Tips for Success

There are things you can do to help ensure success for your students and yourself in the delivery of an online course. Some are logistical; others are more of a teaching preference. Below are tips from other instructors as well as the Learning Technologies Team on anticipating and heading off potential problems.

Logistics

  • Book Orders: Your orders for online courses should be placed at the same time as book orders for onsite courses; this is the quarter BEFORE the class. Be sure to double-check that the UW Bookstore has the order in their database once the time schedule comes out for classes that quarter. You can click on the "Display Textbooks" link in your class listing to see what books are listed.

  • Online courses and residential courses run on exactly the same quarter schedule. While many students like to know what the site looks like and what to expect very early (often before the break of the previous quarter), it is NOT acceptable to assign readings or other work for students to do before the quarter begins. When you send email welcoming students to the course, make if very clear that work does not have to begin until the official start of the quarter.

  • Last but not least! Don't wait until after the quarter begins to work with VoiceThread, Zoom, or any recording tool for the first time. Do record / publish a practice lecture! If you can, record lectures for several weeks of the class before the quarter begins.

Teaching/Class interaction preferences

  • As stated previously, students will expect feedback on assignments just as they would in any onsite course, if not more. Be clear about how you will provide this with your students from the very beginning and stick to it!

    • At the highest pedagogical level, it is immensely helpful to develop and communicate a rubric for your assignments so that students know what you expect from an assignment.

    • At the micro-feedback level, you can comment on assignments and make notes on submitted documents using the Canvas grading tool and Crocodoc feature. This is the most secure tool for the feedback loop and, by FERPA regulations, it is unlawful to send grades via email or other non-secure technologies.

  • Be very clear how you intend to interact on the class discussion boards. Students often feel abandoned when told to discuss issues on a board but have no clear idea how the instructor intends to participate (or not) in that discussion. This is often combined with frustration that part of their grade may depend on discussions that an instructor does not see; or perhaps looks at, but makes no comment on. If you feel strongly that they need to make progress on the content before you jump in, then say so.

  • You do not need to be at the center of all course interaction. It may be hard for you to stand back if your background has been heavily influenced by the lecture/broadcast model of instruction. It is more important that you are also present as a facilitator and moderator, in addition to providing instruction. As the architect of the course, you scaffold the content and activities to help students achieve certain goals; but once the course begins, the online learning mode is especially conducive to student-centered, student-constructed learning. To grow that environment effectively, an instructor must work to develop great skills at moderating and facilitating the discussion and interaction among students as they make their way through the material