I can say clear communication and setting clear expectations is very important. If these two things are not done students will not be successful. How can students meet expectations if the teacher does not communicate clearly what the student needs to do. It should start at the beginning and go throughout the course.

Having organization is essential too for faculty and student success

I can see how I might hinder my ability to support active learning. I can see how I have a lot to learn. Since I am just starting out I also see I need to give myself a chance to get acclimated, get organized, put my content together and then tweak things to incorporate more actively learning.

It is very interesting to see the changes in education. I am old enough that I have seen these changes take place over time. As a new instructor I am struggling to Id different strategies for teaching and also making sure I cover content. I think with time this will get better.

With so much emphasis on engagement and retention in virtual learning environments, I’m curious how others are building meaningful interactions among students. What specific tools, strategies, or course designs have helped you encourage participation, collaboration, and connection—particularly with those who may feel isolated or overwhelmed?

I’d love to hear both your successes and your challenges. Let’s learn from each other!

As online learning continues to evolve, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how we can best balance structure and flexibility in virtual classrooms to support both accountability and student well-being.

In your experience, how do you design your courses or set expectations to ensure students stay on track without becoming overwhelmed? Do you favor strict weekly deadlines, soft due dates, or open pacing with check-ins? How has this approach impacted student engagement and success?

Looking forward to learning from your experiences and strategies!

As educators, we’re always walking the line between providing enough structure for student success and offering the flexibility that adult learners often need. With so many of us teaching in hybrid, asynchronous, or fully online formats, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

How do you balance structure and flexibility in your online courses?

Do you use flexible deadlines?
Do you release all course content at once or week by week?
Have you found certain strategies that support student responsibility without compromising academic rigor?
I’m especially curious to know how others have handled late work, varied student schedules, and real-life interruptions—while still keeping students engaged and accountable.

Please share your approaches, what has worked (or not), and any creative solutions you’ve tried. I’d love to learn from your experiences.

I find that in the midst of a semester or school year it is difficult to keep up with current technology. How do you keep up with all of the planning needed for instruction, as well as new technology, uses of these, and keep up with daily instruction? Is it delegated to summer institutes, continuous training, online training, or other and how do you find time to do this type of training during the school year when you are teaching?

This training led me to reflect on engaging students in class discussions in a synchronous session. While it is important to learn the technical components, posting assignments, discussions, and more, synchronous engagement can be challenging. I use online tools and apps such as Padlet, Google Forms, Chat, Breakout Rooms in Zoom to engage students in peer discussions and idea sharing. I have realized that many students experience anxiety in unmuting and speaking online, while some may dominate the verbal exchange. For this reason, a variety of tools are necessary to increase engagement. In my next class, I am planning to assign a number to each student and call on students randomly to share and respond to questions. I am hoping that this strategy may also help in increasing engagement. 

How do you engage students in a synchronous class session?

I have learned that it is important as an instructor to not only familiarize myself with he course content, but also ensure students have access to the content. It also needs to be clear to students what the expectations are for them in the course and to guide them so that they can be successful. 

I have engaged with students who have reported that their daily work/life responsibilities are frequently overwhelming - thus leading to 'last minute' online discussion posts.  The discussion rubric clearly indicates that multiple, same day, 'last minute' contributions to the discussion board shall/may be interpreted as 'low value" primarily because such posts don't really represent substantive additions to the discussion.  I sometimes struggle with the subjectiveness of my grading (esp. in this context, mostly because it is difficult to accurately gauge who benefits from 'last minute posts")- but don't want to eliminate the implied impetus for timely discussion posts from the students and also don't want to micromanage adult learners by discussion-board hoovering.

What are some strategies utilized for dealing with the 'last minute' discussion posts?  [Context] Paraphrased from the syllabus: Each student must contribute to the discussion (to one or more of the posted discussion prompts) and respond to at least three posts entered by other students.         

What is the best way to sustain student intrest in course

Engagement is the key. 

It's always helpful to start with a brief introduction, including a snapshot of your professional background, educational journey, and a few personal interests or hobbies.

As an online faculty member, I’ve learned the importance of becoming familiar with the course management system (CMS) and ensuring that students receive the support they need when navigating the platform. It's essential that technical support is readily available, and that clear instructions on how to access this support are easily accessible within the system

I have participated in both traditional classroom learning and on-line learning at the college level. Personally I enjoy and feel I receive more from the traditional methods. I feel I need more structure that the on-line platform offers. This section covered many way to help make the on-line learner more comfortable. Are there any more personal suggestions you have experienced to aid in creating a higher comfort level for this population of students?

Do you prefer an online teaching practice over a presential teaching format? 

I teach gen-ed students who are entering the core nursing program for ADN. Many of these students are taking a variety of courses none of them the same. Some learners are already taking nursing classes such as Pharmacology where others have no concept of nursing and are in Anatomy and Physiology or Psychology and MIcrobiology. The course I teach is strategies for academic success though the content is really aimed at helping these students learn critical thinking, clinical judgement and decision making as it applies to being a nurse. It is very difficult to gear the teaching and assignments in the class that is intended to prepare the students to be nurses but for some who have no background at all or understand the basics of what nursing will involve because they have yet to be exposed to this concept. 

I greet so many benefit from from online classes who have full time jobs, and focus better with independent studying. In person is also great especially for students who like to be engaged more.

I feel there are classes that are great online but I do feel there are some that must be in person for the student to fully understand and get the most out of the class.

How will you promote online teaching?