Herkimer in 1988 and in the fall of 1998, she began teaching online for the college. Over the years, she has prepared 12 different courses for the college. Nagle found that the online learning format replicated the traditional classroom in many ways, yet offered her students the ability to focus on student-centered discussions. These discussions have often enabled the students to expand on topic exploration with more time and detail that the traditional classroom timeline could not allow.

The online format has proven for her students to be an excellent alternative for the adult-returning students who are developing additional skills and knowledge for their professional advancement or developing the original foundation for initial career building. Even the traditional student has enjoyed the opportunity to use the flexibility offered through the online learning format and its ability to meet the diversified needs of the student makeup of her classes.

The advancement of technology has also helped to create the opportunity for Nagle and other professors to offer additional technological options within the course itself. Students enjoy a varied platform for instruction within their courses and appreciate clearly defined instructions that help them to meet their individual skill levels and achieve academic success with online learning.

Herkimer County Community College has provided for their faculty a diligent support component for this advancement with online instruction. Success with online learning comes with the support of the technical side of instruction, but also with the commitment from educators who engage with their students “online” just like they do in the classroom. All students appreciate and advance their learning when quick and constructive feedback is provided.