Online learning - design considerations
One of my favourite courses at Michigan State University was called "Teaching K-12 Students Online". Though the course was designed for teachers of children and teenagers, I feel most of the concepts applied very well to adult education. The instructors emphasized the importance of two key areas with any online course:
The need to establish a personal presence.
Online courses can, at times, be a bit lonely compared to traditional face-to-face learning. To that end the best instructors try to use the available digital technologies to create a personal presence for their students. This can be done by providing a video introduction, providing feedback in a variety of formats (audio, text, video), encouraging the use of office hours, providing office hours in a variety of formats (online chat, in-person and by phone) and at a variety of times. Basically you need to ensure your students understand that you are a human being (not an online robot) and that you are there to help them learn. Here is a digital introduction I created for a potential accounting class. It's intended to provide the students (and you) with some of my background information as well as to illustrate ways in which a personal presence can be created for digital and online courses.
The need to establish a personal presence.
Online courses can, at times, be a bit lonely compared to traditional face-to-face learning. To that end the best instructors try to use the available digital technologies to create a personal presence for their students. This can be done by providing a video introduction, providing feedback in a variety of formats (audio, text, video), encouraging the use of office hours, providing office hours in a variety of formats (online chat, in-person and by phone) and at a variety of times. Basically you need to ensure your students understand that you are a human being (not an online robot) and that you are there to help them learn. Here is a digital introduction I created for a potential accounting class. It's intended to provide the students (and you) with some of my background information as well as to illustrate ways in which a personal presence can be created for digital and online courses.
The importance of clear and consistent communication.
When a student has a question and "raises their hand" in an online environment, they don't usually get the immediate resolution to the problem as they would in a traditional classroom. In an online course students may not be able to progress without resolution of the issue, so accessibility and assistance is critical. Ensure that you communicate with the students so they understand how to get started with the course and navigate the site, what is expected of them each week, how they can ask questions and how (and when) you will respond, how to use the related technologies and how they are going to be assessed. Most importantly, they need to be re-assured that when they need help, you will be able to assist them. The following screencast is intended to demonstrate how we can help our students get started with a course and navigate a site.
When a student has a question and "raises their hand" in an online environment, they don't usually get the immediate resolution to the problem as they would in a traditional classroom. In an online course students may not be able to progress without resolution of the issue, so accessibility and assistance is critical. Ensure that you communicate with the students so they understand how to get started with the course and navigate the site, what is expected of them each week, how they can ask questions and how (and when) you will respond, how to use the related technologies and how they are going to be assessed. Most importantly, they need to be re-assured that when they need help, you will be able to assist them. The following screencast is intended to demonstrate how we can help our students get started with a course and navigate a site.