Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2018 – Fredonia: Linda Finn

Linda Finn is an adjunct instructor in the Education Department at SUNY Fredonia. She has been doing online work for the past five years at the university level. Prior to this, she created and used online teaching in her job as Comprehensive Health and Wellness Coordinator for Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES and continues to do so. The online course that she teaches most is Educational Psychology. Linda is a certified Pre-K-6th grade teacher as well as both a School Building and School District Administrator. In addition to teaching online courses at the college, she has also created and continues to teach NYSED approved coaching certification courses.

Like most, I found some challenges with online instruction in the beginning. How was I going to incorporate my sense of humor and “hands on” approach? I do think with time and practice, I have become just as comfortable, if not more comfortable, teaching online. I learned a lot from doing my Master’s degree almost completely online. Each time I create a course, I think back to what supports helped me and what format I found most useful. Along the same lines, I continually ask for student feedback. This is where I have been most educated as far as “best practice.” I think online learning opens a world of opportunity for students and gives us another tool to use in our quest to differentiate instruction. I am fortunate enough to see this opportunity being used at the high school level with much success as well. I love online instruction and look forward to creating and teaching new courses in the future!