Week 4 Blog Assignment
Hello again dear readers. This week my blog is dedicated to technology. Where would an online course be with it? The online environment that an instructor creates with technology is the genesis of the entire learning experience. It all stems from this source, which is all powered by and with technology.
Boettcher and Donaldson (2016), also commented that the guiding themes for beginning and building an online course is to establish a presence, establish a sense of community, and create clear expectations. The following sections of this blog post will explain each theme.
Communication
First, it is important for online instructors to establish a relationship with learners (Palloff & Pratt in Walden University, LLC, 2010). Understanding a little bit about the online learners can help establish clear and effective expectations within the classroom.
Sull (2020) shared some tips for kicking off an online presence and sense of community. Sull’s (2020) tips are: to send a friendly/motivating/inviting warm email prior to the course; connect the course content to the real-world of employment; let students know you will share your contact information and they are welcome to also share theirs; start the course off right by addressing students by name; share a personal story that is motivating; and try to find ways to make the course fun and engaging (if possible).
Through establishing an energetic and active presence with the above tips, it is likely that many students will be able to engage and “buy-in” to all the coursework and assignments. Boettcher and Donaldson (2016) share that keeping online presence going throughout the course is also important with strategies like: questioning, feedback, and project coaching. Palloff and Pratt (in Walden University, LLC, 2010) shared that project coaching is a crucial aspect of an online instructor’s job. A long-term study by Powell (2003) showed that many of the students who participated in the study requested more clear and frequent communication between themselves and the instructor. It is important to remember that just because people are taking courses online, they still want to feel connected and still want to find ways to communicate with their peers and their instructor.
Expectations:
Something that is unique and important about an online course is the textual nature of the announcements, directions, expectations. Setting up an online course in a logical, sequential way that is also friendly, easy to navigate, and inviting is critical. Boettcher and Donaldon (2016) shared that some essential pieces to this puzzle include a digital syllabus, discussion prompts, and rubrics. Allowing students access to these ahead of the course opening date. The syllabus, according to Boettcher and Donaldson (2016), is where students can find the learning goals, as well as policies and procedures. All policies and procedures should be communicated with the students in one spot on the learning management system. They need to be able to refer back to these documents frequently through their coursework. With this knowledge, online learners can align their experience to the design of their course.
Community:
Palloff and Pratt (in Walden University, LLC, 2010) shared that establishing virtual teams is one way to build community. There could be some initial resistance to teaming online (Palloff and Pratt in Walden University, LLC, 2010), but a good online instructor will find ways to deflate the resistance. Furthermore, an effective online instructor will work on finding ways to help learners communicate with each other on the virtual teams, by selecting the right “tools” for teams to use to get the job done. Again, there might be some resistance with this as individual learners may not be used to work with all team tools. One way to overcome this and create balanced teams, would be to survey the students on their readiness and experience with the tools at the start of the course. Then, the instructor would be able to balance the teams with some people who know the tools and some who do not. Even once the teams are off and running, the instructor will need to continue to support the teams by checking in, providing feedback, and coaching teams by answering their questions (Palloff and Pratt in Walden University, LLC, 2010).
Technology:
The role of technology is tremendously significant in an online course. That being said, technology can be very challenging. You want to make sure the technology you need to support the course itself is supported by you and the learners. You may want to “test drive” the technology as well to make sure. Playing around with the aspects of the tools that you are assigning students to use would be helpful. If a student has a question about the tools you are requesting they use, it would be important for the online instructor to know enough about the technology to be able to help them troubleshoot. Technology can really take a course to the next level, but it can also hinder a course and stop it in its tracks. Knowing the tools is critical to the course’s success.
Thanks,
Amanda
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2016). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips (2nd ed.).San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Powell, W. (2003). Essential Design Elements for Successful Online Courses. Journal of Geoscience Education, 51(2), 221. https://doi.org/10.5408/1089-9995-51.2.221
Sull, E. C. (2020). The Beginning Connection in an Online Course: Crucial! Distance Learning, 17(3), 108–111.
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (2010). Launching the online learning experience [Video file].
Hey,
Your post was a great read and provided guidance on effective online learning.
I agree communicating clear expectations in an online learning environment is crucial. It eliminates confusion, allows students to focus on content knowledge and strengthens trust between teacher and student (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016).
As you stated teachers need to be able to decipher what tools they have that can aid in clear communication.Just as it is important for students to know the technology I would argue it is just as important for teachers as well.
What suggestions could you offer to teachers who are struggling learning the various tools of technology? Do they need to learn them all or are there certain tools they should focus more on?
Reference
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2016). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips (2nd ed.).San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Amanda-
I enjoyed your post! Is the author Boettcher & Conrad or is it really Boettcher & Donaldson? I got a little confused.
I agree that an online course needs to be easy to navigate, clear and inviting. The teacher also should communicate often and be approachable.
Do you think a teacher should attend workshops or lessons for new technology that is to be incorporated into their course?
-Kris
Hi Amanda,
Your post is very nicely outlined. When I purchase new software or technology, I always ask if there is a training environment for new users- someplace they can play around and not break the tool. Last year, we developed a software tool that didn’t have training environment. I built one in Articulate Storyline; it was more of a guided learning environment but it did the trick!
I enjoyed your post,
Rebecca