New to Online Teaching

Editor's Notes

• #2: 1 MINUTE Friday, March 2nd, from 8:30 to 10:30 am“New to Online Teaching" is designed to provide teachers who are new to the online environment, hints for success as well as best ideas and practices gathered from the personal experiences of an online teacher and from recent literature.  This workshop offers many of those tips and tricks, as well as time for discussion and sharing. 
• #3: 2 MINUTETeachers must be willing to move beyond thestatus quo and be willing to rethink their most essential roles. Energy must be spent on learning as opposed to teaching.A teacher needs to create learningenvironments which encourage and support student learning across a range of different learning styles. In moving the focus from teaching to learning, the challenge is to create learning environments where activities foster and support student learning across a range of different learning styles. The best collegiate learning environment is one where students spend creative, focused time with faculty, use interactive instructional technology extensively, and work in small, collaborative group settings with their peers. Clearly, this shift in emphasis changes our expectations about students. Greater student responsibility becomes the key to learning. Students become more independent, with greater responsibility for the quality of their efforts to learn, as well as the learning outcomes that result. A climate in which students have more responsibility and are actively involved in learning becomes the goal of instructional policies and practices. Information technology will be a crucial factor in this shift to a focus on learning. It has the potential to transform the learning experience. Knowledge will be available from a variety of sources, and students will access those sources directly. Interactive video, microcomputers, fiber optic networks, Internet communications and other technology applications have the capacity to dramatically reformulate the boundary conditions of learning. There will no longer be a single or standard way, place or time to learn. More students will learn from their own explorations; from their interactions with other students and with a community of experts both within and outside of the academy.
• #4: 6 MINUTESPut you all in the right frame of mind when it comes to entering the world of online teachingWorld of teaching and learning is changing….a shift is occurring if you willThrough my research, I’ve found that the McArthur Foundation, is at the forefront of this change and actually participating in a proactive way in being a part of this change. The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.International Programs focus on international issues, including human rightsU.S. Programs address issues in the United States including educationMedia, Culture, and Special Initiatives support public interest media
• #5: Quick show…
• #6: 3 MINUTESTeachers must be willing to move beyond thestatus quo and be willing to rethink their most essential roles. Energy must be spent on learning as opposed to teaching.A teacher needs to create learningenvironments which encourage and support student learning across a range of different learning styles. In moving the focus from teaching to learning, the challenge is to create learning environments where activities foster and support student learning across a range of different learning styles. The best collegiate learning environment is one where students spend creative, focused time with faculty, use interactive instructional technology extensively, and work in small, collaborative group settings with their peers. Clearly, this shift in emphasis changes our expectations about students. Greater student responsibility becomes the key to learning. Students become more independent, with greater responsibility for the quality of their efforts to learn, as well as the learning outcomes that result. A climate in which students have more responsibility and are actively involved in learning becomes the goal of instructional policies and practices. Information technology will be a crucial factor in this shift to a focus on learning. It has the potential to transform the learning experience. Knowledge will be available from a variety of sources, and students will access those sources directly. Interactive video, microcomputers, fiber optic networks, Internet communications and other technology applications have the capacity to dramatically reformulate the boundary conditions of learning. There will no longer be a single or standard way, place or time to learn. More students will learn from their own explorations; from their interactions with other students and with a community of experts both within and outside of the academy.
• #7: 2 MINUTESAverage drop-out rates for online courses is 50% as opposed to 75% for voluntary courses Source: OnlineLearningThe Gartner Group says that by 2008, 41 million corporate employees will be functioning in a “virtual workplace” at least one day every week.Every year, between 6 and 8 billion dollars is spent placing and servicing computers in American K-12 schools.According to the Association for Computing Machinery, jobs in computing will grow more than jobs in any other career category from now through 2014. 50% of employee skills become outdated in 3 years. (Source: Merrill Lynch "The Book of Knowledge")IDC Research demonstrates that 15% to 30% of an employee's time is spent looking for information, and they find it only 50% of the time.
