First of all I will organize all online meterials in a very accessible order. Students should be comfortable to learn and to communicate online.
What do you mean by sticking to your program?
All are good uses of communications
The first aspect that I consider important in establishing a pattern of teaching is the organization of the content and its presentation in a way that the students can understand. I teach Mathematics and it has taken thousands of years for Mathematics to develop to its current level. It is unreasonable to expect students to recreate these thousands of years of learning in a 16 (or 8 or 5) week course. We need to have the information organized so that we understand it and can present it in a way that the student will be able to absorb the material.
The second aspect is related. Because there is so much to learn, we should expect that every student will have questions on the content we are teaching. We need to encourage them in their learning by responding quickly when they ask questions and to tailor our responses to their specific needs. The tailoring process should take into account the student's learning style as well as their current level of comfort with the class material.
Good insights! It is not easy to teach Math!
The online style of instruction we will be using is Asynchronous and I feel these are most important to consider.
1. Consistency - When students start a new lesson it should be immediately familiar to them as to its layout and where to find the required instructional documents and presentations.
2. Itinerary - The lessons should include a document of instructions which state the objectives, describe an order of priority for when to read documents and view presentations, and explain requirements for evaluation i.e. quizzes, tests, study guides.
So you are really talking about expectations. . .
I suppose. I was viewing the question from a student perspective.
The course I teach now is going to be be going online eventually and eliminating the classroom. I found this question hard to answer. In an online environment from the instructor perspective am I teaching or am I providing information. In the classroom I can read the students reactions and make adjustments. I suppose this can work in a synchronous style where everyone is in real time all at once.
I feel online training is an electronic version of the correspondence course where you get information to read and then you take a quiz or test submit it or mail it and get a grade. As a student online I know I am learning something but the question is was I taught. Basically My view on establishing a teaching pattern is to feed off of the students expectations to make them feel that they are being taught.In the classroom I can show the students how to make a paper airplane. Online I could provide the instructions on how to make the plane. The teaching pattern would be to provide a video or power point as well because the on line student will expect to know what the result should look like.
When establishing a teaching pattern you must organize the content to have an effective learning environment. Also being consistant in your teaching methods helps develope a pattern of learning for the students.
1. Establish learning outcomes: I do this primarily through rubrics and providing students access to these rubrics when the course begins.
The two most important things in establishing a pattern of teaching in a virtual environment are clear expectations – learning outcomes – and open communications both student-to-student as well as student-to-facilitator.
Clear expectations give the student a goal to strive for in the course or with a project. Open communications – especially between students – allows for an exchange of information similar to the learning environment of a small group in a traditional classroom. The facilitator guides the student’s efforts, but the students learn from the actual doing and the interaction with their peers.
John F.
George,
I applaud the fact you use chat with your classes. I have been an on-line student and only two instructors used this feature and then only once in each class. It was very rewarding, but as you say, required much preparation and engagement to have students gain from the experience.
John F.
First, establishing means of communication with the student, either via email or discussion board and a timeframe in which they can expect the instructor to respond to their question/comment.
Second, making sure content is easily accessible and that it is compatible with students computers.
True, don't rubrics make any assessment easier?
The two things to consider are:
1. The pattern of teaching, including- learning outcomes, communications, centralized location, content delivery, assignment submission and question and answer.
2. How his/her virtual classroom practice becomes obvious.
Well said and you are "spot" on. I like your point about how students learn!
Thanks, Dr. Kelly. I found we all learned more from clasmates than just the readings or assignements. I looked forward to reading other student's papers for that very reason.
Thanks,
John F.
Two important things to consider:
1) Communication with the instructor is extremely important because it enables the students to express their understanding of the subject matter.
2) Content delivery is very important to the students understanding of the components of the course materials. This will ensure the student/instructor are on the same page of understanding
