Projecting and maintaining your presence from a distance.
My philosophy of teaching on-line is to provide an environment where students understand the objectives of the course and are able to interact and participate with each other and myself to share and learn the concepts of the material covered. I provide discussion questions that the students can discuss and add their perspective. I encourage students to work on assignments and projects together however they must turn in their own individual work and take exams and quizzes independently. I believe the collaboration of ideas between students and I will enhance the course material.
What do you do to encourage students' participation in the online discussion questions?
I think these are good strategies Darren. Encouraging students to work together, even in an online setting, can help to remove the fear of taking an online class because they will feel like someone is always there. Also, it can help with any anxiety of not knowing what to do and not wanting to ask the instructor.
I agree that students must have the initiative to get their work and exams done independently. Teaching is not just about being a tour guide to a topic, it's about enabling students to achieve success and show prowess in a subject.
Katina,
Individual initiative and organization can both be big factors in an online student's success. Should we be trying to teach these qualities or are they something that a student just has to come to online learning already developed?
Herbert Brown III
In the classes that I teach, we have synchronous discussions as well as standard discussion boards. I think these go a long way to adding to participation. And, they are recorded so students can go back later to watch them, retrieve valuable information and ask questions as well.
Sandra,
This is exactly how I do it as well. I find the synch. sessions are very effective for many students and I always record them so that students can revisit them as much as needed.
Herbert Brown III