• #8: 1 minute
• #9: 1 minute
• #10: 2 MINUTETechnology: The word education, after all, comes from the Latin educare, which means, “to lead out.” I.e., think Socrates. Anyone can absorb information from a book or video, but good teachers will always be necessary to draw out that knowledge and help students develop the skills needed to think critically about the information they consume. In other words, online learning tools are just like any other tools in a teacher’s bag of tricks: what matters is how they’re applied.It comes down to knowing how to best use the tools at your disposal to maximize the impact of education for students, which has always been what separates good teachers from bad ones. The major difference between teachers of today and teachers of the future is that in the future educators will have better online tools and will require better specialized training to learn how to utilize them properly.
• #11: 5 MINUTES-You must be able to sit in front of a machine for at least an hour or two every day, establish a routine of being online regularly and spending so much time interacting with individual students.-You must enjoy one-on-one interaction (as opposed to lecturing or group presentations)-You must be flexible in your teaching approach and willing to experiment-You must be prepared to do a lot of writing and typing-You need convenient (home) access to computer and internet-You must be very comfortable with tools and systems to be used to teach online (discussion forums, chats, powerpoint, even Word and learning how to edit the actual course…)-Be prepared to be a lifelong learner, especially online learner to get used to the abundance of web tools, etc.-Online is a safer and less anxiety-producing teaching environment-More individual contact with students, accommodating different learning styles-allows to communicated in a more engaging and interactive way-Increase your comfort and show you how to be more flexible with your teaching approach-Convenience of where and when to teach, flexibility of access or modifying at any time-Will make you more comfortable with the wealth of online materials available, with using technology-Will make you a lifelong learner and possibly collaborating with a vast array of other professionals in your field-and thus to develop materials using the huge www resourcesTime…..yes, it takes time….I won’t sugar coat the fact that it will take much of your time once you begin to be an online teacher. ….but if you’re like me, becoming an online learner has forced me to devote more time to my profession. More time to making myself a more knowledgeable teacher and person. More time to learning about the changes, the shifts in my profession. It has been a Professional Development of sorts for me and I feel that I am better equipped to be a more effective teacher….I, for one, find that the time I have spent online, learning and growing as a teacher, as a student more precisely….has been as valuable as PD, and it has been on my own time, in my own home, much like online teaching.
• #12: 5 minutes1-To reduce the 24/7 feeling some of us experience, inform your students of days and times that you will be available for office hours (live in person) in person2-Back away from your monitor and do something that does not require use of your computer. As hard as it may be, try to reserve your weekends for yourself3-Be careful not to put too much “on your plate” when it comes to external duties, demands and responsibilities because online does take time, especially the first few years4-It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by technology because it evolves so quickly. It’s important to keep up with technology, but don’t try to do more than you can handle. Students may not be ready either. So take it one step at a time. Focus first on the design of the course and your instruction5-Take time into consideration when giving assignments, especially those you must edit, or be involved in. Be careful or you may feel rushed, because of other commitments. You want to be able to put in quality work.6-You need to adhere to deadlines (reporting and such), but you must be flexible. Students will always have legitimate reasons for being unable to complete assignments by set dates…or maybe a particular assignment or unit is particularly difficult. You must allow for resetting deadlines. I do this by leaving the first 2 weeks for the orientation and introductory activities….and a full 2 weeks at the end of the semester for “catch up time”7-With time and experience, these can be developed or picked up….ie: develop folders under your “Favorites” for quick access, print out students’ phone numbers and emails for their school guidance counsellors, create templates for phrases, assignments feedback, formulas ect. that you use on a regular basis, keep copies of class emails you send out so that you can use all of part for next semester’s class, download useful info, articles and research that you can send to a student, or add extra material to the course to further explain particularly difficult concepts, keep copies of assignments that are well done and use in the future as exemplars
• #13: 10 MINUTES (53 minutes so far)Good spot for TrevorIntroduce the Online Teacher Workbook here….
• #18: 7 Minutes…will bring us to the hour mark…..
• #19: 2 MINUTESPedagogical-guiding students through the course content and curriculum and helping them acquire the skills and competencies of the course expectations.Managerial-Organization of the course, administrative duties, etc.Social-Creating a warm and welcoming online community between teacher/student and student/peers. Where all feel safe and able to learn and participateTechnical-Assisting students with the LMS, learning about technologies and web tools, enhancing course with theseAlthough the AOFI is meant for higher education, much of what is on this overall checklist for teachers, instructors, is helpful to first time online teaching at the high school level.The idea here is to have a checklist of duties to be done before, during and after the online course.Although the list is quite exhaustive, there are some very good ideas. Your own school hopefully has a teacher guide which will include a similar list for you to follow so that you can keep yourself organized.
