FULL SCREEN: click the gear icon in the lower right corner of the YuJa player window and select “External Player.”  This will open the YuJa video in a new window that will allow for full screen playback. 

Engage with your students early and often

• When the class begins, connect with each student as they begin the online course to establish “teacher presence.” Connect with students right away and throughout the course. It is critical to give your students the sense of “teacher presence,” and make them feel welcome and engaged in the course. You would not ignore students as they entered your classroom, would you? Of course not! It’s the same online.

• To help you in this endeavor,  include a “Get to Know Each Other!” discussion forum as one of the first assignments. You can learn a lot about your students at the start of your course that you might not learn in a face-to-face course. We recommend you post to this forum too, ideally, the first post. Tell the students about you, professionally and personally. To really engage and jazz things up, Moodle has both audio and video forum posting options in lieu or in addition to written text. 

• In addition, if you have students post their biographical information to the course site, you can use this to comment on their interests and get a connection going, just as you would in the face-to-face classroom.

• You could also create a survey to get to know your students better: What are their interests? Why are they taking the course? What do they know about the subject matter?

Learning in a Digital Environment

As we approach the start of a new year, there are many things to consider. Do I have my Moodle course setup?  Are my lessons interactive and engaging?  Do I have all of my assessments prepared?  Although all of these are important, there is something else we must consider...are my students prepared to learn in a digital environment?  Some of your students may have participated in this style of learning before, but there may be some who are new to it.   It is imperative that they know their way around Moodle, and that they understand what it takes to be successful in this style of learning environment.  All students can be successful in a digital classroom, but it takes a different set of skills to work in this way.

Providing some time to let your students explore who they are as digital learners, and how they best work, will allow them to take control of their own learning.  Here are some ways you can allow your students to explore their own personalities and learning styles; they can then use this information to create a personal learning profile to share with you and others in your Moodle environment. 

This link will take your students to an online survey that will assess their study skills and give them feedback, specific to their answers, on learning in an online environment.  

Once done with that, have your students explore their learning style by following this link.  This survey will score them in the following categories:

• Active vs. Reflective

• Sensing vs. Intuitive

• Visual vs. Verbal

• Global vs. Sequential

The results are very detailed; they offer students a list of qualities that match each area they landed in, as well as learner tips for each of their styles.

Once they have finished these surveys, you could have students post in a forum in your Moodle Course.  That way, you learn about your students, and they learn about each other:

1. Share your learning styles and summarize what each one tells us about you as a digital learner.

2. Based on what you’ve learned about yourself as a digital learner, share a goal for this course.

Later, when you ask them to collaborate, they will have a better understanding of how to work with one another based on this knowledge.  You will also glean a stronger understanding of how to interact with each student on a personalized level. 

How to Find Help

Ideally, you’re energized to reinvigorate your online teaching. There’s no need to go it alone. Take advantage of resources and support as you seek to grow in this pursuit.

Make friends with your instructional designer. You are an expert in your subject matter. Instructional designers are expert in effective online teaching and learning. Collaborate with this often underutilized colleague to refine your approach. Maybe you attend a workshop, meet for coffee, or pick up the phone for a 15-minute conversation about a new idea. Whatever your preference, this person can significantly improve your experience and satisfaction with teaching online. Go ahead. Give us a call.

Seek an experienced online teaching mentor. Teaching online is a skill different from teaching in person. Find someone who does it well. Learn from that person’s expertise. Emulating the example of someone in the online-teaching trenches — who is not only surviving but thriving — can be transformative.

Connect with colleagues who are trying to be excellent online teachers. Interacting with others who are grappling with the same teaching issues can lead to important new insights and ideas. Propose that a five-minute tip about online teaching be a regular agenda item at department meetings. Join a book-discussion group on excellent online teaching. Attend workshops, showcases, and conferences to learn what others at your institution and elsewhere are doing in online education. Talk with your fellow online educators, learn from their approaches, and contribute your own ideas. We’re all in this together. Let’s commit to learning from and with one another.

At this point, you may feel overwhelmed by all the ways of improving your online teaching practice. So start small. Pick one thing. When you have that down, choose another. Continue step by step, always striving to get better for the sake of your online students’ learning and success. With some effort, with creative thinking, with curiosity and courage, you can discover the fizz of teaching within an online classroom.