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Home » About Norwich » SGS Today »
Prof. Matt Boyne works through his pre-flight checklist [photo courtesy of Matthew Boyne].
Organizational Leadership professor makes the world his classroom
by Dirk Van Susteren, correspondent
© April 17, 2009 Norwich University Office of Communications
Some professors function best in smaller classroom settings, sometimes leading discussions, sometimes sitting back and prodding students to keep them thinking and conversing on their own. Others are best in one-on-one settings, say, a book-lined office or the coffee shop just off campus.
Matthew Boyne, who teaches for Norwich University's online Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) program, seems comfortable communicating with students almost anywhere — an airport lounge, his home in San Diego with a dog barking in the background, a busy hotel lobby in Hawaii, or the cockpit of a jetliner while waiting at a gate for servicing.
Boyne is a pilot for United Airlines, and if he seems to be many places at once, consider the whereabouts of his 14 students. They're dispersed across the states from California to Virginia, and across the world from Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates.
And Boyne is available to them virtually all hours of the day — except, of course, when he's in the air or sleeping. While many online instructors stick to email, Boyne has broadened the communication lines with frequent use of Skype, LinkedIn, Facebook and his cell phone. He even does live, face-to-face meetings.
"He just seems omnipresent with this class," said Nick Wilson, owner of the Twisted Gourmet restaurant in Corona, Calif., who was visited by his instructor one afternoon at the start of his first 11-week seminar. "He interjects when necessary; if you need a little shove, he will give it. It is amazing how he will respond to your email in 30 minutes. He is really good at managing this course."
Boyne said the key to his management style is not to let on that he's managing.
"I have an educational philosophy that the less I say the more students learn," he said. With students appropriately communicating and working together, he can step back and encourage them to learn from each other.
He said studies have shown that older and more mature students — the Army officers, project managers and business analysts who tend to be in his class — seem to learn better on their own than in traditional college settings.
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“A teacher online can have far greater contact with students and a better chance to assess [their work].” |
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In the debate of "'guide on the side' versus 'sage on the stage'" as Boyne puts it, older students prefer the guide.
Boyne, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said he led flight instruction during a 20-year career in the Navy and more recently at United Airlines. But his career in online college instruction began only two years ago at National University in San Diego. Boyne started teaching at Norwich eight months ago. He is currently working on his doctorate in educational technology and leadership at Pepperdine University, where much of his own academic work involves online research and communication.
He is enthusiastic about the format.
"A teacher online can have far greater contact with students and a better chance to assess [their work].
"You can carry on a conversation with students in written form [at any time of day]... You can have dozens of people contributing to a conversation... You can have video conversations."
Students and teachers, he said, can work at their own pace, freeing time to meet family and career responsibilities.
Wilson, 27, is one of those people juggling career and graduate studies. Wilson said he had expressed some frustration and confusion with the course in his early email correspondence. Shortly afterward, Boyne appeared at his restaurant, taking a detour on his way home from Los Angeles to San Diego.
"He arrived, we had a beer, and he walked me through what we would be doing in the course," said Wilson, who called it a "stand-out" gesture.
Boyne offers more than just open lines of communication, Wilson said. He is a demanding instructor. At the outset, Boyne made it clear quality would trump quantity in his class, Wilson said. He insisted on sound analysis and clarity in the students' online postings.
"Concise writing pays dividends," said Boyne, who reminds his students they may one day be writing reports to be read by a CEO — if they, themselves, are not the CEO.
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