In this Course Spotlight from June 2020, we chat with Lisa Kljaich about her Explorations in Music course.

Lisa Kljaich has been teaching online for a long time. Originally, her Explorations in Music was a combined exploration with Art and Theater but over the years, the course has been split into a more focused experience for students. These courses have always been based on a great design but now Exploration in Music is Quality Matters Certified, which means it has been through a peer-review process for quality.  

The course materials are hosted on a WordPress website with quizzes and uploads occurring in Blackboard. The course website has a pleasant visual experience and is full of fantastic instructor-created lecture videos that illustrate topics in an entertaining and engaging manner. These videos are not created in a fancy studio but by Lisa herself.  

One of the things we like most about Lisa’s course is that she requires that students create a domain of their own for presentation of their weekly assignments. Students are required to create their own personal blog website where they post substantial research reports that include multimedia each week. The topics are very open, which allow students to claim ownership over the topic they choose. The result is a portfolio that they can walk away from class with that belongs to them. These student posts are amazing and informative.