• #20: 1 MINUTEPedagogical-guiding students through the course content and curriculum and helping them acquire the skills and competencies of the course expectations.Managerial-Organization of the course, administrative duties, etc.Social-Creating a warm and welcoming online community between teacher/student and student/peers. Where all feel safe and able to learn and participateTechnical-Assisting students with the LMS, learning about technologies and web tools, enhancing course with theseAlthough the AOFI is meant for higher education, much of what is on this overall checklist for teachers, instructors, is helpful to first time online teaching at the high school level.The idea here is to have a checklist of duties to be done before, during and after the online course.Although the list is quite exhaustive, there are some very good ideas. Your own school hopefully has a teacher guide which will include a similar list for you to follow so that you can keep yourself organized.
• #21: 3 MINUTES (minutes so far)-Only a few items I’d like to mention when it comes to Pedagogy-I think we all have a good grasp on the pedagogy-As a teacher, I believe that you already know your courses well, and what needs to be hit in terms of course expectations. We all work hard to learn not only know our courses well, but already have an arsenal of abilities and strategies. You have experience with guiding your students toward acquiring skills and knowledge.I have found that the LMS courses are very well written and that the course expectations are touched upon more than just once. There is a good array of differentiated learning, and some good use of online tools. If anything, they are too full, and too long. But this is good in that it gives you a complete template, a complete framework to work with…#4 - Have confidence in yourself and your abilities as a teacher
• #22: 4 MINUTESWe all have a good handle on the fundamentals of any good teaching: knowledge of the subject, teaching strategies, student engagement, school policies, deadlines, grading/assessment/evaluation, communication with students and so on…I have found that it’s the “small stuff” that can get away from us and create big problems. These are all part of how you can organize yourself in your online course to ensure as smooth a semester as possible.Review the course: check for broken links, duplication of or missing assignments, typos, spelling/grammar, confirm that all course material is visible to the student, welcome announcements are posted containing all relevent “need to know” information for students, etc….Make sure that page numbers, unit numbers, activity numbers and assignment numbers dropbox numbers, discussion numbers match the student text. Prepare a checklist for yourself and for your students.Your checklist consists of policies and procedures, deadlines for progress reports, mid term and final marksFor your students a list of deadlines for each unit, for each activity and for each assignment, include a schedule of progress reports, mid term report cards and final exam and report cards.Make use of the schedule tool for them and keep it updated with changes as you go.News items/announcementsBe substantive in your announcements and postings. An online presence is important and you have to make an attempt at communicating in a variety of ways. Email, chat, discussions, pager, schedule and news itemsYour first news item is most important:Include tips on web etiquette, helpful links, where to go for help, how to do well in the course…etc.This sets the tone so make sure that you consider your audience. The first news item approach, tone and information should meet, in general, the overall experience of your audience. (grade level, subject, O,W,C,U…required course, or elective.Your first post needs to be warm and invinting (erase that divide between you and your student, make them feel you are happy they are taking your course and interested in their learning.But you must also reflect that students need to take the course seriously-deadlines, you are watching what they post, and watching when they log on. I’m the boss sectionGive them some ownership in the course by showing them that you are open to their suggestions and involvement.
