Stella Porto's List: online pedagogy

"Discussion design and facilitation has an indispensable role in online education and is dependent on the development of carefully crafted questions. Student satisfaction has been found to be highly correlated with interactions in the classroom (Kirby, 1999; Mazzolini, 2003). Barker (2001) identifies essential components of online education that are more of an art than a science: "communication strategies that underlie course-related online dialog and student discussions," and "the various learning tasks undertaken by students during a given course." Lim's (2004) challenge of "motivating learners with the right question" is the focus of this paper for developing the objectives, design and administration of discussion questions. Due to the length of this topic, this paper has been divided into three sections. Part II and III will be featured in upcoming editions of the DE Oracle"

"Online teaching redefines the faculty member’s schedule. The feeling of being a 24/7 professor can lead to frustration. Managing one’s time as an online teacher can be a challenge. As the popularity of online education continues to grow, teaching faculty need to develop effective time management behaviors to be efficient and not just busy. Here are ten strategies I like to use: "

February 27, 2011
Actually Going to Class, for a Specific Course? How 20th-Century.
New learning technologies prompt a rethinking of traditional course structure
Actually Going to Class? How 20th-Century. 1

Jay Premack for The Chronicle

"There's not really much need for teachers anymore," since so much material is online, says Dekunle Somade, a senior at the U. of Maryland at College Park.
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close Actually Going to Class? How 20th-Century. 1

Jay Premack for The Chronicle

"There's not really much need for teachers anymore," since so much material is online, says Dekunle Somade, a senior at the U. of Maryland at College Park.

By Jeffrey R. Young

Washington

The first question many undergraduates ask professors on the first day of class is whether they really have to show up.

The way they phrase it is a bit more subtle, says Dekunle Somade, a senior at the University of Maryland at College Park. What his fellow students actually ask is: "Will reruns of lectures be available after class, or at least the full set of PowerPoint slides?"

Mr. Somade told me recently that "the general idea is that if I don't have to come to class, I don't want to come to class—and technology is giving students more and more reason not to"

"Combating Myths About Distance Education

By Todd Gilman

In addition to my day job as an academic librarian at Yale University, I have been teaching online courses for several library schools since 2002. I have taught courses on reference, online searching, children's literature, U.S. government documents (finding them, that is, not creating them), and book and library history—all on a part-time, adjunct basis. I've even taught a few online courses on writing or research skills for undergraduates.

I enjoy the work and feel confident that I have helped students become better readers, writers, future librarians, curators, and researchers. Yet every time I speak with faculty colleagues who have only taught what distance educators call "face to face" or "on ground" courses, I get the same bewildered responses: "I've never understood this whole online teaching thing" or "So do you teach via e-mail?" or "Is that like a correspondence course?""

"Preparing Online Students for Success

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Susan Pollack
Instructional Support Specialist
Center for Support of Instruction
Published: May-June 2011

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

Introduction

There is no question that online students are excited (and probably nervous) when they first gain access to their classrooms—just like any student on the first day of school. But the lack of live, face-to-face contact in the asyncrhonous online classroom means that the students need a little more support in the form of directions and reassurance to help get them moving at the beginning of the semester and stay on track until the course ends. This article offers practical tips and suggestions for guiding and engaging online students from Day One that feed on their initial excitement and show that you are ready and willing to help them in their learning journey. "

"The University of New South Wales, Australia, hosts a site with short five minute videos of interviews with experienced online instructors, giving advice on topics such as planning your online class, considerations for choosing technology for teaching, should you use an an LMS or the open web, etc. The videos are accompanied by 4-6 page pdfs with tips and additional information.

The Learning to Teach Online project is a free professional development resource designed to help teachers from any discipline, whether experienced in online teaching or not, to gain a working understanding of successful online teaching pedagogies that they can apply in their own unique teaching situations. The project has been funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)"

"Using Synchronous Tools to Build Community in the Asynchronous Online Classroom

By: Michelle Kosalka in Asynchronous Learning and Trends
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Sometimes students in the online environment just need that extra nudge to feel connected in order to truly excel. As instructors, we can facilitate community-building in an asynchronous environment by utilizing synchronous tools, such as Wimba, Skype, Elluminate, and others available to us via our learning management system or outside of the LMS.

Using synchronous tools may at first seem impractical for online instructors. If students are taking online classes, doesn’t that mean they want to be able to work whenever, wherever, with no time or date restrictions? In many cases, yes—but there are times when online students need one-on-one help, and synchronous tools are able to facilitate that support much more effectively than the usual email back-and-forth or phone conversation. I’ve found that when I’ve used synchronous tools with students, they were more willing to ask questions and interact with their fellow students in the classroom afterwards. Let’s explore some reasons why."

"Abstract

In this feature article, a case study of the holistic efforts to foster social presence and student success in online courses and programs at a mid-sized rural university in central Texas are described from an instructor’s point of view as well as from an administrator’s point of view. Specific instructional and support strategies are described. These synergistic efforts are used to foster an atmosphere of support and success for students enrolled in online courses and programs.

Keywords: Online learning environment, LMS, instructional design, instructional support, social presence theory, social networks.

Introduction and Background

The Internet has transformed the way in which people relate and feel close to one another – all without the necessity of close physical proximity. This was not always perceived to be the case for online learning environments, as early critics believed that the absence of social cues would interfere with teaching and learning (Berge & Collins, 1995). However, this stigma of a sterile online learning environment has diminished with the development of complex social networks and virtual worlds, advanced online instructional tools, and the prevalence of high-speed Internet connections that allow for meaningful real-time connections. Researchers are now beginning to move beyond the question of whether the online learning environment allows students to feel connected, and are now delving into how the connections students form relate to learning (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, & Fung, 2010; Dow, 2008; Kehrwald, 2008)."

Welcome to the "Certificate for Online Adjunct Teaching (COAT)" Training Project

The Certificate for Online Adjunct Teaching (COAT) course is an online training course designed for higher education instructors who have experience teaching in the traditional (face-to-face) classroom and are interested in transitioning to online teaching. This inter-institutional project provides training for adjunct faculty on the basic competencies needed to teach online.

Based upon research, the course explores the online teaching and learning environment by introducing online learning principles and instructor competencies.

WELCOME!
This Blended Learning Toolkit is a free, open resource for educational institutions interested in developing or expanding their blended learning initiatives.