Pellissippi State Community College professor receives national recognition for eLearning
Professor Margaret Choka of Pellissippi State Community College was recently honored for excellence in eLearning by the Instructional Technology Council.
The Instructional Technology Council held its annual conference on March 24 and Pellissippi State Community College sociology professor Dr. Margaret Choka was one of only nine recipients nationwide to be awarded a 2020 Distinguished eLearning Educator designation. Dr. Choka has been a sociology professor at PSCC since 1988 and was an early proponent of distance learning. Administrators note that Dr. Choka's commitment to providing quality online education is indicative of her overall dedication to student success.
A recent news release explains that Professor Choka began her career at Pellissippi State Community College in 1988. By 1999, Dr. Choka was researching distance learning techniques and technology. In 2001 she began using dial-up modem technology as a way of making her courses accessible to older farming and coal mining communities in Tennessee. Dr. Choka started by designing a free website for her courses. She reached out to textbook publishers to obtain access to free supplemental online learning materials and pushed the college to provide access to computer labs and instructor resources, all with the goal of reaching more students.
Adjunct Instructor Marion Orrick nominated Professor Choka for the award, saying "Dr. Choka is an extraordinary educator who cares about equal access to quality higher education, particularly for the underserved nontraditional working students of Knoxville and surrounding rural counties of Appalachia."
Dr. Choka took on leadership roles at the college to develop more eLearning resources across PSCC's course offerings. As technology has progressed, she has continued to research and push for more virtual learning resources. As Orrick explains, "As more students have begun to rely on smartphone technology to access online coursework, Dr. Choka continues to educate herself on how best to meet student needs in higher education, ensuring that the newest and most effective design techniques are incorporated into the online courses. We are fortunate to have an outstanding eLearning instructor like Dr. Choka who, over the course of 20 years, conquered the technology of the 21st century and used it to improve higher education rates in Tennessee."
Kane Barker, dean of Natural and Behavioral Sciences at Pellissippi State, says that Professor Choka's pursuit of eLearning resources underpins her overall commitment to the success of students. "Dr. Choka is an outstanding faculty member, and I'm glad she's being recognized for her dedication to supporting student learning," Barker said.