A couple of weeks ago I read two chapters worth of very good advice about putting together a syllabus and creating an online classroom (Ko & Rossen, 2004). Last week I finished a preliminary version of my first online lesson. Odd how quickly new learning fades when it isn’t used (an important reminder in any teaching).
Here is one thing that had completely slipped my mind. Without the rhythm of classroom meetings, time-related requirements need to be clearly spelled out using dated deadlines. As a task list dependent person, I can envision a neat, downloadable checklist for online students to print and use to make sure they are staying up to date. The checklist would be in addition to the dated syllabus.
That’s another important thing to do in online teaching. Be redundant. Instructions about how to contact the instructor, deadline dates, grading criteria are all elements that can be repeated in at least a couple of spots within an online course. Even though students with questions can contact their teacher electronically, for some that will be more intimidating than raising a hand in an on-ground class.
Additional Reading
The following article in the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) reports the first phase of an ongoing, comprehensive study that relates to the subject of best practices in an online classroom.
Best Online Instructional Practices: Report of Phase I of an Ongoing Study
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