Organizing Your Online Course to Provide Structure and Routine

1. Organizing Your Online Course to Provide Structure and Routine Janine Lim, PhD janine@andrews.edu blog.janinelim.com Skype: outonalim Twitter: outonalim

2. A little about me… blog.janinelim.com

3. Definitions Interactive Online: Synchronous • Online • Weekly or daily paced • Live meetings: GoTo Meeting, Adobe Connect, videoconferencing Self-Paced Open Enrollment Interactive Online: Asynchronous Correspondence Online, DVD, Print-based Register anytime Set your own pace to finish Online Interactive discussion boards Weekly or daily paced No live meetings

4. Data obtained from surveys of students enrolled in asynchronous (completely online) courses offered by the State University of New York indicate that three factors “contribute significantly to the success of asynchronous online courses. These factors are a course structure that is both clear and consistent, an instructor that interacts frequently and productively with students, and a constructive and dynamic discussion between students and their peers.” Swan, K. (2001). Virtual interaction: Design factors affecting student satisfaction and perceived learning in asynchronous online courses.Distance Education, 22(2), 306-331.

5. Researchers at the University of British Columbia who evaluated 127 courses offered online “have concluded that appearance and structure can make or break an online course.” McCollum, K. (1998). Researchers pick best and worst web courses. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 44, A29.

6. Flickr image by libertygrace

7. Flickr image by ecastro

8. Flickr image by woodleywonderworks

9. Flickr image by cdsessums

10. select a course

11. Content Flickr image by hashmil Flickr image by Chicago Art Department Communication & Interaction Assessment Microsoft Clip Art

12. web pages, resources, video clips, etc. Flickr image by hashmil Structuring Content

13. Chunking Your Content • How many weeks long is your course? • What are the topics you will cover? • How many modules for each topic? • What are the critical components for each module? • How many credit hours need to be included?

15. ReadingsDiscussionJournalExperimentsSimulationGroup workModeling AssessmentQuizzesTestActivitiesProblemsResearch Examples ApplicationPapersPortfolioProjectsLecturesLecture notesCase studies define course components

16. construct your content pattern

28. get creative

29. Flickr image by Chicago Art Department weekly emails, interactive discussion, phone calls, expectations Structuring Communication and Interaction

30. Data obtained from surveys of students enrolled in asynchronous (completely online) courses offered by the State University of New York indicate that three factors “contribute significantly to the success of asynchronous online courses. These factors are a course structure that is both clear and consistent, an instructor that interacts frequently and productively with students, and a constructive and dynamic discussion between students and their peers.” Swan, K. (2001). Virtual interaction: Design factors affecting student satisfaction and perceived learning in asynchronous online courses.Distance Education, 22(2), 306-331.

31. Week 1: Hover!

32. Initial Communication • Welcome each student. • Pique their interest. • How to contact & get help. • Ice breaker or introductory activity. • Write in “oral” language. • Check email and discussion often. • Share stories and personal information.

33. Standard Discussion Spaces

34. Weekly Emails • Intro to upcoming topic • Suggested schedule • How to get help • Status on grading • Address any issues from feedback surveys or student emails • Well-formatted, easy to read, and warm and friendly

35. Schedule Teaching Time • Set aside a regular time twice a day to check in on your students. Answer all course related emails. • Set aside a regular time at least once a day to check in on the discussion board. Skim through for comments that you need to post to. Post at least as often as you require students to post. They need to know that you are "there" as much as you need to know that they are "there."

36. Dialogue "is a living experience of inquiry within and between people. It is "a conversation with a center, not sides. It is a way of taking the energy of our differences and channeling it toward something that has never been created before." It is a "flow of meaning." Dialogue is "about evoking insight, which is a way of reordering our knowledge--particularly the taken-for-granted assumptions that people bring to the table." Isaacs, William. (1999). Dialogue and the art of thinking together. New York: Currency. p. 9, 19, & 45

37. Ask questions that lead to higher level thinking: I wonder... Why... Do you think...? Ask real questions. Don't ask questions that have one or two word answers. Don't ask rhetorical or sarcastic questions. Learning to ask divergent questions as well as convergent ones will increase the level of thinking and learning. For example, divergent questions are: • productive in contrast to reproductive (students are asked to produce rather than reproduce). e.g. List different ways to “see” without using the eyes. Or list occupations that require eyesight. • comparing and contrasting (moving from concrete to abstract ideas) e.g. Compare/contrast books and lectures. How is building a building similar to/different from building a relationship? Freed, S. & Lim, J. 2001. From posting to dialogue in 10 easy steps. http://www.avln.org/learning/aot/dialogue.htm

38. Future Thinking Questions • Don Tapscott has made some predictions about what the workplace of the future will be like. What about your workplace? Be creative and imagine what your classroom will look like in 5, 10, or 15 years from now. Thinking back to last week's question, will you still be needed?

39. Sharing Feelings and Opinions • Respond to one or both of these questions. Do you agree with the description of your generation? What about the others described? Do your experiences challenge or confirm the description? • How do you think online interaction affects kids? How has it affected you? (experience) • "Is this a generation of children who are beginning to process information and reason differently than the rest of us?" p. 102 Growing Up Digital

40. Personal Experience • After reading chapter one, share an experience you've had with the "Net Generation". Do your experiences confirm what you read or challenge what you read? • From this week's introduction page quote, what technology may as well be magic to you? Why or in what ways? (This class had a weekly technology quote posted on the assignments page. The quote mentioned was: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. Clarke) • Have you ever purchased anything online? What was it? What was your experience like? Would you do it again? If you haven't, then why?

41. generate a discussion question

42. Instructor Discussion Participation • Refer to concepts presented in the course and help lead to new ideas and help learners see other relationships. • Be visible daily in the discussion. Always ask extension questions, encourage critical thinking, and invite learners to think at a deeper level. • Create posts which reflect answers showing a good balance between critical thought and questioning. • Posts present a friendly, encouraging environment for learners. Posts use humor, personal experiences, and helpful attitudes. Posts demonstrate respect for the learners and demonstrate an appropriate tone toward learners.

43. Assignments and Homework

44. plan your interaction and communication

45. weekly emails, Microsoft Clip Art Structuring Assessment

50. Quick Feedback • If applicable, use the built-in grade book in your course software and post the grades there at least once a week. • Use the quizzing feature of your software to create graded or ungraded self-tests using the multiple choice or T/F feature so that it is automatically graded. Release the scores to students as soon as they finish the quiz.