Cracker Barrel Discussion
Maintaining Online Course Quality
- While Managing the Faculty Workload –
Distance Teaching and Learning Conference
Madison, WI.
August 3, 2004
Updated on August 10, 2004
with all comments offered during the four sessions
Michael E. Scheuermann
Distance Learning and Faculty Development Consultant
Drexel University
mes27@drexel.edu
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~mes27/
6:30pm-7:00pm Group Offerings:
1. Use Discussions - not EMail - in answering student questions, and, set up "Water Cooler" topics.
2. Use TAs , if available, at about a ratio of 1 TA per 10-15 online students.
3. Set clear expectations for students - for example, objectives and instructions.
4. Recommend that students ask questions of their fellow students - not always the instructor.
5. Post student questions on the Discussion Board.
6. Establish a "Meeting Place" - via a phone bridge - for use in blended environments, both for general use (across a curriculum) and in a course-specific manner.
7. Modularize your courses - this facilitates making them highly "organized".
8. Create a "How To" Link which takes students to, for example, your Syllabus, a Student Manual, etc.
9. Use a Master Calendar to keep track of events in all of your courses.
10. In doing assessments, use student peer review of their work - linked to the Course Objectives.
11. Construct your courses so they have smaller segments, shorter activities, etc.
12. Have faculty summarize Threaded Discussion postings - do not always reply to individual posts.
13. Conduct peer review of course design - by other instructors who teach online.
14. Construct a course design "checklist" - for designers to use to review course development.
15. Assemble small groups of students, to "teach" parts of the course.
7:00pm-7:30pm Group Offerings:
1. Utilize the same design for all of your courses. 2. Administer mandatory exit surveys to all students - focused on course quality.
3. Examine other instructors' courses, e.g., their Threaded Discussions area, (focused on quality).
4. Train the faculty first! - To teach online.
5. http://www.scc-fl.edu/dl - DL Faculty Support - DL Course Peer Review Form.
6. Institute a course review process that uses 2 instructors and 1 instructional designer.
7. At some institutions - faculty do not build the DL courses - support folks do.
8. In Threaded Discussions - do not respond to every posting by students.
9. Form groups and sub-groups of students, have them use Threaded Discussions, then make posts to you.
10. In blended environments, have students available who are trained in the A/V equipment.
11. Acknowledge the fact that teaching online IS more work, to yourself, your colleagues, etc.
12. Provide Case Studies to your faculty for their use in DL courses.
13. Require longer student presentations on course topics that are more rigorous but less frequent..
14. Conduct mid-course evaulations with students, anonymously.
15. Use truly open-ended, evocative questions in Threaded Discussions.
7:30pm-8:00pm Group Offerings:
1. Use EMail and Threaded Discussions to answer common questions from students.
2. Identify core concepts that are common and create tutorials for those - develop only once.
3. Develop a good student orientation - "how to function in the course".
4. Open your courses one week early for students. Let them get in and familiar with your courses.
5. Develop online courses - while you are delivering those same courses, face-to-face.
6. Establish a "single point of contact" for online students - "one office".
7. Consult with professors who taught online before - "do not reinvent the wheel".
8. Help faculty see the program - not just "their course".
9. When using video in a blended environment - attempt to have an "assistant" at the other end.
10. Construct sample questions that will assist students in preparing for online exams, etc.
11. Use a "raise your hand" strategy in your Threaded Discussions.
12. Use the LMS (CMS, etc.) Mail - not your faculty email address, for corresponding with students in courses.
13. Take the "guesswork" out of the course - populate "welcome areas" and then direct the online students.
14. Always display a link to your Syllabus for your courses.
15. Provide students with your faculty phone number.
8:00pm-8:30pm Group Offerings:
1. Provide an orientation for faculty who are going to be teaching online.
2. In Chat - assign individual students the responsibility for leading the synchronous discussion.
3. Use students as teachers, in Threaded Discussions, after trying various tools - to acclimate other
students to the use of those tools, for example.
4. Retain faculty control of the courses - then, begin to use technology to assist and build out the course(s),
over time.
