In the past I've been more of a lurker in terms of blogging or participating in discussion boards, but I hope to more active in the future. I think being more active will hopefully improve my retention of the course material, and develop community with fellow participants. By participating and commenting on others blogs, as well as whatever else is posted, I think is a great way for teachers and students to interact. Nothing is more frustrating when you asked to post but no one comments. It almost makes the exercise feel pointless.
DOs and DONT's for Teaching (Online and otherwise)
- DO
- Have clear instructions and expectations
- Participate in class discussions
- Offer positive and constructive feecback
- Remind students of expectations
- DON'T
- Be a talking head, give students the opportunity to learn a little more about you
- Post assignments and readings willy nilly. Be clear at the beginning where everything will be posted
- Expect all learners to come in with the same background. If it is technology related, poll participants first to get a consensus, and if backgrounds are diverse, split up instruction so that people can pick what best fits their needs
- be rigid. Like teaching F2F, things can change and teachers and students need to be flexible.
Things I've learned this week:
- Videos can be effective when they are engaging, like this week's video.
I just posted about the Penn State Geography course on my blog. That's too bad that you weren't able to find sufficient time to engage, as I am very interested in the course format itself. The description said there were short lectures. I am in the process of recording full-length lectures for my geography students. How do you think the short lectures compare?
ReplyDelete-Jenn (http://jennbernstein.edublogs.org/)
Hi Jenn, thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog! Before the course closed, I did save some of the course materials if you wanted to take a look. I appreciated the short lectures. Most of them ranged from 5- 10 minutes, and depending on the topic of the week, we'd have 2-4 short videos. Personally, I find my attention span tends to fade with any topic over 15 minutes.
DeleteGreat advice with your Do's and Don'ts. I especially like the "do" for {Remind students of expectations} and the "don't" for {Post assignments and readings willy nilly}. Proper expectation setting is key, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it will be challenging to find time to participate in the course as much as I'd like to. My plan is to spend some time during my lunch hour at work to get caught up, review the recommended reading and work on the assignments.
Have a great day!
Hi Dawn, that's a great idea! I think I may try it out.
DeleteThanks for the Do's and Don'ts. I have supported faculty as technology staff, and want to learn more about the instructional design end. Great video also.
ReplyDeleteGreat do's & don'ts list. Online courses need to be structured and everything should be deliberate - great point!
ReplyDelete