Teaching & Learning in Online Spaces

Discussions in the F2F classroom take place primarily in real time, or synchronously. We instructors (hopefully) facilitate these discussions with the ease that comes from a lifetime of practice with synchronous chat, starting in our childhood at the dinner table. Discussions online can be synchronous via chat (IRC) or coincidental posting experiences in discussion boards. Most communication is asynchronous, however, meaning students read and send messages at various times, over an extended time period. A student will post an idea, and a few hours or days later someone will respond. The mechanics of online communication are not native to our human experience unless we have grown up with digital communication (or were prolific pen pals as kids). Online discussions require some careful planning and consideration, but there are some advantages that we should recognize: Students are actively expressing their thoughts and ideas in a public realm (at least among their peers) and the op...

This summer, I offered a course to our Online Teachers called "Best Practices in Online Teaching" (BPiOT). During the class, we explored program standards for excellence in online teaching. While Cuesta is still in the process of developing a recommendation for standards, many colleges and universities establish training and courses that instructors must take prior to being approved for teaching online, and rubrics or evaluations for those courses. The benefit, for  for those of us who want to improve our online mojo,  is a treasure trove of documents that list requirements, qualifying skills, areas of expertise, etc. The following is a list of documents I've found over the years outlining essential areas of online teaching. I find the course rubrics to be particularly helpful as a road map for solid instructional design. There are also documents for peer evaluations for online teaching. You'll find some great inspiration and stan...

Here are few tips to maintain your digital dignity: 1. Ego Surf. Type your name in quotes into your favorite boolean-enabled search engine and see what comes up. Did you choose google, yahoo! or bing for that first surf? Now try it in pipl or spezify and see what else shows up. This will give you an idea of what a future HR department (or angry Ex, or curious coworker) might find out about you. 2. Think before you post. I ask my students to review the Albion's Netiquette Site at the start of every online class, but it is engrained in my posting habits as well. Respect others, respect yourself, and don't post anything you wouldn't say out loud in a crowded room. 3. Post when you are calm and (for want of a better word) sober. Post at your best times, and if you aren't sure whether your present mood will represent you in the best light, turn off the computer or mobile device and stew on your thoughts for a bit. (This rule of thumb can also help you avoid oth...

Maslow's hierarchy of needs tells us one of the foundational levels of human need, along with physiological comfort and physical safety, is to "affiliate with others and feel accepted" . In fact, of the first four basic needs, the online environment can really only address two; the others being "to achieve, be competent; gain approval and recognition." The old criticism that online courses can feel sterile is horrifically true if there is a lack of interaction. Without "seeing" the presence of others, students feel isolated, frustrated and lonely, according to research . The fact that online courses are popular for their asynchronous, "anytime/anywhere" convenience means some students will log in consistently after work at 1am PST when it is most convenient to their schedule, and find that literally there is no other student in the "room". Establishing a warm and interactive environment during the first week of class helps ...

It is Saturday. I woke up early, made a big pot of coffee, and updated the second module of my online class. It is the third time I've revised this module in 3 months, and it is the fourth year I’ve taught this course. Nothing stays put in this field. Two of the key sources I cited are now defunct; one a victim of a massive hack, and whose host now resolves to a porn site. I am incredibly grateful for my QA approach. Once class starts, I prefer to focus on the students and discussions, which means all material has to be complete prior to the launch of the course. Right now I'm simply reacting to recent changes in a small percentage of my course content while answering student questions and trying to gage the level of tech expertise in this particular group. I had made two notes to myself in the module in a bold, red font: " this part needs to be updated for newer technology ." This is a Multimedia for Web course, and standards change constantly. I did the research...

Many instructors express concerns to me about the lack of face-to-face communication in online classrooms. I think we can all agree this is a factor to be dealt with (however balanced by the flexibility of the medium), but there are some advantages to online communication. Students are actively expressing their thoughts and ideas in a public realm (at least among their peers) and the option of sinking to the back of the class and fading into anonymity is removed. Far from the criticism that texting has created a "dumbed down" student population, there are signs that we may be on the verge of a "literacy revolution" ( source ) and our incoming students are leading the charge. Persistent writing (posts which can be reviewed over time and do not disappear) for public audiences may encourage students to write with a higher degree of clarity and a more thoughtful approach (for more information, see the Stanford Study of Writing project). The new balance Early research...