5. Conceive your courses from the global (and student) perspective.
6. Conduct online faculty evaluation and self-assessment .
7. Ask students to judge your courses - what was missing for instance.
8. Discuss with department heads as to online course expectations - for faculty, etc.
9. Develop a quiz based on the Syllabus - so students read it - and, perhaps they need to get an 85% to
proceed into the rest of the course content.
10. Encourage students to check their grades and tell me if they are not accurate.
11. Develop templates for faculty to use in creating quizzes.
12. Get ready for accessibility issues.
13. Provide more personal insight into yourself, as the instructor, in your onlien courses.
14. Create a personable course "tone".
15. Do not be "voiceless" and "faceless" as the instructor in your online courses.
16. Convince faculty to "accept the help", etc. from available resources.
Developing Courses
1. “Develop” online courses in (at least) the term BEFORE the “delivery” term starts.
2. Do a flowchart or storyboard of your course, prior to developing it.
3. Match selected features & functions to learners-content-context etc.
4. Consult with a colleague (mentor) who has taught online before.
5. Work with your in-house support folks, one-on-one, as a dept., etc.
6. Consider the different types of learning styles of your students.
7. Refer to Chickering & Gamson's Good Teaching Practices
8. Develop an extensive Syllabus. Answer more questions than you create.
9. Design a multi-dimensional course (plenty of metrics).
10. Include multiple opportunities for assessing student performance.
11. Include “water cooler” topics in Discussions.
12. Include “open” (student-authored) topics each week.
13. Limit (define) participation in Discussions –original posts vs. response posts.
14. Consider using Chat for online office hours, or as a required component of
your course(s).
15. Incorporate student feedback from prior course(s) into the current one.
16. Make course materials available in a variety of formats (.doc-.pdf-.html)
17. Make courses more student-centered than instructor-centered.
18. Transfer more of the “responsibility for learning”, to the students.
19. Develop a library of reference materials for online instructors to use / draw
upon.
20. Provide links to Student Manuals and other resources for the CMS.
21. Design offline tracking mechanisms, e.g., Excel spreadsheets.
22. Base Discussion topics on past course participation levels.
23. Include synchronous tools for online office hours, Chat, etc.
24. Provide exemplars for various Assignments.
25. Do not attempt to do a straight F2F – DL course conversion.
26. Provide multiple opportunities to develop learning communities. Ref: Palloff & Pratt.
27. Incorporate (or start with) ePacks (CMS-specific and formatted) from publishers
of your text
28. Use the right tool (course feature) for the job, e.g., Discussions for shared submissions and Assignments for instructor-only submissions.
29. Develop FAQs from your experiences – and past students' queries, etc. Post
them in current courses and build on them.
30. Provide separate Threaded Discussions (TDs) where course participants can post anonymously.
31. “Enroll” a librarian in your course(s).
32. Make the course home page inviting, informative, and challenging.
33. Do NOT design-in make-up opportunities for Assignments, participation, etc. ahead of time. Handle them ad hoc only.
34. Include multi-media elements, images, etc., i.e., make it MORE than just text-based.
35. As you read a textbook – mark certain elements that would fit in various tools
in your course. Return to them later – and use them.
36. Read current materials / stay linked into current resources – to keep your
course up to date.
37. Build in engaging course elements, like games, simulations, etc.
38. Design one course with your common (core) elements, materials, etc. and then clone it for other courses, sections, versions, etc. and refine them individually
there.
Delivering Courses
1. Set clear expectations for the students / course participants.
2. Limit (define parameters for) responsiveness to students.
3. Tell students to read the entire Syllabus – first.
4. Consolidate emails (in the CMS or in course-specific folders).
5. Turn emails into Discussion topics – cut down on additional email.
6. Enable students to create Discussion topics of interest to them.
7. Incorporate peer-review of students' written work.
8. Have students complete self-assessments of their performance.
9. Read all discussions postings – but – respond only to a select few.
10. Utilize CMS automatic grading capabilities whenever possible.
11. Post student grades early and often – in a timely manner.
12. Log in to your course based on the student expectations you set.
13. Encourage group work.
14. Select student leaders for Discussion topics, or Chat, etc.
15. Use guest lecturers, SMEs, colleagues, etc.
16.Be flexible to student requests – remember/use them in future courses.
17. Build your FAQ pages, as the course proceeds.
18. Solicit student input/feedback – constantly.
19. Encourage students to add to the course elements, etc. – for your current
course and select some of that for use in future courses.
