Ready to Go Online Home

Are you ready? ARE YOU READY?

We are three students in a Certificate Program for Online Education and we have designed this resource to offer you the opportunity to make the most of this new experience as an online facilitator. We are from the USA and Australia and hope to provide you with new and helpful information to build your skills, knowledge and confidence in this new and exciting teaching medium

We hope this handout will offer you support and inspiration for your online teaching experience. The online environment is an exciting and sometimes daunting place to be as a teacher and facilitator. 
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We know you can do it! ENJOY!	

Introduction
Congratulations! You're a new online teacher. We hope your teaching experience is rewarding to you and your students. To support you in that effort, this check-list of things you may want to check on... just to make sure your class site is easy to access, engaging and a powerful learning tool. 

This handout was developed so that you will have opportunities to insure a good beginning to your class before your students ‘arrive’, as well as advice and support about what to do during the course and at the end.  We have also included a bibliography of resources that you may find useful.

If you are ready, turn to the first page...

Before You Start
Be sure you understand the site technology. For example, be clear how to negotiate the site, contact students, set up or edit assignments, grade assignments and release these grades. Also, be ready to use the technical support staff when you have a question that is beyond your expertise.

Insure that there's a warm welcome for the students. It's should clearly identify the course and how the students might begin to orient themselves to the site. Review the site to make sure that it is visually inviting.

Develop a guided tour of the site or some other means of helping your students to learn about how the site is organized and how they'll be using it. Directions for navigating the site can be presented in several different forms so that students can select their preference. One option is to post a section that can be read and worked through manually, such as creating a printable PDF document. Another option is to create an audio tour that allows the person to navigate the site with directions. These two options allow the learner to select the tour that best suits their learning style. Tutorials are also available within your learning system.

Consider e-mailing your syllabus to the students about a week before the class begins. Clearly post the syllabus on your site as well. Send an announcement alerting everyone to the location of the syllabus and outline with instructions about how it connects to the calendar. 

In your syllabus include statements about possible course or syllabus changes that could occur during the semester. By doing this, your students will not be as surprised if you find you need to make changes.

Include a description of academic honesty and consider developing a contract for students to sign pledging not to engage in these practices. It won't necessarily stop some students from finding ways to 'cheat' but you will have outlined the consequences ahead of time. 

Create a calendar that alerts everyone to the week, topic, and tasks for the week and due dates. 

Include a handout or other engaging introduction to netetiquette.

Be mindful that your cultural values and beliefs will influence your teaching style. These values may not be the same as those of your students. Online learning is often a multi-cultural learning environment. If you're not familiar with the culture or ethnicity of some of your students, or how culture might influence educational design and course interaction, we suggest you spend a little time researching this area. 

Include a resource for your students that gives them an idea of the types of skills that they will need to use and develop to become a successful online student. Ensure that students understand that intermediary computer skills are necessary to participate in an online course. Students must be able to use email, programs like Microsoft word, search and locate and navigate sites on the internet, and use different basic computer programs that create pictures, documents and presentations. Students who do not have adequate computer skills can drain time from the tutor and students, ultimately reducing the quality of your course. Students might be better served participating in a computer course prior to your course in order to get maximum benefit from your course. There are many ‘tips’ sheets and resources available to students so that they can effectively and successfully participate in class. Try providing students with an external link to investigate tools to their own success in the online environment. But above all, a well organized course and an instructor who is clear about expectations and responds to students learning needs will enable student success.

Guide your students to become aware of your expectations regarding involvement, time commitments, how to reach you, etc. This needs to be inviting yet set the boundaries as well. You could also include students in contributing their ideas about needs and expectations from one another and you. 

Tell students how they can reach you for support. Direct them to other sources of online support such as tech help, tutorials, course question discussion thread (see below) etc. Students often blow these off so consider some sort of credit for reviewing these resources. Urge them to use one another as resources and support as well. Word of warning: Encourage students to email you within the course boundaries (i.e. not other professional email).

Introduce a get acquainted activity that will support the students in getting to know one another as well as the online site; include yourself in this introduction or in some way help the students to connect with you early. Consider sharing your philosophy of teaching and learning, particularly as this is demonstrated in the online class. Include your values and what's important to you. You may want to make linkages, intellectually or online, to career goals and the value of the course for the 'rest of life'. Begin to call your students by their names from early on. This can avoid confusion, during chats, for example, and model this communication to all students.   Try throwing out a provocative or engaging question to encourage participation early on. This could be done in a discussion thread format.

