It requires more time to develop the first class of online delivery. The subsequent classes tend to be more of "maintenance" time.
Things that one could deliver orally, in an online course one cannot and must make sure the content is delivered appropriately.
On the other hand, most books come with instructional resources that allow instructors to browse, pick and edit content instead of creating it from scratch. This resources, though, create a sort of codependency with technology, and, in my experience, the instructors cannot teach a class if technology fails for some reason.
What has been your experience?
Sergio,
I have found that the more communication you have with the students, the more they login to your class. If the instructor can send out a "tip" for the week, such as a new technology or a new website, then the students have something to look forward to.
Shelly Crider
I would have to disagree. I have taught the same courses both online and on campus. I has taken more time to prepare and monitor student growth and achievement through online courses than on campus. Planning for online has taken more time as well, I must either record my lectures or find the accompanying videos that go with my lesson along with creating Powerpoint presentations with very detailed notes. In addition, I'm always communicating with students via telephone or email. In a campus based class, I usually just plan the day's lesson and interact with students that night only.
I do agree that a dependency is created with technology through online courses. As much as I enjoy technology, I've seen the chaos when it fails.
German ,
Good example with "plan the day's lesson and interact with students that night only". That is a powerful statement and one hopes that an instructor has more planning than that!
Shelly Crider
I agree. First time development of the course may be more time consuming. However, for each subsequent course, the time invested is less. In addition, online courses can be developed from anywhere 24/7. This may not be true for instructors who are not computer savvy.
Darakshan,
You always want to review the class each time it is offered for items that have changed!
Shelly Crider
My courses, being technical computer courses, contain labs which must be tested multiple times (as students may use more than one "standard" way to troubleshoot and configure a technical problem). Similarly, an online course must be be tested for use with multiple web browsers, differing editions of web browsers, presentation and word processing software.
I am continually surprised at how written lab steps can be misconstrued be a student - for a course I have taught for years! In a classroom, a skipped step can be identified and executed - imagine the frustration of an online learner, at home, unable to complete a lab and unable to determine why!
Tim,
Oh so true. Students will give up when they simply cannot figure out the step they missed. Having available different web browers, and presentation of the information is a must.
Shelly Crider
It depends. It would seem easier, especially if you have a template from an on site course to work from. Still, being at a distance from the learner poses its own unique set of challenges that to me make it more difficult. Selecting the most appropriate learning environments - whether synchronous,asynchronous, or blended; instructional media; and navigational strategies, etc., seem more challenging to me, given that we do not always know who our learners are and given the wide variety of options available to us.
Is it more important to replicate what we do in the classroom, or is it more important to really consider how, where and when learners access information and learn in designing instruction? The world of social media and mobile technology is opening up new vistas for reaching and educating students that makes approaching design more complicated, yet infinitely more interesting to me.
Althea,
All of this technology around us makes you wonder what will be the "norm" for classes in 20 years!
Shelly Crider
I also like both options...That way learners can choose whichever they prefer.
Time invested to develop online course is more than time required for on ground course in my opinion. Although one becomes more efficient in online classroom after facilitating it over and over again, a facilitator must still ensure that the courses are relevant and real-time. For example, one can tie the course to current events so that the learners can feel the relevance of the course to real-life examples or situations.
Dr. Felicia,
As we know, we all learn differently, so having an option will allow you to touch more students.
Shelly Crider
Dr. Felicia,
An instructor must review their online class each and every term to make sure all links are working. There are times when links can change to an unwanted site!
Shelly Crider
Thanks for that reminder to check links every term. So true!!!
I disagree because the differences between a traditional classroom and an online learning environment differ based on the synchronus and asynchronus classroom.
While one may have discussions in a live classroom, many instances in an online environment require the online classroom to have a discussion board and a time requirement for posting. In my online class, I have my students post their inital response by Wednesday, and their responses to fellow classmates by Sunday. I also use the discussion board to determine participation along with my student tracker which records the time the student spends in the online classroom
Secondly, compliance with assignment material on a week to week basis is hard to judge unless the material is tied to the weekly assignment or discussion. In a live classroom, the instructor can ask direct questions; the online classroom requires one to structure information in a manner that engages the student without ever seeing them.
Lastly, online instruction requires development of the classroom layout to foster student centered learning. Live classes can focus on more content as the layout of the class is already done by the design of the classroom.
Bobby,
Thank you for brining up compliance. This is an area we do not touch on much, but is a necessary topic to be taken seriously.
Shelly Crider
STEVE,
An instructor or someone should always do quality control check each term as well.
Shelly Crider
In my opinion, I feel I have to devote more time to the online curriculum than the on ground setting. Let me explain.
In the past when I first started teaching on ground students, I was mentored by several of the instructors that were also teaching the same courses. I did not develop a change right away, more like the third class. I looked at where my students were and what was necessary to make it more of a challenge. It did not need to be difficult, just engaging. A few moths later, the class was updated by corporate and I had to redo all of my assignments and test. But the lectures had only to be slightly changed. Since I had the face to face with the students, I could judge their reactions and modify where needed.
I have been teaching in the online environment for about an year. I feel that each and every class I have to get the feel of the room. Some have been more challenging than others, and I honestly spend much more time in assessing the reasoning to why they react more or less to the subjects.
