{"id":1856,"date":"2020-06-15T18:07:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T18:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/endlesshybrids.com\/?p=1856"},"modified":"2020-06-16T13:08:27","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T13:08:27","slug":"actionable-steps-from-small-teaching-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/endlesshybrids.com\/education\/actionable-steps-from-small-teaching-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Actionable Steps from Small Teaching Online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Small Teaching Online<\/a> by Flower Darby and James Lang provides very specific suggestions for improving your online course. As an aid in revising my own course, I’m outlining the points that really hit a note with me. But I highly recommend the book to anyone teaching an online course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Every student arrives at a different place in the journey.”<\/p>Flower Darby, Small Teaching Online<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And if you’re not already familiar with the concept of backwards design, then I also recommend that you spend time absorbing the learning framework expressed in the book Understanding by Design<\/a>. I keep a copy of that amazing book on my desk. It really helps shifts your pedagogy approach from a content-emphasis to an emphasis on learning outcomes. Vanderbilt’s Center for Teaching also has an excellent primer on Understanding by Design<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following tips are largely inspired by Small Teaching Online and also adapted from a range of other sources. My apologies for not having all the references for every idea. And some of these are based on my own teaching experiences. Things marked in red are new, or particularly exciting, ideas for me that I plan on adopting this Fall. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asynchronous, if at all possible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I strongly believe that the best online courses are asynchronous, i.e., let the students do the course at their own pace rather than forcing everyone into a time slotted schedule 3 days a week. Asynchronous accommodates students in different time zones, particularly international students. Sure, you might want to try the occasional live chat with those who want it but requiring students to login often for a live lecture or attempting group work with a number of groups is setting the class up for frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make use of your LMS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’re lucky, your institution has a good learning management system (LMS). They all have their quirks but getting to know those tools can be really valuable in facilitating an online class. I’m really enjoying Canvas, which my institution recently switched to from Sakai. Admittedly, I never really liked Sakai and hardly used it. But Canvas is much more intuitive and feature rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live office hours<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Set a regular time during the week where students can just drop in online and chat with you. Enable the waiting room feature of whichever software platform you’re using. Depending upon the complexity of their question, I might advise a student to schedule a one-on-one meeting at another time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live one-on-one meetings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When a student has a specific question in a one-on-one, particularly a complex coding problem or difficult research question, I need to do some prep work. (I don’t know everyone off the top of my head!) Even with in-person courses, it’s good to require students to attend a one-on-one meeting with you at least once a term, perhaps more depending upon the class size and your other work load. Use part of the time just to get to know the student.
Suggestion<\/strong>: At lease one mandatory (~ 15 minute video) with each student during the term.<\/span>
Optimal<\/strong>: more than a single one-on-one video session with each student during the term. <\/span>Some students may need or desire less interaction. Or they may be shy and hesitant to ask questions. Be sure to follow-up with every student. Of course, some students may excel at the assignments. You’ll be able to tell who those are by the quality of their work. Still, it would be nice to touch base with them individually more than once in the term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screen sharing during office hours and one-on-one’s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Depending upon the course content, the ability for students to share their screens is remarkably helpful. This is a case where online is much more practical than in-person where you’re leaning over a shoulder and squinting at a student’s laptop. And, obviously, it’s much more sanitary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introductory video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Develop a short (< 5 minutes) video<\/strong> introducing yourself to your students<\/span>. Make it personable, give them a sense of who you are as a person, your motivations for teaching this course. Make yourself approachable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting to the final project in week 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether it’s an in-person class or online, students have difficulty grasping the overall scope and structure of the course. Sure, a detailed syllabus helps. But don’t count on all the students reading the syllabus that closely. During the first week have a low-stakes assignment related to the final project.<\/span> This will give students a nudge to start thinking about how the final project relates to the entire course. Provide enough context about the final project so that students understand why it’s meaningful. Suggestion<\/strong>: have students share their ideas for the final project in an online discussion forum. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scaffolding the final project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scaffolding is probably not new to any experienced teacher, though I rarely recall it being a component of my undergraduate days. I certainly don’t recall any professor framing an assignment in those terms. Then again, that was a very long time ago, and I don’t think pedagogy was of a topic among faculty conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scaffolding a final project with incremental assignments provide much needed structures to students who might not be so attentive. Scaffolding also builds assessment into the project at different steps along the way. That feedback constitutes a significant difference between student taking your<\/em> online course and just taking any random online course on the Internet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It cannot be repeated too often: students have to understand the purpose of the assignment, i.e., what skills are developed through the work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting to the midterm exam<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have a midterm exam that covers concepts in how the Internet works. Students are always asking what type of questions will be on the exam.
