A final reflection
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The document provides guidance for effectively managing an online course. It recommends establishing a welcoming environment, participating regularly in discussions, providing support for struggling students, maintaining clear expectations for behavior, and modeling good communication techniques. It also outlines strategies for facilitating active learning through online discussions and assessments, building community, and ensuring students are constructing knowledge. The document advocates following guidelines to ensure safety, netiquette, and academic integrity. It will use the Maryland Professional Development Standards and Teacher Technology Standards to guide course design and ensure content knowledge, collaboration, best practices in adult learning, use of technology, and communication.
A final reflection
- 1. A Final Reflection Karen Kroll Online Teaching in Maryland July 31, 2010
- 2. Course Management Techniques Provide a course syllabus Use checklist to help students stay on track Create a welcoming atmosphere - Use icebreaker activities to build community, Post welcoming announcement, post engaging weekly announcements, Send welcoming email Check discussion postings and email 5-10X per week Notify students if you will be offline more than 24 hours Create “standardized” emails for general responses – i.e. I received your assignment Provide “help” information for technical problems - use tutorials – print, audio, video to help students learn how to navigate through the LMS or use specific technology tools. Save all post – particularly one’s sensitive in nature for future reference
- 3. Participate in discussions as appropriate – neither too frequently or too often, be clear and friendly, foster reflective thinking – extend the discussion Provide help for struggling students – FAQ, tutorials, library of links, virtual office hours, contact information Deal with disruptive students – set clear expectations and don’t allow misbehavior to “disrupt” the course. Be diligent with grading Maintain an online gradebook Set grading deadlines: don’t let assignment grading pile up Refer students to rubrics/grading guidelines frequently so they are clear on expectations Model good communication techniques Encourage non-participants via personal email or phone call Course Management Techniques
- 4. Safety and Netiquette Follow Email netiquette guidelines Follow discussion/posting guidelines relevant to the topic, shows a deep understanding of the topic, give examples to support your statements, provide quality postings, responses should extend the discussion, have a positive/professional tone. Remember on the other side of the computer is a human Follow the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life Keep track of where you are in cyberspace Respect other people’s time and bandwidth Make yourself look good online – spelling and grammar do count Share expert knowledge – back up what you say with credible references.
- 5. Build Community Set the Stage Understand and practice adult/adolescent learning strategies Find your “voice” Build a setting where participants feel comfortable and respected Be flexible Reach out to the lurker Have a sense of humor Provide constructive feedback not general comments Know who your students are – culture, immigrant vs nativeCreate social areas – water cooler Create an online profile - give participants a sense of your background, show your personality, include a picture or graphic that represents some aspect of your profile Model, communicate and require participation Establish trust through ice breaker type activities Use a positive “tone” – use words that are: nurturing, humorous, imaginative, neutral, curious, analytical, informal, whimsical Encourage students to rely on each other through group/team work
- 6. Construct Knowledge Through Facilitation Online Response Skills Use positive phrasing Use needs/benefits statements Use supporting statements Use approval statements Use empathy statements Active Learning Requires “intellectual effort Encourages higher-order thinking Accommodates a variety of student learning styles Promotes student achievement Encourages student motivation Encourage positive student attitudes
- 7. Construct Knowledge Through Facilitation Online Discussions Should be part of the learning experience not an add on activity Require participation Give student credit for their participation Provide directions with clear expectations Integrate technology when appropriate – Internet research, multimedia Encourage explanations, examples, questions, speculations, alternative viewpoints, and connections to personal experience Encourage group/team work Summarize discussions by wrapping or weaving Can be asynchronous or synchronous
- 8. Types of Online Discussions Synchronous Discussions Rich and engaging format Everyone must engage at the same time – this can be counter to why some choose online courses (time constraints). Use for group project development, brainstorming activities, debriefing exercises, host guest speakers Limit number of participants Keep it simple Help students with any technical glitches Asynchronous Discussions Students engage when it convenient but following an established course timeline Students share understanding Students have time to reflect on what is being discussed Students practice grammar and spelling strategies Encourage students to see the relevance to class work and understand the importance of discussions in their learning Typically are exploratory talk – discussions “characterized by an assertion followed a challenge and counter-challenge (or differences in answers), by new information accompanied by elaboration and explanation, by different ideas discussed before an agreement is reached, and by new information being added after a challenge.”
- 9. Assessment to Verify If Students are Learning Provide a course syllabus, require students to adhere to the syllabus and established expectations Use rubrics to help guide student demonstration of learning and discussion responses Use checklist to guide student completion of assignments Expect and require students to adhere to academic integrity policy Use online assessment strategies – conditional release of content, archive discussion threads, record course content activity, provide opportunities for computer-graded feedback Use the course gradebook Provide opportunities for students to self reflect/assess their understanding
- 10. A natural fit with my talents and style? Talent/Style Strenghts Management skills Technology skills Technology integration into curriculum skills Understanding of adult learning styles Understanding of the Maryland Professional Development Standards Understanding of the Maryland Teacher Technology Standards Professional development course teaching Professional development course writing Need to work on… Online discussion techniques Building community techniques more warm and fuzzy – less all business Practice Less is More I can be overwhelming with too many details
- 11. Which standards or guidelines that will be at your elbow and why? Maryland Professional Development Standards 1 - Content knowledge and quality teaching standard - Effective professional development deepens all teachers’ content knowledge and the knowledge and skills necessary to provide effective instruction and assess student progress. Teachers should be able to take the information they have learned and apply it to the content in which they are teaching. 3 – Collaboration - Effective professional development ensures that teachers have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to collaborate with others to improve instruction. I believe that effective PD should encourage ongoing opportunities for teachers to work with one another to improve instruction. 9 - Design and teacher learning - Effective professional development content and process reflect best practices in workplace learning and in-depth understanding of how and why adults learn. I have a strong belief that effective PD provides opportunities for teachers to be exposed to a variety of learning experiences. These learning experiences should include; individual study, demonstrations, observation, practice, feedback, and reflection.
- 12. MD Teacher Technology Standard (MTTS) 1 - Information Access, Evaluation, Processing and Application - Teachers should be able to use electronic resources and critically evaluate the resources. Teachers should be able to identify, locate, retrieve, and differentiate among a variety of electronic sources of information using technology. They should be able to evaluate information critically and competently and organize that information for retrieval. Online professional development courses should provide many opportunities for teachers to use electronic resources to develop a deep understanding of the content. 2 – Communication - Use technology effectively and appropriately to interact electronically and use technology to communicate information in a variety of formats. Teachers should be able to use telecommunications to collaborate with peers, parents, colleagues, administrators or experts in the field. They should be able to select appropriate technologies for a particular communication goal. They should be able to use productivity tools to publish information and use Multiple digital sources to communicate information on-line. Online professional development courses should encourage ongoing opportunities for teachers to work with one another to improve instruction and should use technologies for these communications. Which standards or guidelines will be at your elbow and why?