• #23: 2 MINUTESNo not the movie, but just as dramatic…..I have found that keeping a note book by your side and writing love letters to your future self really, really helps,Keep track of changes.You have to keep a log of these things so that you can go back and correct. The best way is to do it on the go if you can, or make note of what is needed if the changes are significant. The next time you run the class, it will run more smoothly if you do so….or you can learn from these mistakes and incorporate them into the next class if it is different from what you first taught. I do much of this throughout the course by reading student reflections and feedback. They are usually very open and honest about the course and how it is set up and have good ideas about what needs fixing and sometimes even how to fix it.It’s handy to keep track of student information ….I’ll be away for a week, I am hospitalized, I’ll be offline this week (date these so that you remember…I’ll never forget when I emailed a student to find out if they were feeling better after a stint at a hospital and they were amazed that I had remembered)
• #24: 5 MINUTESGo over all of the items in your course and hide those that you feel students don’t need to see, that students shouldn’t see, or limit the access to just 1 unit at a time.This includes Discussions, activities you want to omit, others you are working on, expectations of each unit or assignmentDesire 2 Learn has good tools which you can use to not only hide topics, but time when they are opened. Learn to use these and take advantage of how they can help you prepare your course. Hide everything but unit 1, so you can keep working on the next units to get them ready.Orientation UnitHelps to give you time to prepare your course further. Depends on your school and on how the orientation unit it used. As well as what grade level and type of student you have. Going through an orientation helps greatly. Make it part of your course by giving an evaluation…even if it’s only a participation checklist. Students are more apt to do it.But, it should be kept short, needing only a few hours to complete 1 to 2 days at the most. You can work through many of the navigation type questions during this time.You can change the orientation course as well, add omit, personalize it….Tell students when you are most likely to be available and establish a 24 hour turn around time to answering emails and pages.Low stakes:Helps to have some ungraded practice activities, gives students the chance to practice posting to a discussion, sending emails, and just establishing themselves in the course. (quizzes, scavenger hunts)Insist on a student introduction of themselves to you and the class. Have it open ended as to how they want to do this…video, written, blog, wiki, and have them post where to find this in a discussion)No evaluation tied to itYou, as the teacher, need to model this…with whichever way is most comfortabe to you….withing the course, video, email, etc….
• #25: 5 MINUTES-Make time to keep up with data-Print out your class list regularly during the first few weeks.-Develop an attendance routine, (review policy of your school)-Do these things quickly with Progress tool.-Impersonate tool –if any issues arise-Use change roles to see what the student sees-Read all discussion posts, make notes of any issuesDeal with issues promptly and get home and school involved in getting help or information(IEP, student background, help from home for lack of productivity or logon)The unexpected: No matter how careful and well prepared you are, or how much we plan, the unexpected often shows up to crash the party. Ie: students who need additional assistance, unanticipated paperwork, technical glitches, and so on…Don’t let it stress you out, make a plan and deal with it as soon as possible, and ask for help….and move on.Make a note in your note book, if it’s something you can fix in the course next time to avoid the same situation.
• #26: 1 MINUTES
• #27: 4 MinutesOnline population continues it’s growth rate (double digit growth rate)Some organizations are projecting that by 2020, students will take up to 60% of their courses onlineStudent engagement and retention must meet the needs of this new realityThe student population is diverse: different generations, ethnic backgrounds, experiences, families, etc.As teachers, we need to create an environment which is warm and welcomingEstablish your style, your voice, your presence, early in the course…and of course then, maintain it through the courseUnlike face-to-face physical presence, in the virtual classroom, the teacher’s presence needs to be deliberately incorporated into the courseYou need to create a deliberate presence, and make a sincere effort to be present from the start to the end of the course. Most of us are used to doing this in a face-to-face environment, but when technology comes between us and our students, we need to make our presence felt in a very “intentional” mannerThe research shows that people learn better in the presence of some emotional connection…to the content or to other people.Establishing your presence can be as simple as how you respond, in writing, to the entire class or to a single student, or it could be the humour in a weekly post, a video to introduce unit, an audio message to give feedback after the introductory assignment, a personal email to each student to offer tips on how to be successful in the course….etc.1-Introduce yourself in a phone call, welcome the student to the course2-During week 2 or 3, when most students are feeling overwhelmed, host a virtual party…discussion….send an invite with theme….to join the rest of the class for a social, informal discussion
