Embedded Files
How To Be an Effective Online or Remote Teacher
How To Be an Effective Online or Remote Teacher
Remote instruction can seem overwhelming and you might not know where to start. One of the best resources is using the knowledge of other online instructors. Here are some tips adapted from (Cooper, 2016): more detailed information on facilitating an online course can be found in the USG Online Certification Series.
1. Be Present
Students want to feel connected to the instructor and their classmates. Achieving this online means utilizing a range of different communication methods and ensuring that you check in on them daily or hourly if needed. Discussion boards, emails, announcements, and forums are just some of the ways you can be present each day in your online classroom.
2. Set the Expectations
As the online classroom can often feel a little free-form, you’ll need to provide students with a very clear set of expectations before they commence their studies. These expectations should include everything from what they can expect from you as their teacher, as well as what will be required of them. The expectations can outline due dates for assessments, your communication frequency, how much online participation you require of them, and the conduct they will be expected to display throughout the course.
3. Let the Students Do the Work
The aim of learning is to have students engaged in the content for as long as possible, so you need to create the opportunity for this to happen. To give your students plenty of opportunities to engage with the content and each other, you can ask them to find and discuss resources, grade their own assignments, and hold student-led discussions in the online forums. By completing the discussions, quizzes, and various activities in this course, they will gain knowledge through their own work.
4. Nurture A Supportive Online Community
Since this online space is their classroom, you want students to feel as supported as possible when they’re here. By using a variety of dialogue formats, you’ll ensure your coursework caters to all learning types and allows students to flourish. Encourage students to use the general forum for discussion, but also set up small groups within the class so that students can engage with their fellow classmates through feedback and support. Some students may sit back and learn from the sidelines, whereas others will benefit greatly from actively engaging in this type of communication.
5. Think Before You Write
Not only is this an important principle for teaching staff to follow, but one that should be communicated from the very beginning to all students. As it’s well-known that written text can be left open to interpretation or misinterpretation at any time, it’s crucial to craft well-thought-out responses and posts to others. When crafting responses to assignments and other evaluations, the best tone to use is a simple, clear, and polite one.
6. Ask for Feedback
Sometime between the 2nd or 3rd week of a full term, you should ask your students for direct and honest feedback on how things are going, as well as request any areas that require improvement. This feedback should cover everything from content to teaching methods. The best way to achieve this is to post on the discussion board in a somewhat formal tone.
7. Foster Personal Relationships with Each Student
Getting some one-on-one time with each student is just as important as effective group communication. Students studying online can sometimes feel deserted and alone in the digital classroom, so it’s up to you to make an effort and reach out. Use a blend of different communication methods, including personalized responses to their discussion board posts and emails addressed to only one student.
8. Use Resources That Are Readily Available
Since your students will already be engaged on their computers and use the Internet to log onto the learning portal, the best resources for them are going to be online. By using an assortment of relevant and easily accessible resources such as digital publications, news sites, and online videos, your students are going to be far more engaged than if they had to refer to an outdated textbook.
Incorporating these principles into your online teaching methods will not only ensure a supportive community for your students but will make your job ultimately easier too.
References:
Cooper, S. (2016, September 22). 10 Best Practices To Be An Effective Online Teacher. Retrieved October 05, 2018, from https://elearningindustry.com/10-best-practices-effective-online-teacher
The 7 C's of Effective Communication in a Remote or Online Course
The 7 C's of Effective Communication in a Remote or Online Course
The 7 C's of Effective Communication in an Online Course, based on an article by Melissa Venable, are a useful tool for ensuring that we are getting our ideas across in the manner intended.
Clarity: You want your messages to be clear so that fellow students and your professor can understand the point you are trying to make. Proofreading your material or even letting someone else read it prior to posting can also be useful as they may show you problem areas (i.e. areas that are difficult to understand) that you are not aware of.
Completeness: You want to ensure you are answering any prompt or assignment completely. For instance, a prompt may have multiple parts you need to address. Even after writing your response, look back at the prompt to make sure you are addressing all of the necessary components.
Conciseness: I am sure many of you have heard the phrase, “short and sweet” to refer to the ideal length of time you should speak (e.g. in a presentation). Short and sweet is the key here. You want to communicate your point completely and effectively, but remember less can be more. Most professors would prefer a shorter post that hits all of the key points than a long post that repeats the same points or goes on and on.
Concreteness: Emphasizing your main points are important. This may come by sharing images, tables, or charts. However, you could also accomplish this by making sure you have a structure that makes sense to the reader (i.e. clear thesis sentence and clear concluding sentence).
Correctness: Make sure that the message you are sending is correct containing accurate information. Utilize reliable sources when gathering research for your message. When providing this information for others, be sure your grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct as well.
Courtesy: Respecting others when communicating in your online courses is vital. Therefore, as I stated earlier, re-read your post or even have someone else read it prior to sharing it with the class. This will allow you to assess that you are coming across as respectful and professional as possible.
Consideration: Who are you communicating to? You should keep in mind the recipient of your post and/or message. If you are writing a post for your class, you want to ensure you are using complete sentences. If you are texting a friend, then the same sentence conventions may not apply. Finally, as I said before, proofread! Proofreading and grammar/spell-checking can really improve your success when communicating in your online course.
Create Synchronous Interaction
Create Synchronous Interaction
A common technology tool that instructors use for synchronous sections is BB Collaborate. This tool is typically included in your institution’s online platform and allows you to be in a live audio/video interactive chat room with your students. You can share your screen, mark up documents, and share webpages to discuss course topics. A nice feature of the BB Collaborate system is that you can also record your sessions so that it moves seamlessly from a synchronous to asynchronous communication tool. Students can easily watch your session later if they are unable to make it to your synchronous session.
Further information about BB Collaborate can be found here, and several tutorials are available online as well:
Additionally, there are several programs that allow for live chat sessions, such as Google Hangouts and Skype. These tools allow you and your students to meet in a session that includes combinations of audio, video, and text chats. There is always the option of a live text chat through the online classroom tool, if you have students who have limited bandwidth access.
Faculty Participation in Online Discussions for Remote Teaching
Faculty Participation in Online Discussions for Remote Teaching
Facilitating online discussions can be quite a challenge: Too much direction from the instructor decreases conversation, while not enough participation from the instructor can have the same impact. The goal of online discussions varies from instructor to instructor: While some use it as a means for assessing understanding of the assigned readings, others leave assessment to the quizzes tool and use online discussions for their real strength - increasing engagement with the topic and providing students a chance to practice their higher order thinking skills. However, if you plan to use the online discussions (assessment, problem-solving, engagement, debate, writing practice) for your remote teaching, below are some best practices that you might use to support your students:
Establish a connection with your students and make yourself familiar to your students by increasing a sense of immediacy or psychological closeness to reduce student isolation.
Increase student engagement with your best teaching stories (mini-lectures) that express your passion for the topic and share valuable information. You can pin these posts to the top of the discussion by selecting the Pin Thread or Pin Post box below the editing window.
Model higher-order thinking and problem-solving. Research shows that students exhibit more higher-order thinking when instructors participate and model such thinking.
Show students how to reference the appropriate use of quotes and paraphrases.
Encourage and motivate students (save evaluative feedback for the Gradebook).
Ask scaffolding questions to probe students’ assumptions, viewpoints, and reasoning.
Provide helpful hints and videos to help with problem-solving or share other sources.
Page updated
Report abuse