Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2020: Buffalo State – Mark Posluszny

Mark Posluszny, Ed.D, is an associate professor in the Exceptional Education Department at SUNY Buffalo State. Prior to joining the SUNY Buffalo State faculty in 1985, he served for five years as an assistant professor at the University of Idaho. He has taught a variety of undergraduate, master’s level, and doctoral level courses during his career. He also served two terms as Acting Chair of the Exception Department. He earned his bachelor’s degree at SUNY Geneseo, his master’s degree from Nazareth College, and his Ed.D. from the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Posluszny’s initial involvement in online instruction began by transitioning his on-campus courses into a hybrid format using Angel and then later the Blackboard platforms. He found that the overwhelming majority of students welcomed and embraced online class sessions. Students reported that they appreciated the flexibility that an online format provided. It enabled them to more easily balance their personal, professional, and academic responsibilities. They also found it advantageous for them in controlling their individual learning pace. Additionally, inherent in online learning, students develop self-disciple and time management skills which help prepare them for new and innovative working environments

Given the positive reactions from students, Dr. Posluszny began transitioning the courses he taught from a hybrid to a fully online format. He found that the content and learning outcomes in each course presented different challenges when converting from on an on-campus to an online format. He believes that these challenges represent obstacles that need to be overcome rather than barriers that preclude a course from being taught in an online format.

Over the years, Dr. Posluszny has continuously revised his courses to better meet the needs of students, and ensure increasing levels of content mastery and student engagement. He has relied on the resources and expertise provided by the RITE instructional designers at Buffalo State College as well as the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) standards in revising his courses. Recently, he has collaborated with his colleagues to revise the OSCQR Rubric to reflect the needs of his colleagues.

I have been and continue to be an advocate for online learning. I believe that online learning is like a fast-moving train; it’s difficult if not impossible to stop. My hope is that my enthusiasm for online learning inspires others to accelerate their transition to online formats.