Higher Education Observer

Before you teach online,here is some advice from an old pro: 1. Understand fully how the system works. What system? First, the pay system, the release time system, the rewards system, etc. at your institution. Second, the learning management system, which leads to . . . 2. Get good tech training. Take advantage of whatever your institution provides. Now, to be honest, I taught myself a lot of what I learned, but I wasted a lot of time doing so. 3. Have a mentor/coach/helper/somebody who can and will patiently answer your questions because you will forget a lot of the tech training from the sessions you attend. We have an awesome instructional technologist at our college. No one else can have her! 4. Look at your class from the end backward, not as a day-to-day experience as you design the online section. And don't even think about teaching a class you haven't taught traditionally. It's possible, and I've done it, but it isn't wise because you ...

So, why should you teach online, if you have a choice? 1. There are some neat tools out there to learn about. 2. It will open you up to some possibilities and revitalize your thinking about higher ed, if you let it. 3. You can teach from home, on the road, etc. Some institutions allow much more flexibility about scheduling. 4. You can structure assignments in ways that simplify grading. 5. After the first two semesters, it gets easier. 6. The best news is that the half online option--hybrid--is really best. You still see the students but they are responsible for lecture material and the class time can be spent more usefully. 7. Your colleagues will think you are "on the cutting edge." (well, maybe) Your administrators will probably like you better. 8. For the altruistic, it really does help nontraditional students. Not convinced? Then you probably won't be.

As hard as it is to believe, there are many, many college professors who have had no experience with online courses, and who plan never to have any. I find this stunning, having taught online since 1998. Although I read some of the research on higher ed and online pedagogy, have been to many workshops and conferences, and have even presented at teaching conferences and at League for Innovation on the subject, I find that my own experience is usually corroborated by what others tell me, rather than challenged. So I am going to post on that subject for a while. First, to teach online or not to. I think the first question to be considered is how supportive one's institution is (or forceful in demanding online course development and teaching). If it's an option and no more "brownie points" are given in regard to tenure or promotion for online teaching as opposed to traditional teaching, I wouldn't do it unless you just have a craving to do so. But it's no...

What is collaborative learning? It is not putting students into groups to ding some ideas around, a la buzz groups. Not that that's a bad idea. Some students are just so plain shy, they can't speak out in a group of 25 or 35 or 55 peers. They just can't do it. I teach public speaking, a class in which the most introverted of students must get up and talk. It has taken me years to be willing to give the introverts a break. So small groups can help these people (so can online, but that's too easy.) But that's not collaborative learning. For collaborative learning to take place, I believe there has to be a true outcome that is assessable. There has to be a common responsibility; however, there also has to be a clear way for those who perform well to be rewarded accordingly and for those who are dead weight to be punished accordingly. I use a rubric that the students must use to grade each other's performance as a group member (but not on the outcome of ...

Years ago I heard an "award-winning" teacher say he had one rule, "Whatever is easiest for me." Now, you can take that for what it's worth, but there is more than a seed of wisdom there. Some of us more "motivated" (or obsessed) instructors sometimes seem to like to do it the hardest--and most time-consuming, emotion-inducing--way. I know I have been that way. On top of that, some of us dedicated teachers spend more time and psychic energy worrying about our students' success than they do. It's like online classes. Students don't really care about the bells and whistles. They care that the technology is accessible and that the class is laid out well.

Most colleges are in finals or in the last week of classes. And I see a lot of frantic instructors at my college with foot-high stacks of papers/essays to grade. Why? Final exams should be easy to grade, easy to post, and a short step before adding them up to turn them in. Make sure your major presentations/research papers are due two weeks before finals. The students will prefer it and you won't be stressed during the finals. Also, if your institution is like mine, there are all sorts of reports to get finished at the end of the semester. And it's Christmas!