Recently, it was reported that some schools’ open (read: free) online courses would give credits to students who took them—and in some cases these courses have no instructors. There are also online courses in which the participants merely follow the syllabus, take a few tests,
Through regular student feedback, Jennifer Luzar, associate professor of language arts at Northwood University, has compiled the following things students want in their online courses and ways that she has adapted her instruction accordingly.
Feedback from students should not wait until the end of the course. Jennifer Luzar, associate professor of language arts at Northwood University, recommends surveying students throughout an online course to know how well you’re doing and how you might improve it.
In small online courses, instructors have the luxury of participating in frequent personal interactions with students in online discussions. But doing this with more than 15 students can be difficult. Fortunately, there are ways to maintain instructor presence and participation in online discussions without becoming
How nice it is when we teach an online course from beginning to end, with no errors, no problems, and no emergencies! Ah, but this is the stuff of fiction, for in reality each online instructor will encounter difficulties in his or her course. How
Because online courses have fewer opportunities for the spontaneous, real-time exchanges of the face-to-face classroom, online instruction requires a deliberate approach to design and facilitation. As Bethany Simunich says, “Online, learning doesn’t happen by chance.” In an interview with Online Classroom, Simunich, associate director of
I have been teaching online for 19 years, and during this time I have encountered many online courses where the layout was less than smooth, the writing quality embarrassing, and the contents confusing. And you who read this column have also experienced this: I know
As online professors we don’t have the privilege of face-to-face contact with students during which they form impressions of us based on things such as facial expressions, tangible and intangible expressions of caring, and tone of voice. We have to connect with our students in
There are many ways to provide feedback to students in an online course. When selecting the type and frequency of feedback, consider what the students want and how they will benefit from it without creating an unreasonable amount of work for yourself. In an interview
Because successful communication is essential to learning in an online course, instructors and instructional designers need to foster a respectful, welcoming environment and to prepare for potential problems that can arise, such as cyber harassment, trolling, and flaming. In an email interview with Online Classroom,
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