20. Teach online every term, if you can.
21. Gather data as course(s) proceed and when they conclude.
22. Add a few “findings” (e.g., elements, etc.) to your development course as you deliver your actual course.
Course Materials
1. Make materials available to students in a variety of formats (e.g., .doc .html
.pdf).
2. Provide links to “plug-ins” so students can view different document formats.
3. Assure that materials are up-to-date (latest versions).
4. Provide exemplar materials, e.g., sample papers.
5. Be sensitive to the applications that students will have on their computers.
6. Provide for different learning styles, e.g., record your lectures and provide print versions – or –
provide voice-over PPTs and slide galleries and PPT slides.
7. Include materials from past courses (student contributions).
8. Include materials unavailable elsewhere.
9. Include handwritten / hand-drawn materials (notes, etc.).
Course Tools – Syllabus
1. Make the Syllabus as comprehensive as possible.
2. Recommend that students read it FIRST.
3. Assure that it's the most current version possible.
4. Design it to answer more questions than it begs.
5. Include plenty of instructor biographical information.
6. Assure that Syllabus sections match other course component information, presented elsewhere
in the course(s).
7. Design Syllabus to describe every course element – leave none out.
Course Tools – Discussions
1. Post all topics ahead of time.
2. Include “open”, i.e., student-authored, topics each week.
3. Include non-graded, i.e., “water cooler” topics each week.
4. Require Threaded Discussion (TD) participation.
5. Require “original” TD posts (to the topics you created).
6. Require “response” TD posts (to course colleagues' postings).
7. Define what constitutes a quality post – upper AND lower limits.
8. Define posting quantity expectations – original and response posts.
9. Use private topics as “Journals” – with individual students.
10. Establish separate topic areas for student group collaboration.
11. Start by using the best end-of-chapter questions from the text.
12. Identify discussion topics – as you read the text.
13. Keep a log of good topics - for use in your future course(s).
Course Tools – Assignments
1. Make them as challenging as any F2F course.
2. Encourage/enable students to work in groups.
3. Provide exemplars of past assignment submissions.
4. Provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning.
5. Clearly define the parameters – for each Assignment.
6. Be flexible on what students choose – to demonstrate their learning.
7. Use this only for content you do NOT want other students to view.
8. Encourage early submission of Assignments.
Course Tools – Mail
1. Set student expectations – define when (how often, within what timeframes,
etc.) they can expect responses, etc. from you.
2. Restrict student mail to the CMS, if possible.
3. Provide one email address (opportunity) only.
4. Use for student-specific communication only.
5. Establish mail folders - to archive messages for later use.
Course Tools – Chat
1. Do not avoid it. Synchronous elements could be less work than asynchronous
ones.
2. Level-1: Use for office hours.
3. Level-2: Use for make-up work.
4. Level-3: Use for preparing for Assignments, Quizzes, etc.
5. Level-4: Use for SMEs, librarians, guest speakers, etc.
6. Level-5: Require a Chat session-make it a gradable course element.
7. Level-6: Require multiple Chat sessions-make them gradable course elements.
8. Encourage students to do synchronous collaboration.
9. Solicit student feedback – during and after the course.
10. Post the Chat logs – for student viewing, review, etc.
11. Share Chat logs – from prior course(s).
12. Define Chat topics, publish them ahead of time.
13. Set dates/times & do not change them. Post on the Home Page.
14. Assign various nights w/ 7-1o students per night.
15. Allow students to switch nights, term-long or week-by-week.
16. Do NOT provide alternatives to Chat, ahead of time.
17. Assign student Chat leaders, e.g., as make-up.
18. Define expectations that you have for participation. Balance!
19. Arrive before the first student – stay until the last one leaves.
20. Have MS-Word (with pre-selected Chat topics) & MS-Excel (to track student arrival/participation/departure) open during the Chat.
21. Grade the Chat as soon as it concludes.
22. Have evocative, content-related questions pre-prepared.
23. Start with the best end-of-chapter questions as Chat topics.
24. Identify Chat topics – as you read the text.
The Following Sections are from:
Ms. Penny Ralston-Berg
University of Wisconsin-Extension, Learning Innovations
New course development and creation
- Build in faculty member's presence and personality.
