Reply to Craig Stockwell's post: I think you don't want things too identical in presentation between courses. That will lock you in to that style too much (if you want to change it, you have to change it everywhere). Instead, make your personal style consistent, then make sure different instructors style's feel compatible, but not direst copies.
- I llearned that a quality online course should be well-organized and easy to navigate. The course syllabus should identify and clearly outline what the online environment will play in the total course. You should begin with student engagement right away to get the interest of the students. I also took away that you should use online tools wisely not just because its accessible, too many tools can be overwhelming to the student.
Putting content into the the online course is more than just transferring. It's about transforming. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just make sure I have a consistent, user friendly, engaging course layout.
It is good to be consistent and use a different way for online teaching.
seth Soronnadi
It does matter how content are layed out, because consistentcy in course layout will make it easier for students to find materials that they need. Also, it helps students to be able to find the information quickly and easily.
Formatting my course is important to allow the student to better access and refer back. Using modules with 1 to 2 key concepts allows for this.
I really like the idea of adding a welcome letter or a welcome video at the beginning of the course on the main page. This is something that I typically do in class as an introductory discussion for everyone on the first day of the new course. I think this is a good way to keep a certain type of continuity between what people would be used to, and what they will find online.
The most important things I saw were (1) that moving F2F content to online is not simply a transfer but a transformation of content making it suitable for online teaching, and (2) the four "O"s of course design.
It is important to have the proper layout for the course. To ensure you have the proper technology tools that you will be using and to make sure it is user friendly. It will need to be user friendly in order for the students to access any and every information to facilitate with the course.
Making a layout in online instruction helps students to locate materials easily.
The most important thing I learned from this course was building a course and its layout. It is crucial to build a well thought out course to benefit and assist the online student suceed in the online learning environment.
Online educators should use additional tools and resources that fit the course content and their teaching style to enhance student engagement.
You cannot simple translate your in-person classes into online classes, you must be intentional about which stragigies you implement to teach the course content.
I will review my online class and evaluate the content delivery stratagies used and confirm if they are appropriate.
In my industry, F2F interaction capability is an inportant part of the students learned content. So, it is a must that the student get that personalization aspect during class, to be able to transfer it to the real world.
teaching online is not effective if it is linear. student interaction is required.
A main idea I picked up from this module was that the teacher can use social presence to increase student engagement. There are several methods to create social presence in an online course setting. I plan to build these methods into creating framework for future courses. I believe that including creating social presence into the pattern of teaching would further enhance student learning and make it easier for teachers to conduct online courses. I believe this shows that setting and keeping routines is the key to success in online courses.
Good facilitation techniques suggest that multiple strategies should be used to engage students which may include:
Welcome letter, introductions, syllabus, email, discussion boards, synchronous and asynchronous learning, etc.
I liked the idea of a welcome letter at the beginning of the course and a best-wishes letter at the end of the course. I will be sure to have both in my online classes.
I learned how to increase my online presence with the way that I organize my course with the use of welcome letters and best wishes messages to end a course. I will strive to increase my students' comfort level with the course with regular and timely communication with my students throughout the course.
Transforming rather than simply transferring class material is important in an online class. The materials and modes of communicating ideas/concepts in class should be routinely evaluated to ensure the class is the best possible quality.
