Vicki Hoppe

Students need guidelines on how to communicate with the instructor and the classmates.  Communication leads to more communication.

The instructor is responsible to help the students remain motivated.  

I have taken on line courses and understand how easy it is to get behind when life events get in the way and time management goes by the wayside.    

On line learner types are the same as in the classroom.  You may have a procrastinator, an intimidator, and a noisy learner.  Be knowledgeable of the policies for handling such students and act fast before the problem gets too big that it needs to be escalated if at all possible.  Do not tolerate intimidating behavior from a student toward classmates or to myself as the instructor.  

Use asynchronous discussions for important, key, concepts because of the different schedules and time zones of the students.  Synchronous discussions, chats, should be limited to an individual or small work group within the class.  

In the classroom you have nonverbal communication but online you don't.  you have only the written word unless posting a video, even then there are subtleties that may not be transferred to the audience.  Read and reread posts before you click send.

A great way to introduce yourself and gain the respect of the students is to post a short biography of your academic and professional background.  The students can do the same to introduce themselves to the instructor.  

I'm not sure why the instructor needs to send a welcome message to each individual student.  The instructor in the classroom on site does not have an initial conversation with each student.  She introduces herself to the class as a whole and has individual conversations on an as needed basis throughout the course.  Why not do the same in the online environment?

Online learning can be frustrating to students who do not know how to access help/support for questions about the lesson content and problems with the computer.  As the instructor I will ensure I know how to contact the help desk, be sure I have instructor log in, create a timeline (if not already done) of when assignments are due so I stay on top of the timelines and student progress.

Make some notes for your personal review after each session, what worked, what could have been better and improve next time.  

The first day of class the students are getting to know their classmates, what to expect from the instructor, what the instructor expects from them, and what they will learn, how they will learn it, and why it's important in their career choice.

I anticipate large class sizes so spending a lot of time with the students introducing themselves would be too much for one chunk.  I like the idea of having the students fill out the index cards and making name tents.

Use a checklist to prepare for class.  Be familiar with the text book.  

The instructor is a model of expected behavior.  It is important for the instructor to use proper professional language, be polite and courteous, as well as dressed appropriately, prompt and ready for the class on time.  I plan to apply this in my own classroom.