Heather Cassady

There should be continuous reflection and revision done on our course. Using feedback from students is one way to evaluate how affective an assignment or assessment was. I need to look at both qualitative and quantitative data to drive change.

Rubrics let students know how something will be graded and the criteria that the teacher is looking for in an assignment. But with the rubric grade the teacher should also be providing specific feedback. What exactly did the student do well? Where are the areas where the student can improve? Being purposeful with both positive and constructive feedback will help students improve for future assignments. Most jobs require reflection that impacts change. Students need to start practicing reflection now so that they understand its importance and how it drives change in their work.

Communication is key. When I was going through the interview process for my job, my program director asked me if I would have a problem calling my students. I was surprised by this questions. Of course I don't have a problem calling them. If I notice they need help, have been absent, missed an assignment, or got a low grade, etc, I'm going to call them. Email is good but we all know that they are easy to ignore. I know not everyone is comfortable with speaking, so I start with a text and build up to a phone call. 

Consistency is key when creating the course, modules, and assignments. The familiarity will help students feel more confident in what they are doing. In math, there are multiple ways to solve the same problem. If you try and show this to students who haven't done math in years, it could be confusing and they could mix methods up when working on the problems by themselves. As much as I'd like to go over all the methods, it probably isn't the most effective way to teach the topic. I have to ask myself, is this useful for the content they are… >>>

Students in the e-learning environment are as diverse as those in a traditional classroom. I need to be proactive from the beginning when it comes to interacting with all my students, not just the students who are engaged. Communication is key so that students understand the expectations and so that they know you are there when they need them. You need to have a place where you can keep track of what you spoke about with a student and when it happened. My school use a great program for this that allows me to alert counselors when I feel like… >>>

Asynchronous discussions engage the most learners. These types of discussions give everyone a chance to process the information and respond when they are ready. Make sure that the discussion groups are small, so that everyone feels like they have a voice. Feedback is critical. It's needs to be specific, motivational, and constructive. Synchronous discussions are best with one learner or just a couple. 

I learned that my presence in a virtual classroom is just as important as a traditional classroom. The Introduction Discussion is a great place to give my credentials and let my students know a little about my personal life. When I'm providing feedback for the weekly discussions and assignments, I refer back to this to remind myself about nicknames they might use or the field of study they are going into. It's the little, personal touches and specific feedback will help to engage students in the course. Being active in the course and discussions is important. Since online learning doesn't… >>>

Course delivery is about more than knowing your content. Yes, this is important but there is more at play than what you are teaching. A nice aspect of Canvas is that I can view my course as a student. Looking over my course from student view will help me guide my students in using the different pages and resources available. I also need to have a good understanding of the assignments my students will be doing. This way I can anticipate questions and go over any assignments where I think my students may find the wording or the questions difficult.