Is Enough Time Being Allotted to Lessons?

After the reading the article on novice instructors I was left pondering why it seemed to me that instructors focused more on delivering the content of a particular subject rather than on whether the student actually grasped what was being presented. As I stated in the discussion on this topic, in my experience with online classes I have often found that my instructors would present the content, not engage in discussion, and then move on to the next topic/objective. I initially stated that I could possibly understand why instructors would choose to do this but upon further reflection I do not agree with that anymore.

It is not beneficial to the student nor the instructor to simply rush through topics just to ensure that everything is "covered". Engaging thoroughly with the material, both the student and the professor, is how learning takes place. For example, class discussions are a huge part of an online learning environment and it is in my opinion that this is a critical component for both the student and teacher. For the student, it is to express his or her understanding of the material being presented at that time and for the teacher it is to guide that student into a deeper/richer understanding or therefore making their contribution to the discussion just as important as the student's.

One of the reasons I chose to attend UMUC was because the structure of their online learning environment did not strike me as being rushed (i.e. earn your degree in as little as a year type thing). But I have found that even in a 10-15 week course subject matter is gone over rather quickly. Maybe this is the nature of online learning. A survey on how instructors determine how much time should be spent on material would probably yield very interesting results. Interesting...