Effective Online Teaching As I venture through my online teaching and course development I have been drawn to the question, what does an effective online teacher look like? If I am to develop a good online course then I will need to know what aspect I need to include in the course that would facilitate good online teaching practices. 1. Provide helpful resources on the course site: their summary indicated that “guiding questions helped students focus and develop their projects” (pg. 21) 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 1. 2. 3. 4. Cole and Kritzer (2006) expressed the need to create each unit as a module where all of their objectives, readings, presentations, questions, and activity were presented in one complete block. As I reflect on these practices and suggestions I am encouraged that I do implement a lot of these strategies but I also struggle with the schools that just want the old correspondence courses where there is no interaction and community and the student learns in isolation.
Online Learning Readiness Checklist for Students We pursue online learning with the same passion and commitment to excellence that has marked our 100-year history in quality Christian education. CU Online courses are rich in learner-to-learner and instructor-to-learner interactivity. We balance our courses between offering learners maximized flexibility in terms of coursework completion and the rigor that characterizes a quality (and often condensed) academic experience. Online courses are not necessarily easier or less time-consuming than are face-to-face courses. If you have registered or are planning to register for an online course: Visit the online student services page to get your Network Account (you will need this to begin class) and find out about services available to students accessing Concordia from a distance.
Hybrid Learning: How to Reach Digital Natives by Alan Rudi “Hybrid education offers promise for engaging students who are demotivated by the lack of meaningful use of technology, and associated opportunities for skill-building and efficiency, in many lessons today.” As technology continues to advance and become more accessible around the world, experts who study how children learn are developing fresh paradigms designed to reach the new generation of students dubbed “digital natives.” The term emerged in 2001 from the work of Mark Prensky, a thought leader, speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer in the field of education and learning. Prensky is also an outspoken advocate of forming a more relevant system for teaching our children. According to Prensky, digital natives are the young people growing up in the digital world. Scientists have discovered that digital natives’ lifelong exposure to technology means that their brains are developing differently. Technology has transformed the world around us. Purpose-driven learning -- Editor
7 Strategies to Make Your Online Teaching Better This GradHacker post is by Andrea Zellner, PhD candidate in Ed Tech/Ed Pysch at Michigan State University, @andreazellner There is no doubt that online education has arrived in Higher Education. Each year, the numbers of colleges and universities offering online courses increases. There is certainly appeal for these types of courses: students can better fit them into busy schedules and traveling to campus is no longer required. While I dabbled in teaching hybrid and online courses for a while, I have been teaching online for most of the past two years. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.Provide support for self-regulation. 7. In the end, there is a lot to consider when teaching online. P.S. What are your tips for teaching online?
Adult Learners - Factor Contributing to Issues in eLearning Early Attrition among First Time eLearners: A Review of Factors that Contribute to Drop-out, Withdrawal and Non-completion Rates of Adult Learners undertaking eLearning Programmes Keith Tyler-Smith Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology Christchurch, New Zealand tyler-smithk@cpit.ac.nz Introduction The issue of student retention and completion rates in distance education have been investigated and vigorously argued over for at least the last seven decades (Berge & Huang, 2004). Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70 - 80% (Flood 2002, Forrester 2000, in Dagger & Wade, 2004). Questions about the validity of much of this reporting have been raised as it is argued that statistics on retention and drop outs are, at best, fragmented, do not compare like with like, and are either unreliable and / or misleading (Hall, 2001, Wang, Foucar-Szocki, Griffin, O’Connor and Sceiford, 2003). Models of attrition for distance education Motivation and persistence
Understanding Digital Children - Ian Jukes One element of my professional reading at the moment is reading through Ian Jukes “Understanding digital children (DK's) Teaching & Learning in the New Digital Landscape”. Ian looks at the difference between digital kids and teachers and the impact that this has on teaching and learning. At one point Ian summarises the differences between Native Learners (screenagers) and Teachers. We know that experience, like using a computer, will change the structure of our brain, This is a concept called Nueroplasticity. Media Exposure Mark Prensky - in his papers digital natives and Digital immigrants, highlighted the exposure our students have to different forms of media. Increasingly, the readings and research are converging towards the same point. Digital Students@analog Schools - video Digital students@analog schools
Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online J. V. Boettcher, Ph.D. Designing for Learning 2006 - 2013 Minor revisions May 2011 Our knowledge about what works well in online teaching and learning is growing rapidly and that is very good news. Here are ten best practices for anyone just getting started in the online environment. Best Practice 1: Be Present at the Course Site Liberal use of a faculty's use of communication tools such as announcements, discussion board postings, and forums communicate to the students that the faculty member cares about who they are, cares about their questions and concerns, and is generally "present" to do the mentoring and challenging that teaching is all about. When faculty actively interact and engage students in a face-to-face classroom, the class develops as a learning community, developing intellectual and personal bonds. We have learned to quantify what it means to "be present." Note: Students who feel abandoned or who feel alone may even post questions, such as "Is anybody there?" References
Characteristics of Millennial Students: What Professors Need to Know The first indication that the Millennial Generation may be different from previous generations is to consider how many different names we have for the generation and the people who belong to it. They’re referred to as Generation Y, Nexters, Baby Boom Echo Generation, Echo Boomers, Digital Natives, Generation Next, Generation Me and, of course, Millennials. If nothing else, they’re one of the most studied generations. Christy Price, EdD, a psychology professor at Dalton State College, became interested in Millennial learners when she noticed a gap between students’ expectation for success and the effort they put forth in the classroom (Price, 2009). In the recent online seminar Five Strategies to Engage Today’s Students, Price shared some of what she’s learned regarding the characteristics of Millennials’ ideal learning environments, their preferences regarding assignments and assessment, and the characteristics of their ideal professor. References: Price, C. (2009). Price, C.
EdTech Cheat Sheet Infographic Understanding New Trends in Educational Technology Trying to keep up with all of the new buzzwords in the booming Educational Technology sector can leave you feeling like a kindergartner in a calculus class. Don't tell your teach, but we put together a little cheat sheet to keep you informed on what's happening inside and outside of today's most innovative schools. Think we're missing any major terms or trends? @GoBoundless Gamification? Virtual Classroom? Digital Storytelling? 1:1 Technology Providing every student with a laptop or tablet to make learning more individualized, increase independence and extend academics beyond the classroom. Also: much cooler than just giving out stickers. Adaptive Learning Software that adapts it's content and pacing to the current knowledge level of the user, so it's almost like having a personal tailor for your education. Asynchronous Learning Blended Learning A sure recipe for success: Optional--Adjust when, where and how students use the online content. E-Books
Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses Note: This article was originally published in The Technology Source ( as: Charles Graham, Kursat Cagiltay, Byung-Ro Lim, Joni Craner, and Thomas M. Duffy "Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses" The Technology Source, March/April 2001. Available online at The "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education," originally published in the AAHE Bulletin (Chickering & Gamson, 1987), are a popular framework for evaluating teaching in traditional, face-to-face courses. We, a team of five evaluators from Indiana University's Center for Research on Learning and Technology (CRLT), recently used these principles to evaluate four online courses in a professional school at a large Midwestern university. Taking the perspective of a student enrolled in the course, we began by identifying examples of each of Chickering and Gamson's seven principles. Conclusion References