This video gives a quick overview of the standard template used for online classes at Biola, including the Getting Started module, the weekly modules, and discussions.
Watch the video here: (length = 4:40)
In this video, I'll give you a quick tour of a sample class to show you the standard template we use for online classes here at Biola University. This video is specifically for teachers at Biola preparing to teach an online class, but others might find it helpful, too. If you're a Biola teacher going through our training, you'll have access to your own sample class so you can follow along and look at the template in more detail later.
Now we generally try to design our classes to follow this standardized template. And we do this to keep things consistent for students so they don't have to learn a new system for each class they take. Okay, so let's take a look at that template.
Here on the home page, we have a course banner or department banner up at the top, followed by a written message and a video, welcoming students to the class. We do this so right from the start, students see that the class is more than just some impersonal correspondence class. A video can also convey a sense of who the teacher is and their passion for the class.
At the bottom of this home page, there's a link to the Modules section.
This Modules section serves as the main index for the class. At the top, the "Getting Started" module introduces students to some basic information they'll need to know in order to succeed in an online class. Then, under that are modules for each week of the class, listed chronologically. Let's look through these in more detail.
First, let's look at the "Getting Started" module. We recommend that you email your students and ask them to read through this module by the first week, or even before the first week. The first thing in that module is the "Meet the Professor" page. This a way for you to introduce yourself to your students. This usually has a short video, a written introduction, and maybe even some pictures. Again, the purpose of a video is to make the class feel more personal, more relational, rather than just a wall of text. We've included a handful of examples in the sample course for you to watch so you can see what other teachers have done for their videos.
Let's look at the next item. By the way, if you click the "Next" button at the bottom of the page, that takes you to the next item listed in that Module.
This page lists some class expectations. It's important to let students know what to expect right from the beginning. We've included a sample here, which you can edit. In particular, we recommend that you tell students to be sure to do their work ahead of time if they know they're going miss a day for some reason. We design the classes to be interactive so they'd miss out on the discussions by being late, and other students would miss out on hearing their input.
Next, we include a page about some general information for students about setting up their Canvas account, their profile, and notifications.
Next, we include a page with some links to documentation, links to help pages, and tutorial videos. In general, there's lots of documentation available online about using Canvas.
Next, there's a page describing some resources available at the Biola library for online students, and another page with some guidelines for online discussions.
So that's the "Getting Started" module, and this section is usually pretty much the same for all of our online classes.
The remaining modules contain the bulk of the online class content, split up chronologically by week.
For each week, we start with an overview page that shows students everything they need to know for that particular week. First, we list the learning objectives describing goals for that section. Next are links to content - the things they need to read and the videos they need to watch. Finally, there is a list of assignments to be completed for that week.
As part of the course design, your instructional designer will likely recommend including some online discussions as a significant portion of the grade. We recommend that you require an initial post in response to a discussion question, and then two or three responses written to other students, due a few days later.
Also, it's common to have the first discussion of the semester be sort of a "Personal Introductions" topic, where students can introduce themselves to each other. This helps them to build a sense of community and get to know the other students right from the beginning. So that's the "Modules" section.
As for the rest of the Canvas site, we recommend hiding the Files link and the Pages link from students. Instead, make links to everything they need in those overview pages in Modules.
Finally, take a look at the Syllabus section. It's basically a special content page with its own link. At the top, you can add text, pictures, and links, just like a regular content page. What makes this different is that there's an automatically generated "Course Summary" at the bottom with all of the assignments listed chronologically. So we suggest that you keep the description above short, so that this list isn't pushed too far down. The description could just be a paragraph or two with a link to the document containing the full syllabus.
Okay, so there's a quick overview of the major parts of our typical online class at Biola. And don't worry, you won't have to do all of this by yourself. If you're teaching a new online class, you'll be working with an Instructional Designer who will help you with all of this. And if you're teaching an already-existing class, most of this will already be built for you, and you'll just be making some minor adjustments to fit the calendar and your preferences.
So there you have it, that's a quick overview of what a typical online class looks like here at Biola.