Do you have an idea for making your online class more engaging but need funding or expertise to get it off the ground? Innovation Scholar award programs give online teaching faculty and content experts the opportunity to benefit from technology funding and Innovation Team consultation and support toward a proposed Innovation project Scholars will present […]
Is “Learning Management System” a Misnomer?
Is there a difference between “course delivery” and “teaching,” or are these equivocal terms? What does it mean to deliver versus to teach? Think about this for a moment in pedagogical terms. Do the following make pedagogical sense? Delivering a learning objective. Delivering formative assessment. Delivering the ability to compare differing perspectives. Delivering the critical thinking. I am not […]
Investing in Your Online Courses
Chase Wrenn, a professor in the philosophy department, teaches an online Intro to Deductive Logic course centered on building skills in formal reasoning. He offers the following advice on managing self-paced, asynchronous online courses. What tips do you have for providing effective feedback online? Be prompt and detailed. As an online instructor, there is a lot of asynchronous communication […]
Quick Tips for Online Teaching
Allison Hetzel, a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, shares how she manages her online courses and offers tips for connecting with distance learners. How do you reduce anonymity and build community in your online courses? I work to connect with my class as often as possible. I make sure that I am part of the class […]
Teaching with Guided Readings
by Andrea Barton, Department of English Introduction From my perspective, a guided reading exercise is any reading assignment that is teacher-annotated. In other words, this is a reading assignment that contains either brief or developed comments, questions, brief explanations, or other such teacher-input that students should encounter while they read. This input functions much like […]
Giving Quizzes in Blackboard Learn
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics In my online courses, I often post short, weekly quizzes that are graded immediately by Blackboard. There are a few different quiz types that I use for certain things. Key concept quizzes sometimes take students a little more time to figure out on their own, though they may only […]
Managing Communication in Online Courses
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics I communicate with all students via e-mail and Blackboard announcements. I upload all information, handouts, and useful links to Blackboard for all of my courses. Another great way to use online resources for any type of course is by creating a place for students to check […]
Feedback in Online Courses
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics Personalized feedback is the best feedback a student can receive. It is the closest to one-on-one teaching possible online short of using Skype! Feedback should always be given either way, personalized or generic. And, if it is generic (i.e., not tailored to an individual student), it […]
Engaging Students in Online Courses
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics Keeping students engaged online is definitely challenging. It is a balancing act between engaging and distracting learners! As mentioned in previous posts, the types of questions you ask and how you ask them (for example, timed/un-timed responses) are very important. My strategy for student engagement includes dividing assignments […]
Crafting Online Discussion Questions
by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics Building a community is a key factor in online teaching. Most online classes have a discussion forum for this purpose. Seems simple, right? Well, it’s not as simple as posting a question and requesting responses. This task can present unexpected challenges because some subjects simply do […]