Kenneth,
We do feel like "tour guides" at times helping students through the system. The better tour guides we are, the better the students can achieve set learning outcomes. Nice job. Thanks.
Who is your the student?
What you want them to learn or what message are you delivering?
How are they going to learn or how are you going to get that message across?
~ Audrey Thomas
Hi Tena and Class. I believe the three most important aspects to consider when teaching an online course are:
1. Instructor familiarity with the course content and the technology aspects of the course;
2. Ensure understanding by the students for the expectations of the course - ensure all students are aware of the requirements and deadlines;
3. Make sure there is a great deal of instructor presence in the discussion threads - not to dominate, but certainly to generate when things become stale.
Maureen
Audrey,
Good questions. The more we understand our audience, our students, the better we can help them improve and achieve the set goals. Thanks for adding to the conversation.
Maureen ,
The instructor is a key component to all of the things you listed. You are right in that we do not want do dominate, but assist students in the learning process. Thanks for your input.
Three elements I will definitely consider in teaching an online course are:
1) A dynamic syllabus in which students can interact and be led to find answers and directions.
2) Use of a variety of communication tools to accommodate different types of communication. A student communicating with me via email is useful, but groups communicating with other groups in the class will need a different tool (perhaps a blog or wiki) that handles that form of communication better.
3) A Roadmap structure. The "scaffolding" of the course allows the student to see a path forward through the course and know where he/she is going (and why).
It seems that each of these elements is, in some way, related to learning to communicate well online. There are many options, and that seems to be a great advantage!
Mark,
The dynamic syllabus can work together with effective communication. I do love the roadmap analogy and getting the students on the right path.
Thanks for your input.
The three items to consider in teaching the online course are:
-Getting the course topic across to the student with the balance of readings, technology, and discussions to aid and assist.
-How to get the topic across to the student in a meaningful manner.
-How to achieve the final outcome of retaining the material by the student.
As an initiation/ice breaker for the Course, I always get the students to briefly talk about themselves and their work experiences and to make sure that they give some information about where they are academically. This allows me to gauge where the students academically and professionally.
I usually pick up on where are they have strong technical skills. By reviewing 'what' the write, I can also view 'how' they write. I can also find out how well they communicate and whether it could appear that they are going to struggle through communicating in the online community.
This is important initially because it allows me to make adjustments with the syllabus, most to add a few changes to encourage communication or improve communication.
Michael,
Yes, it's good to balance the readings, technology and discussions to enhance the learning process and get the content across in the best way to the students. Students do need to understand the expectations and how to reach them effectively. Thanks!
Jacqueline,
You have several goals for this on assignment. That's great. You can learn about the students, assess their writing skills, etc. Nice job. Good idea. Thanks!
Who is the student?
What knowledge do I want the student's to gain?
How will I present the information?
When teaching your own online course, I think the three most important things to consider are the following:
1. What are the course objectives?
2. How are we going to get the information to the student?
3. How do we keep it interesting and engaging?
Cherise,
right on. Understanding your audience and knowing what they need to know + offering content in a variety of ways to "hit" all learning styles is essential. Thanks!
Jeremy,
We do need to tie the objective and the content together. Then, the key, as you said, is keeping the students engaged and getting the students "hooked" on the subject. Thanks for your input.
The three most important things to consider in teaching an online course are:
1. Who is your student? Does a student have any special needs that I can help them with?
2. What will my students be learning? What are the course objectives?
3. How can I best utilize technology to communicate with my students?
Jared,
You ask good questions. We have to know what we are teaching, who we are teaching to and how to assure they can achieve the learning outcomes. Communication technology plays a key role in this process. Nice job.
Dr. Crews: The three most important things to consider are who your students are, what their backgrounds are and what the best way to scaffold the information being presented in the class to these students is. I think making sure that the class is as dynamic as the syllabus is important too. Trying to make the discussions interesting enough that the students WANT to participate with eachother is also important.
Karen,
You say it well. We have to know what the students know (where they are starting from) and how to build upon what they know by providing them resources and/or assistance to help them achieve the learning outcomes. It is kind of like assisting someone and not letting them quite figure out they are being assisted. . .like it was "their" idea. ;-) Thanks for your input in this forum.
Dr. Crew: I think that is exactly what we do as professors. I get the biggest kick when a students "lightbulb" goes on and they say things like "so THAT is why we do that at work!". Keeping the students on track is another important aspect. Sometimes they have a habit of responding to a discussion that has nothing to do with the question asked. Then we have to balance the fact that they were willing to participate with the fact that they did not reply to the question asked. I find it fun!