Alert your students to a 'course questions' threaded discussion  so that as questions arise you won't need to answer each individually and the students can also turn to one another for responses. Encourage them to use this public discussion for any questions about the course that are not personal or confidential. Explain that often students have similar questions and the answer can apply and assist other students. Suggest that they check this board of they do have a question about the course, because the same question and answer may already be there!

Ensure that you have an array of course evaluation formats available to students throughout the course. Evaluations will be set up to meet course objectives, and the usual summative (via the quiz or assignment tool) or formative (via the discussion boards, assignment tools, and collaborative projects) and authentic assessment formats continue to be relevant. Sharing authentic assignment results brings your student community together and this is possible by publishing assignments and the public discussion boards. Encourage students to learn from each other by designing evaluations that will promote cross germination of learning among students in class. 

Instructional rubrics can be a useful way of assisting students to understand exactly what you are looking for in terms of submitted assignments and discussion posts. 
Consider some early activity related to the value and necessity for collaboration and community in your online class. 

Consider posting a suggestion or feedback box.

Remember, never miss an opportunity to praise your students from the first time they log on.

For yourself, review the site to make sure that all the links are active, dates are coordinated, and instructions are clear. If you have access to an editor, it would be great to have someone other than you take a look at your site and offer an outsider's opinion. 

During the Semester
First, enjoy the class and the participants! Your attitude will come through in the communication you share with students. Everyone has a heightened sensitivity to a new experience such as this. Students will be looking to you to set the tone. Your early and timely responses to questions and contributions will be watched and they will set the pace for everyone. So ensure that you have the time to respond and manage the course conscientiously in the first 4-5 weeks. Any de-enrollments are likely to occur at this time (as with any course), and your intervention may make the difference for some students. 

Build community by scheduling a student-to-student interactive lesson early on. Monitor and guide this early assignment carefully as it will set a tone for further interaction.

Be timely with communication: Respond to student discussion posts within two days; Respond to emails the same day; post announcements as often as necessary to direct students to the content and tasks at hand. Frequently reading and responding to discussion posts will make grading easier as what's been posted will be fresh in your mind. 

Use announcements as a communication tool that can reach all the students. Date each announcement and organize them for future reference. Announcements can be a useful way to address questions or concerns that several students communicate to you via email or course questions. 

Gently remind students to use the course questions section for all communication other than that which is confidential. 

Running and facilitating discussion on the discussion boards takes practice and time! We suggest that you use these boards to allow the student to accumulate credit towards their final mark and the student should be informed about this in the course syllabus. Use Socratic questioning to validate, extend and encourage the student’s exploration of learning opportunities and new knowledge. There are resources for Socratic questioning in the bibliography at the end of this document. These may be very helpful and will inform you about this questioning method that is based in the questioning style of Socrates! To draw attention to your post, change the title, use different colored font or add images. If the discussion board is very busy, just ensure that you respond to one of every student’s post for the week to keep up involvement and to validate students evenly.

Offer specific positive feedback often. For example, “Good job” is not as meaningful as “When you described ____________ that communicated how you'd use the information you read. Good job!” Remember that students generally learn best through positive experiences so tell students what they are doing that is on the right track.

Develop effective redirection strategies. These can be used when a student 'wanders' during a discussion, or when they submit something incorrectly despite clear directions. 

Try to complete your grading shortly after assignments have been completed -- the topic and expectations will be most clear to you at this time and the students will be able to use the feedback most effectively if it's provided in a timely manner.

Urge your students to refer to the grading rubrics for information about what you expect.

Your role as the instructor in an online course is diverse. There is the role of pedagogical expert; the social role involved in keeping positive interactions between students and with you; the managerial role of organizing and administering the course; and the technical role associated with creating a technologically engaging course that is simple to navigate. These skills develop as you continue to interact with your material in the online environment and with your students. 

Find and use colleagues for support. In an online classroom you cannot walk down the hall to talk with another instructor about an experience you're having. This means that you'll want to find and cultivate other online instructors, building a support system for one another. You can ask questions, share experiences, gain support, and be encouraged to use additional web resources. Independence is an opportunity for the online teacher, but it can also mean isolation if you don't use your networking skills. 

Recognize that 'things will go wrong'; knowing this can reduce your frustration. This could include that links will no longer be 'live'; you'll inadvertently describe an assignment one way in one place and another in another place. Be kind on yourself and mindful of the frustration this will cause students. Be aware that you'll need back-up plans as well as ways to support your students at these times. There are some typical problems that might come up. These include: non-participation or superficial participation in discussions, hostility or dissension between students, inadequate computer skills, possible plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty. Anticipating these can help. Use your support network to help you decide how to deal with these. In addition keep notes of problems that can be corrected before the next class starts.

