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Jennifer S. Cochrane

Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies

Jennifer Cochrane, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, always wanted to teach. But did the now veteran teacher ever imagine that she would become a guru of teaching online?

"The nature of teaching and learning is radically different today than when I started 30 years ago," she says. "Because of the digital revolution, if you are a teacher, you are no longer the source of all knowledge; if you are a student you have access to all the information that previously available to only the teacher. So, the job of teacher has changed from being the source of information to helping students make critical sense of this information that is now readily available to everyone."

The recipient of a Liberal Arts Distinguished Associate Faculty Award (1994-95) and an Academic Transformation Grant (2006), Cochrane is the author of nationally-used teaching materials on teaching public speaking online and a key contributor to the curriculum for the Communication Studies Department where she serves as the Director of Online Teaching and Learning.

In that role she shepherds the department's online courses including the all-online certificate, Human Communication in a Mediated World. The certificate addresses the need for people to learn to interact more effectively in a world where individuals frequently move in and out of traditional face-to-face and mediated communication situations. In the program students learn to analyze and evaluate the impact of the mediated environment on the communication choices at hand.

Cochrane says, however, taking courses online for their own sake is not always the answer for students who have limited time and complicated lives. She warns that it is a mistake to think that these courses are easier to complete than the traditional classroom variety.

"Time management and self-discipline are critical to success in online courses," says Cochrane. Knowing yourself and your learning style, she says, is the best predictor when it comes to choosing from computer based learning and traditional, face-to-face courses.

Cochrane emphasizes that despite the changed world of teaching and learning, some things are consistent. There is nothing like seeing students gain confidence in the classroom as they accomplish their personal and academic goals, she says and smiles.

"Students and faculty still need the human touch that comes only through deep face-to-face discussion. I wouldn't give that up for anything and students shouldn't either."

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