• #28: 2 MinutesTechnology provides us with a vast array of content that has the potential to resonate emotionally with students…TED…top presenters and the world’s best speakers and thinkers, talking on a wide range of topicsBring them in to your classroom when you can…challenge your students with the information they present….ask questions, engage your students in a discussion with each other on the specific topic.GOAL: produce an emotional response (ex: Wow, I didn’t even know that existed! That was the most amazing presentation! I was so surprised to hear that!) Not foolproof, but as you try these, you can reserve the ones that truly get students excited, and axe the rest.I find that this opportunity for students to respond online, can reach even that particular student who doesn’t often volunteer in the physical classroom during a discussion. One nice thing about the online discussion forum, students feel protected by not having to face the class, and can turn around in an online environment and become quite responsive.“one of my students answering the question…Do you feel comfortable sharing your work with others in the classroom….told me she usually felt shy and apprehensive about this, but since she probably wouldn’t ever meet anyone physically, it made this sharing process easier”So we need to take advantage of this fact, but also be wary of those students who feel the other extreme….no need to worry about what you say since nobody really knows who you are…)
• #29: 5 Minutes1-Introduce yourself in a phone call, welcome the student to the course2-During week 2 or 3, when most students are feeling overwhelmed, host a virtual party…discussion….send an invite with theme….to join the rest of the class for a social, informal discussion3-You can set up social discussion boards to provide an online space for students to discuss topics (you must monitor and show your presence here as well) or you can work this into each discussion topic, by encouraging participation. This will build relationships and foster other discussions 4-As a first assignment, you can have students answer questions about themselves and post to discussion-Give then the choice between answering them in written form or video form (EXAMPLE ASSIGNMENT)
• #30: 2 Minutes
• #31: 2 MinutesOnline teachers are the students “MapQuest” to their courses. Without the teacher, students can still learn, but the guidance, motivation and insight needed to master the skills of the course would be missing. Thus our feedback is CRUCIAL.To enhance student feedback effectiveness and increase their participation and retention, Sull has come up with a checklist of “to do’s”
• #32: 5 MinutesGod uses fire and brimstone to get HIS message across-the online teacher’s available tools for giving student feedback are not quite as dramatic, but can be just as effective.1-students may have sudden problems, prefer to work at various times…whatever the reason, checking your course email regularly will keep you on top of things2-Becomes especially important if you are teaching more than one course….keeps students on track and there is a written proof of deadlines, things to do, group members….or whatever needs reminding3-They are easy but do not provide a connection to the students. Postings should be specific to the course and to students, and make them pleasing, attractive…use graphics, humour, etc.4-Not as soon as you see it, but make it a general rule that to answer all emails within 24 hours….and let your students know this…5-Discussions are for your students, but they need to know you are monitoring them and that you are active in every aspect of the course6-Try to always include detailed and constructive comments…when they do something good, let them know.7-Let students know you have a personality, put some smile in your comments and postings. Makes course more enjoyable and lets you reinforce certain parts of the course in a light manner8-Jot down information you learn about your students, either through their bios or information revealed in emails. This allows you to respond more specifically to their needs – and shows your genuine interest in the student, which is a major compnent in keeping studenst actively involved in a course. (NOTEBOOK!)
• #33: 2 MinutesWhen a teacher decides to learn about web tools such as blogs, wikis, Web 2.O tools and social media, the interactivity creates communities. When that happens, you’ve got far greater potential of engaging that otherwise somewhat unengaged student
• #34: 2 MinutesWhen you are ready to spend some time researching online tools…to help make your online course more fun…or work it into an assignment for te students to do
• #35: 2 MinutesTips and Tricks for Teaching Online: How to Teach Like a Pro!Kaye Shelton and George SaltsmanAbstractThis paper summarizes some of the best ideas and practices gathered from successful online instructors and recent literature. Suggestions include good online class design, syllabus development, and online class facilitation offering hints for success for both new and experienced online instructors.
• #36: 1 Minute
• #37: 1 Minute
• #38: 2 MinutesPensky speaks of a generation of students who speak a language (technological...) that we have to learn or else risk losing that student to misunderstanding and miscommunication.Our students have grown up immersed in technology, and have learned the language of technology as they communicate instantly with their peers. They have always had the Internet, laptops, cell phones with text messaging, AIM , Facebook™ or MySpace™ , PlayStations™, digital cameras, DVD players, blogs, and any other number of digital technologies that allow them to instantly capture or communicate with their world. These students, like all Natives,they adapt quickly to changes in their environment and look for new ways to incorporate the latest technology into their fast-paced lives.Digital Immigrants still try and work around or second guess technology, while the Digital Natives know no other way. It is important to understand the differences between ourselves as the Immigrants and our students as the Natives. The digital immigrant is the late comer to technology and social media...How do we bridge the gap between Natives and Immigrants? We should step out of our comfort zones and meet our students where they are. We should realize that Natives are many steps ahead of us when it comes to technology and they know it. We should be willing to laugh at our faux pas and move on. Listen to what students tell us about how technology can be beneficial to how we conduct our lives, work with them, and value their knowledge.
• #39: 3 Minutes ( 57 minutes)
• #40: Whatever time is left…..