- Build up user confidence in technology (open the semester a week early for browsing without the pressure of learning; provide overviews or tip sheets for courseware).
- Provide clear set of learning outcomes and activities.
- Build on personal and professional experience of participants.
- Relate content to real-world situations.
- Use collaboration and facilitated group projects.
- Use evaluative rubrics.
- Don't let the technology drive the instructional design.
- Remember your audience.
- Always ask, “How will I know if this course is successful? How will the student show mastery of outcomes?”
When creating content
· Break content into smaller pieces
· Use headers to provide visual cues
· HTML headers also provide cues for screen readers, accessibility tools
· Use lists rather than items separated by commas within a paragraph
· Remember context – scholarly works should stay scholarly
When using media
· If audience is unknown, assume a low level of access
· Provide support for users when using advanced media (tips sheets, how to install a plug-in, how to navigate the interface or use the toolbars, etc.)
· Balance bells and whistles with download time and instructional value
In online discussions
· Avoid asking for definitive answer
· Provide “conflict”
· Provide clear expectations
· Provide rubric for grading participation
For online groups
· Provide clearly defined roles
· Provide deadlines for parts within the larger deadline
· Provide rubric for grading participation
· May also use peer or self evaluation
Facilitation
- Determine your schedule for managing your online course.
- Write a welcome letter that invites students to the course and explains your schedule and other routines in your course.
- Clarify your expectations of students' roles.
- Expect students to be ready to learn.
- Expect students to contribute.
- Do not provide the answer, but provide the means to find the answer.
- Set communication ground rules early in the course
- Lead by example in online discussions; your participation encourages students to participate
- Give feedback on a regular basis
- Set clear expectations on when and how feedback will be given
- Provide office hours for online students via bulletin board, e-mail, chat or phone
- Provide the students with a master calendar or checklist of all learning activities and due dates
- Provide students with list of contacts by topic (content, tech support, registration, etc.)
- Facilitate, mediate, mentor, and coach; be active and ever-present
- Develop time-saving techniques for yourself
- Try to anticipate technological glitches; Build redundant or alternative procedures into the course to accommodate these glitches
- Get preferred or most frequently used e-mail addresses from all students
Evaluation
- Treat the first run of the course as a pilot, gathering extensive data from participants
- Online surveys before, during and after the course
- Small surveys for individual activities within a course
- Focus groups
- In-person, e-mail, or phone interviews with former students
Share and network with others who are creating online courses:
· Locally
- Presentations
- Brown-bag info rmational sessions
- Faculty meetings before, during, or after semester
· Globally
- Conferences
- Journals
- Discussion groups or bulletin boards
· Potential Topics
- Lessons-learned
- New experiences
- Problems and solutions
- Short-cuts or timesaving tips
References
(from Mike Scheuermann)
• The Ultimate WebCT Handbook: A Practical and Pedagogical Guide to WebCT
Georgia State University
Order through: http://www.ultimatehandbooks.net
• Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace, Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom
Palloff and Pratt
Jossey-Bass, 1999
ISBN – 0-7879-4460-2
• Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching
Palloff and Pratt
Jossey-Bass, 2001
ISBN – 0-7879-5519-1
• The Virtual Student: A Profile and Guide to Working with Online Learners
Palloff and Pratt
Jossey-Bass, 2003
ISBN – 0-7879-6474-3
• E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age
Rosenberg
McGraw-Hill, 2001
ISBN – 0-07-136268-1
• The ASTD E-Learning Handbook: Best Practices, Strategies, and Case Studies for an Emerging Field
Rossett
McGraw-Hill, 2002
ISBN – 0-07-1338796-X
• 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups
Hanna, Glowacki-Dudka, and Concei çã o-Runlee
Atwood Publishing, 2000
ISBN – 1-891859-34-X
• Facilitating Online Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators
Collison, Elbaum, Haavind, and Tinker
Atwood Publishing, 2000
ISBN – 1-891859-33-1
• The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education
Pittinsky (Ed.)
Prentice-Hall, 2003
ISBN – 0-13-042829-9
Journals
• The Internet and Higher Education
Pergamon
Elsevier Science
http://www.scis.nova.edu/ihe
• Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
info@aace.org
|