Suggestion<\/strong>: low-stakes quiz with the type of questions that will be on the exam.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bookend activities at beginning & end of term.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A theme running throughout Small Teaching Online is is to build in activities that continually help students view the course as a cohesive whole. Many of us are used to having a metacognitive assignment, most likely a short first-person essay, at the end of term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: create a metacognitive assignment for the beginning of the term<\/span> (see the next section on understanding the syllabus). At the end of the term, have students review what they did for that first metacognitive task.<\/span> In this way, the first piece provides a basis for reflecting upon the entire course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: provide format options (text or audio or video) for how students can present their metacognitive feedback.<\/span> Some students might prefer a short audio response or even a video rather than a written response, which might seem much more formal to the student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: if you’re going to use the word metacognition, or its variations, with undergraduates be sure to explain the term. <\/span>Help students understand the process of thinking about their own thinking. Don’t just throw out terms. Otherwise, your teaching might just become a drinking game: take a drink every time the prof says “metacognitive” or uses “foreground” as a verb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the syllabus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love syllabi! I really do. I really enjoy reading syllabi from other courses, especially those that I’m never going to take. I enjoy writing a syllabus. Well, I don’t care for the boilerplate course policy stuff or even the grading scheme. I like the schedules: the way that a syllabus structures information into a coherent set of knowledge. Yes, writing a good syllabus is easier said that done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: a low-stakes assignment on comprehending the purpose behind different modules of the syllabus.<\/span> I like for those to be open-ended questions with prompts that encourages students to reflect on how different modules impact their career interests. Another approach is to have students identify which modules they find most appealing and have them explain why. The aim of this assignment is to help students understand the value of the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low-stakes assignments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For in-person classes, I weigh class participation very high. That encourages the students to be more vocal and involved in class discussions. With an online asynchronous class, you have to think deeper about the forms of class participation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: utilize a larger number of low-stakes assignments than you would with an in-person class<\/span>. Assignments worth a few points each provide structure, consistency in workload, and motivation without the pressure of a major assignment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a low-stakes assignment doesn’t necessarily indicate that it’s a participatory task. Make use of discussion boards, prompts for short responses, and forms of peer review. (See the section below on discussion boards.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Structure your course in modules not days. Begin each module with a short description introducing the topic and essential aspects of how the module relates to the overall course. Refer to the Understanding by Design framework for some guidance. Suggestion<\/strong>: List the learning goals for the module and explicitly connect those with the learning outcomes for the course. Articulate how the module helps students in the class and also in their careers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure this section is brief and provide different modes for students to understand the purpose of the modules. Suggestion<\/strong>: prepare a brief ( <5 minutes) video introduction to the module. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demonstrable skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Students are skill driven. Let’s accept that and not debate it. And, quite honestly, if a student is not focused on developing new skills, then the teacher really owes it to the student’s well-being to put an emphasis on skills. Without skills: students can’t find jobs to support themselves; let’s be real about what college is really about. (And I’m saying that as a liberal arts grad myself.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flower Darby provides a template statement: “After successfully completing this module, you will be able to ….”. <\/span>Then provide a bulleted or numbered list of specific demonstrable skills students will acquire through their work in the module.<\/span> (This also forces you to connect how the assignments align with specific skills and life preparedness.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: align a skill-oriented outline with the description of the module. <\/span>Specifying the skillset connects the students with why the module even exists. You might think the module is to learn<\/em> or to understand<\/em>. If you think that way, read Understanding by Design<\/em> and explore what it really means to understand<\/em> something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video announcements & clarification<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: If students seem seem unclear about an assignment, create a quick video overview clarifying those points where the students are lost.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students don’t read email. They may barely look at the noticeboard in an LMS. Use video announcements to “reinforce the reasoning behind class activities…prepare a few talking points to further explain the purpose and the reasons for engaging in that week’s classwork….tell a story that illustrates your pedagogical thinking, or describe a video or blog post that you just came across that reminded you of the relevance of that week’s work.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: Get comfortable talking to the camera.<\/span> Relax, talk naturally, just as you would in class or in your office. Don’t write out a script. Have notes, your own bullet points as an outline and then just start talking. Keep the announcement videos short (< 2 minutes). You can say a lot in two minutes. You can be really boring in two minutes. Aim for under a minute and see how well that works. You’ll be surprised at how much you can convey in less than a minute. And students are much more likely to engage with shorter material. Who wants to look at a 20 minute video announcement from their instructor at 11pm?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assignments are “experiences”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I love how the writing instructor John Warner explains that assignments are experiences. Of course, we all know that at some level, but making it explicit to students reinforces that there is a purpose behind the assignment and it’s not just some task, some busy work to fill time. Write the assignment in a way that helps the student identify how it helps them learn. Make it clear to them that they are actually getting something from doing that assignment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I hated assignments as a student. Just hated it. And I realize now that I didn’t see the purpose behind most of the assignments. I felt like I was just jumping through a hoop for a grade, like I was in training as a circus animal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suggestion<\/strong>: use specific headings that prompt reflection on what the assignment is accomplishing.<\/span> For example, Darby provides examples for instructions as<\/p>\n\n\n\n