The ABC's of Online Teaching
- A
- Allocate time in preparing and administering your online course.
- B
- Build confidence in your ability to teach online.
- C
- Communicate with your students at least 2 - 3 times a week using tools such as Email, Announcements and Discussion Board.
- D
- Discuss issues and topics with your students using tools such as
Discussion and Chat. - E
- Education is the prime directive, do not get caught up in teaching the tools, rather teach the course content.
- F
- Foster students' involvement with positive feedback and virtual "pats on the back".
- G
- Group students using the tool Group Discussions for activities allowing them to work together.
- H
- Hide tools and activities until close to the time they are needed. Exposing student to all parts of a course at one time can be overwhelming for the students.
- I
- Inform student of all additional materials they may need for the course including, textbooks, workbooks, peripherals, software, software plug-ins, etc.
- J
- Join in on campus discussions and collaborations supporting online teaching and learning.
- K
- Keep it simple. Be consistent in the course layout.
- L
- Lecturing is still important! It will just now be presented “virtually”.
- M
- Maintain a logical flow to the course.
- N
- Never give up!
- O
- Observe students' interaction with you and with each other and jump in to steer them in the right direction or intervene if a conflict occurs.
- P
- Prepare materials ahead of time so the flow of the course is not disrupted.
- Q
- Quality not quantity in course materials.
- R
- Reveal course information in a timely manner.
- S
- Survey students for feedback. Both you and your students will benefit from this information sharing.
- T
- Track students' progress and talk individually with those who appear not to be actively participating. Telephone calls are still acceptable tools for communicating with your students; especially since you will not be seeing them face to face.
- U
- Utilize any and all appropriate resources available to you including textbooks, e-packs, e-books, web sites, virtual guest speakers, etc.
- V
- View your course from the Student View tab of your course. This provides you a look at the course from the students' perspective.
- W
- Wait...for students to work with and help each other. Do not answer every Discussion posting immediately. Let the students talk among themselves but be ready to step in if they start drifting.
- X
- "X-rated" and any "controversial" materials should not appear in a course. With that said...in cases where such content is important in meeting course objectives be very careful to prepare students and repeatedly state the need for such content in the course.
- Y
- Young adults will not be the only participates in your online course. Encourage the students with "field" experience to share their experiences. Provide the students some "ownership" in the course.
- Z
- Zero in and resolve all conflicts immediately. One misunderstanding can destroy the success of a course.
Kathy Saville's "alphabet approach"