Essential Question: What would you require of instructors who taught a course you designed? Why?Online education has grown so quickly and not enough training has been provided to online instructors. For many this has led to poorly developed and implemented classes. To avoid this there are some best practices that could help instructors. One resource I would direct an instructor to is a checklist ("Before the online course begins..." 2016). I personally love lists, and this would work really well to be sure an instructor is set up to run a class successfully. There are just so many tips and tricks and this list is a nice way to stay focused. Moore & Kearsley (2011) give a lot of tips in Chapter 6. Here are my favorite suggestions:
A good course has good communication and interactions. So in order to achieve this you need to plan for good discussions. Morrison (2012) gives the following suggestions for creating good discussions:
Sources
Before the online course begins . . . (2016, August 21). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/teachingonline/before.html Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (2011). Distance education: A systems view of online learning [Kindle Edition]. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Morrison, D. (2012, June 22). How to Get Students to Participate in Online Discussions. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/how-to-get-students-to-participate-in-online-discussions/
6 Comments
Teresa
10/27/2016 10:54:57 pm
Hi Sara,
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Sara Lucas
10/30/2016 11:27:38 am
I agree that hiring new teachers is a challenge. So many times people are hired and they don't turn out to be what you expected based on the interview. I think the best you can do is provide the resources to set the teacher up for success. Then document it so that administration can step in if needed. Most teachers want to help and do the best they can. So providing them support wold be beneficial.
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Josie Leach
10/28/2016 04:51:09 pm
Sara,
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Sara Lucas
10/30/2016 11:29:16 am
Knowing your target audience is huge! That is a benefit that I get for my course. I know that my course will be targeted at students who have failed the class and now can't fit it in their schedule. I know of at least one student in particular who will need it next semester.
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Dan Marshall
10/29/2016 06:23:13 pm
Sara, as part of the checklist I really like "Humanizing. The creation of an environment that emphasizes the importance of the individual and which generates a feeling of group rapport." I asked our online teacher about some of these issues and she told me that often, the students she gets are the ones that are not comfortable in the open classroom environment and they feel more at ease with online communication. It begs the instructor to be always aware of that facet of online teaching and of the communication between all users involved. Thanks for the list.
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Sara Lucas
10/30/2016 11:31:53 am
I totally agree! I was always very quiet & shy in school. At first I was leery of an online education but now have found it to be very beneficial. I think we must really work to get the quiet and shy students to buy in at the outset. I think that is what helped me the most is that everyone was so friendly and accepting.
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