Q: Online courses vary greatly in scope and tone. How would you summarize your approach to teaching online courses?
I have always been something of a gentle taskmaster in my teaching approach and that has not changed. Writers come to me for assistance learning or executing tasks they might not complete on their own, and I am seasoned at helping them follow through on a wide-range of processes.
I believe that every single person on earth is a fountain of creative good. All of my work is focused on evoking each writer’s unique point of view, interests, and creative self-expression. I believe who you are and what you are interested in is what you are supposed to be writing about. I sell this type of writing to editors myself on an ongoing basis.
What makes my teaching different from other approaches is that I don’t abandon the individual in the process of writing. I don’t focus on pleasing others. Instead I focus on the writer pleasing herself. You might say that I teach the joy of writing for publication rather than the old-school approach of martyr yourself to get published.
Q: I don’t see a way to rate a course or add a testimonial upon completion of a course. Do you still care about these things?
Of course I do! Well, at least I would like the testimonials. I don’t have a rating system for my courses and I’m not sure this is a feature I need since the quality of all my work is extremely professional. On Udemy, when I did use the rating system, my average rating was 4.83 out of 5 with seven courses and 244 students from 16 countries.
However, if you ever encounter so much as a typo in my classes, please let me know! You can use the “Contact” feature to send me your testimonial once you complete a course. If you are ever dissatisfied with a course for any reason, please contact me and let me know.
Q: How does your new classroom interface compare with the Udemy interface?
My new classroom is amazingly simple to use. You become a member of my school when you register for a class (of course I will never share or sell your contact info). Once you start a class, the process is extremely focused and straightforward. One of the things I love about my new school is the lack of distractions, which just helps you better focus on learning. Here’s what you can do in my classroom:
- Track your progress in a class: check off lessons as you go and your progress bars are in the footer of every page
- Contact the instructor: your navigation dashboard is always showing as you take classes, just click on the “contact” tab to reach me if you have a question
- Download PDF worksheets: I have streamlined this process in my online classroom so that your worksheets appear right above your video on the very same page (no more hunting around for worksheets)
- Everything you need is always right in front of you: no more confusing tabs or searching for what you need, the only buttons you will ever need to press are the “Mark Lesson Complete” and the “Next” buttons as you work your way through each class
- No barrages of emails: you will only receive emails from me if you choose to sign up for my ezine, The Prosperous Writer
Q: When I signed up for a Udemy course, they said I could take the course indefinitely. But when I sign up for your courses here, there is a time limit. What’s up with that?
Udemy is a corporation and I am an individual and I don’t want to promise anything I can’t guarantee I can deliver in the future. I pay multiple monthly fees to host classes and I don’t feel comfortable promising to pay those bills forever. I would also have to charge quite a bit more for my courses to make that equation work economically.
I have always been result-driven as an instructor. My courses deliver results for engaged, motivated students, but only if you take the course, do the work, and apply what you learn to your professional practices. So to my mind, purchasing writing courses and letting them sit on the shelf until you forget you even signed up for them, doesn’t fit with my results-focused approach. I’ve always enjoyed teaching motivated writers most and this is still the case.
For all of these reasons, every student gets four months to take a course as many times as they wish within that time frame, which is more than ample to learn and incorporate the lessons presented. Students may also download, keep and reuse all of their worksheets. As always, my courses are for personal use only and not to be shared with others or leveraged within groups in any way.
Q: Why did you move some of your courses off Udemy?
A: Thanks for asking. On March 3, 2016, Udemy abruptly changed many of the policies in their instructor agreement. In order to take the best possible care of my courses and my students, I have moved many of my former Udemy courses here.
All of the folks signed up for these courses on Udemy before March 31, 2016 still have access to them and to me through the Udemy interface, although I suggest contacting me directly with any questions via email. Students who signed up for courses on Udemy are welcome to sign up for courses with me here and vice-versa. Although, I will be keeping all of my longer, more comprehensive writing courses here exclusively.
These Q&A’s are permanently located in my school under Frequently Asked Questions. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions and I will be happy to answer them!