Preparing to Teach OnlineJuly 29th, 2014

Marc Thompson & Jim Wentworth

Pre-workshop Preparation:  (have necessary information displayed on screen as people arrive, print out same info for late comers)?

All participants in Preparing to Teach Online space as studentsAll participants in work space (compass essentials) four per space max?Send announcement email to all registered so they know how to access the courseEveryone should log in to Compass 2g and locate their work spaceEveryone should find and open Notepad, Word and Acrobat Pro on their computer

Jim’s background:

Online teaching / multimedia instructorAdministration of CU Boulder online programSupport of Compass 2gCurrent focus at CITL

Questions to ask:

How many of you have taught online previously?How many of you have taken an online course? Not just a MOOCOf those who have taught online, how many have taught synchronously?How many of you have designed an online course?How many of you use social media of any kind regularly?How many of you have twitter accounts?

Moving Your Course Content Online

Managing student expectations

Think about the subtle interactions that take place within a f2f classroom setting

at the beginning of classas you lectureas students interact during classas the class finishes and some students approach the instructorafter class as students talk

Instructor presence – change in role

student-centered approach, not about relaying information, about helping the student to discover and connect new information

underscores the need for scaffolding, importance of providing assignments that build off students prior knowledge

provide feedback in supportive environment

build a sense of community

reduce isolation and build rapport

Communication policies

What is your preferred method of contact?Are there additional contact options (office phone during business hours)?How quickly should the students expect a response?What steps should the students take when they do not receive a response?Do you hold virtual office hours?

Chunking content for online delivery online instruction is not tied to specific time frames or blocks of time. No longer necessary to prepare 50 minutes of course material and activities

benefits of modularization, more easily searched, used as a easy reference when needed, allows students to determine how much and at what time they need to become familiar with new content

microlectures – videos not longer than 10 minutes

Creating an Online Syllabus

Highlight importance of a comprehensive online syllabus that spells out everything a student may need to know to succeed in your course.

Format options – HTML, pdf, other (review wysiwyg tool in compass)

Demonstrate good use of online syllabus (see online syllabus example within course )

Provide HTML syllabus examples (template)

Syllabus quiz  (show example video with embedded quiz)

Key policy considerations

FERPACopyrightADA compliance

Creating Online Lecture Materials

Importance of active and collaborative learningimproves engagementincreases retentionpromotes higher-level learning

Backwards Design

Identify desired results - course objectivesDetermine acceptable evidence - course assessmentPlan learning experiences – course activities

Interactive and Collaborative Assignments

How can you create engaging, authentic activities?

What does an authentic assignment look like within your discipline?

Authentic Assessment

Project-basedCase-basedTeam-basedClient-drivenOther ideas?

Feedback and Self-Assessment

Students in an online course need a consistent feedback loop to evaluate their own progress.

How will you provide opportunities for instructor feedback?

How can you incorporate self-assessment activities for your students?

Recording Microlectures

Phone video, screencast, vimeo and Youtube uploads (demonstration with vimeo and direct upload?)

Podcasting, iTunes and audacity, other podcasting platforms? - still relevant, if you don’t have visuals to create a microlecture video, then essentially you have an audio podcast

Demonstate screen recording with Apple, Windows and Camtasia

Student created video  (Snodgras example)

Embedded quizzes with Camtasia – syllabus quiz example (within online syllabus section of course)

Making existing powerpoints more interactive

Export to PDFPowerPoint ShowUploading to slideshare – example (upload preparing to teach powerpoint)Search for metacognition in Slideshare

Break – moving to Armory room 428

(Put map and directions on screen, have handouts available)

Next Up – Design for Interaction

Interactive content

Explore the variety of interactive tools

Twitter (#prepforonline)Prezi (demo real-time collaborative editing)GoogleDocsSlideShareVoicethreadTrello (demo real-time collaborative editing)Poll EverywhereBlogs, wikis, journals etc.

Use Poll Everywhere to ask for their favorite Web 2.0 tools – what have you explored or used within your own course?

Display results

http://polleverywhere.com/prepforonline

Using embed codes

YouTube, Flickr and other embed tools (demo embed process from YouTube with playlist?)

Compass and embed codesusing linked html files

Twitter feedsPoll everywhere results (examples within Building Online Community section of Compass)

Next Up – Making Your Course Content Accessible

Facilitating Online Discussions

What are the goals of your online discussions, how do they relate to the overall course objectives?

Knowledge acquisitionWriting improvementGauge understandingBuild analytical skills

Building Rapport

Icebreakersshort biosmall groupacademic pursuitresearch interestsfive nouns

Discussion Prompts

• Discussion topics should be relevant to course content, yet broad enough for personal and professional experiences to apply. New learning occurs when students recognize the applicability of the concept to their current job, organization, or future career aspirations.

• Discussion topics should relate to current events, when possible.• Discussion topics should pique student interests and concerns within their field of study.• Discussion topics should build upon one another, unit to unit, or week to week.• Discussion responses/posts should require critical thinking without excessive research. Although

students need to be motivated to move beyond responding with simplistic opinions; allowing free-flowing and topically relevant conversations to flourish creates a comfortable learning environment.

• Discussion responses/posts should be free from excessive requirements and restrictions. Quantity might be a requirement, yet the focus should be placed on quality. Placing a heavy penalty on a well-conceived, well-written post that is a few words short of the minimum word count is a de-motivator.

• Discussion responses/posts from faculty should stimulate further discussion without additional requirements. Attentive students recognize the course and discussion requirements. As instructors, we might ask follow-up questions to provoke a more in-depth response or to prompt new learning, yet we should not over-burden students to the point of frustration.

• Discussion responses from faculty should facilitate, yet not dominate the discussion.

Develop a routine

How often will you participate in your online discussions?How often do you expect students to participate?Who will summarize the weekly postings?

Feedback is important

How do you move the discussion forward?

SummarizeModerateGuidePrompt or prodTroubleshootMediating a debateRedirect

Group projects and group management

Demonstrate group functions and available tools

Discuss collaborative online tools demonstrated earlier in the day

Consider project-based, team-based, problem-based and other forms of group assignments - how can you decision authentic group activities – how do they relate to course objectives?

Mention peer evaluation tools outside of Compasshttp://info.catme.orghttps://teammatesv4.appspot.com

Grading Rubrics

AdvantagesStandardizationSelf-assessmentProvide individual feedbackExample for online discussions (linked to discussion example)Example for other assignments (?? Include large rubric example file)

Creating and grading with rubrics (demonstration)

Synchronous – vs- Asynchronous

Active learning in synchronous sessionsActive learning is a technique that brings engagement, retention and

high-level learningExamples:

online polling, use the Pointer tool, or multiple choice poll, display results

use the chat tool to collect input from participantsUse Googledocs for collaborative workDrag and drop functionality within CollaborateSorting activity with CollaborateQuiz activity – circle the correct answerLikert scale – drop a pin on the scale in the appropriate locationWeb tour – opens a tool in their browser, no browser tools

availableShare your own screenBreakout rooms – think, pair, share

Question & Answer

please complete the workshop evaluation

Show them where this is inside the compass space