Monday, April 27, 2015





It takes TIME to Teach an Online class and do it Right.

Teachers who teach online because it is easy to read/test and not participate in the class are doing a disservice to the students and to the material. If you do it correctly it takes time to teach online classes. 

 
My time:
I try to log into the class at least twice a day every day. That isn't necessary but it works for me. I hate to get behind. My classes all have discussions, and I believe that is important for online classes. Students do learn from each other.

It  is important to grade on time and to help me I make notes during week so I don’t have to go back at the end and look at the posts. When I started teaching online these notes were in pencil and paper but now I use a Word table and I copy my notes for each student into the grade book. Luckily most Learning Management System have logs and they are very, very, useful because you can tell how many discussion posts a student looked at, how many they posted to, and how many they responded to.  Be sure to find and use the logs if your class has a discussion.

At the suggestion of many online teachers, I started using Dragon’s voice to text software http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm  to do the weekly summaries. It does take a little training of the software but I find it to be quite accurate and also a big time saver. Usually they have special deals for faculty.  However, as much as I liked it I found it slowed down my computer and I removed it. Now that I have my new computer I will probably install it again. 

I do agree that family time IS very important, and I do take time each day to be with my family. I realize my situation is unusual in that I am no longer working full time. When I first “retired” I got “greedy” and taught for four institutions. I have now cut down to two. I find if I do more than two online classes at a time I cannot live the way I want to. 

Students:
As for students, I don’t insist that they log onto the class more than two times a week, I always do have two due dates during the week and I have found that I also need to separate the date for the first discussion posting from the date of the reply. It is important to have consistent dates – in the undergraduate class I taught I had something (an assignment, a quiz or a discussion) due every Tuesday and Friday. I told the class: “If you wake up in the morning and it is Tuesday or Friday you know something will be due for this class.” In my graduate classes I make the dates Wednesday/Sunday. Because graduate classes are almost all discussions I’ve moved the reply date back to Sunday at 3 PM instead of Sunday midnight because I have found any post that is entered Sunday midnight will not be looked at and will not be responded to.

Technology:
I like to do a discussion summary each week.   Some mentors do this as a video.  Since all videos require text equivalents I'm not sure this saves time. I have thought about an audio summary. Of course that would require a text equivalent too. In class I recently taught one student had self identified as Deaf, and I suspect, from the subject taught, that another student in the class may have been also. 

Students can also be assigned to do the weekly summary also, which is a good idea. This could rotate from week to week. 

Faculty creation of the summaries are time consuming the first time the class is taught, however, I keep these from semester to semester. Each term the summary will have differences but there usually are many things that will be common. The initial saving of the summary of discussions help me remember things that were mentioned in previous classes and also allow me to add things that were mentioned in the current class. 

I have a folder on my computer for each class. Often I am asked for references and I like to go back and check the class folder for my notes. I am always surprised that more people don’t use folders. I have a folder for each institution, and inside that I have a folder for each class. I feel that stops my having to search for the file. I have a PC and can use the Search button in the Start menu if a file is misplaced. I have learned from bitter experience that I need to make sure I look at where I save the file before I press enter. 

1.     I also have mastered copy and paste and simple html - and I hot keys. For example, bold, B,
2.     Undo Z,  (I use this one a LOT!)
3.     Copy C
4.     Paste V
5.     Cut X,
6.     Select all A
7.     Underline U
8.     Undo Z I use this one a lot also!

There are about 10 of them that I use frequently.  If you do not use a PC the control keys may be slightly different but they should be there.

  For papers you can use the "Track Changes" feature in Word for feedback. I change the color of my changes from red to green ink for my comments. 

Reference:
Van de Vord, R. & Pogue, K.  (2012).  Teaching time investment:  Does online really take more time than face-to-face?  International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(3), 132-146. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1190/2212
This is very interesting because they found the answer is it doesn't take more time to teach online. 

Finally, remember you don't have to get dressed, get in your car or take a train or bus, find a parking place or walk to your destination, go to your office, etc. I think that teacher of hybrid courses have the most consuming job because they have to travel AND work online.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Moving Beyond Read/Test in Online Learning

MOVING BEYOND THE  READ/TEST MODEL of ONLINE TEACHING


Online classes do not have to be read/test nor should they be. There are many activities that online teacher/mentors should think about incorporating into their online teaching, provided that they increase student learning. Don't add just for "glitz."

I think every organization that offers online classes should have an IT department whose major job is helping teachers add alternate material to their classes. I don't think the teachers should be expected to have the time, or to have the professional capability, to do this. While we can be great teachers in the classroom that does not mean we are media professionals.

I think that teacher presence MORE important than multimedia. Yes, we should use multimedia when appropriate, but it is important for the students to know the teacher is there. Some teachers prefer not to participate in the discussions, but then give targeted, extensive feedback in the weekly grade. It really is a balance - as mentors we want to be present but we don't want to overwhelm the discussion.

A self-check (really a quiz) is a good way for students to test themselves. This is referred to as a “formative evaluation” in educational jargon. I especially like to do a “self check” on the Syllabus because I think that it clears up a lot of problems. In most Learning Management Systems (LMS) the Quiz function is robust and allows the teacher/mentor to select either “highest grade counts” or “first grade counts” or “average grade counts.” If you really want students to know the material, then I select “highest grade counts” and give feedback on every question and allow for multiple retakes.

There is some disagreement about posting model answers, but I am all for it. I think students deserve to see what we are looking for..

Online discussions are, to me a must to develop community in online.Whatever activities the teacher/mentor selects we must be careful to allow the students to preserve their personal privacy.
Online classes do not have to be read/test nor should they be!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Tips to Help Students of All Learning Styles Succeed

 

TIPS TO HELP ONLINE STUDENTS OF ALL LEARNING STYLES SUCCEED



All learners need to know when feedback will be given and where it is in the class. Grading should be done quickly and feedback included. It doesn’t have to be a long statement, but there should be some words in the grades to let students know why they have received it.

Students will benefit if you break down lengthy assignments and check each step.  There is nothing so discouraging to a student as having completed a major project, handing it in, and then finding it is not what the teacher wanted.

Remind students that if an  emergency arises and they cannot make the normal deadline then they  should let you know as soon as possible. If you have an emergency send the students a note so they won’t worry.


Most Learning Management Systems like Moodle and Blackboard have a message feature that makes it easy to give private feedback. You can point out what was done well, and then offer help.


Visual representations to help students include a printable calendar, concept maps (either faculty or student developed), graphic organizers, video clips from reliable sources. Sometimes a chart helps. We don’t have to draw on the board as we do in a face-to-face class. There are many diagrams already on the web, and there are also drawing tools that we can use. Sometimes a picture can make a concept much clearer.