At the End
Enjoy!

Every online class is front end loaded in terms of time and effort to develop, upload and run the course for the first time. So congratulations you made it! Next time you will find that the course will require less of your time and effort to run. 

Before you navigate away from your course, review what occurred. Now, while everything is fresh, take a couple of minutes to reflect on how students reacted to all of the different parts of the course. What did students like? What engaged them? What seemed confusing? How can you accommodate and improve any problems in view of the next cohort? Can you begin to scaffold learning already? Do you have ideas for 'going deeper' sections to add to the topics presented in your course? Do you need to provide an easier option for learners who are not so far progressed? Consider your course carefully now, before your attention is diverted. Make changes and respond to ideas and feedback from students, while this experience is fresh and before you've lost those ideas!

One of the great advantages of cumulative assessment that the online environment makes possible, is that large assignments and exams at the end of a course can be avoided. If you have kept up with grading all assignments when they were due, your end of semester responsibilities will be manageable. Submit your grades as soon as possible.

As a side note, most individuals that may read this checklist may already have a job as an online instructor. But for those who may read this and are thinking about becoming an online instructor there may be the question of 'How do I find an online teaching position?' One of the best sources is the internet-- visiting job searching websites such as Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, Jobster.com and so on. Sites such as these allow you to search both by category and location. Another great source are colleges and universities, both in your area (ideal) or in another state or country. Your local newspaper can provide some good leads. There is also good old fashion networking -- getting out there and letting others know you are looking and available. Having taught this class will be a nice addition to your vita.

Bibliography of websites that may help you!
Overall guides for online teachers: How to be successful.
http://www.mq.edu.au/learningandteachingcentre/for_staff/engage_students/index.htm (This resource has a series of engaging podcasts about all aspects of a successful online course.)
http://www.itdl.org/index.htm (International journal of instructional technology and distance learning.)

New roles for the teacher who facilitates online.
http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/flcc.html (Covers how roles change in an online environment.)
http://www.webteach.com.au/WT-Papers/SocProcs(2003).pdf (Online teachers play a crucial new role for students and that is a facilitator of the classes social environment.) 

Overview of areas to develop competency as an online facilitator.
http://www.naccq.ac.nz/bacit/0203/2004McSporran_OnlineSkills.htm (A journal article that discusses the most important competencies for online instructors to develop.)

Effective pedagogical strategies in the online environment.
http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/magazine/v1n2/knox.asp (An instructor discusses pedagogy that drives his successful online teaching in a course on European history.)

Principles of effective education.
http://studentweb.usq.edu.au/home/W0016370/docs/Principles%20of%20Effective%20Learning%20and%20Teaching.doc. (Five guiding principles that have been formulated for the development and implementation of quality learning programs in Queensland, Australia.)

Effective course management: before and after the class starts.
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=78&action=login (Go into this journal to read about one instructors view of the five roles and rules of successful online course design.)
http://www.icohere.com/CollaborativeLearning.htm (How to build an effective online community in your class.)
http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/socratic_questions.htm (Ways to ask questions to facilitate student learning on the discussion boards.)

Focus on the technical role: How do teachers keep up with technological development?
http://www.4teachers.org/ (Find a good site that is continually updated about new technologies, or even maximizing the potential uses of older technologies and programs and read about how other teachers use these.)

Issues of diversity in the online environment.
http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde30/pdf/article_2.pdf (Some strategies for enhancing inclusion and addressing diversity.) 

Ethical principles.
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/98/44.pdf (Discussion of key ethical issues in online environments.)

Effective and fair evaluation in the online environment.
http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid/1120/Default.aspx (formative and summative assessment information)
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm (Authentic assessment tasks and how you might applies these in your class.)
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php(Rubrics for everything!)

Addressing conflict and problems in the online environment. 
http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde30/pdf/article_2.pdf (An overview of distance and online learning that addresses conflict and problems in the class)

Creating effective PowerPoint presentations.
http://www.presentationzen.com/ (This website, and the book Presentation Zen, discuss how to make PowerPoint presentations that are effective)

Excellent resource for learning HTML.
Wooldridge, M. and Wooldridge, L. (2008) Teach Yourself Visually: HTML and CSS. Wiley Publishing, Inc. (It can be useful to be able to create web pages in HTML. This resource can be invaluable.)