Category Archive: Online Learning

Congratulations! With today’s tip, you have now completed the 20 Day Challenge to Teaching Interactive Online Courses. Let’s review, reflect, and look to the future of your online teaching. Review We spent the first several days setting up your course, your online teaching space, and getting your students started. Then we spent a week on …

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Now that you are almost 4 weeks into your online course, there may be some things about online teaching that are frustrating you. In today’s tips, we’ll look at some common frustrations and some potential solutions. Students don’t follow instructions. Include instructions in the syllabus, in your weekly email, and in the pace where students …

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A growing challenge for online courses is verifying the identity of online students. One issue is verifying that the student who registered is the one doing the work – which is a challenge in both face-to-face and online courses. Another issue is whether the student who is logging into the class is actually the student …

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As you and your students settle into the routine of your online course, you will find yourself learning more about your students and their situations and needs. Through your interaction with your students, you should be learning: Their background and interest in the course What prior knowledge they have about the content If they are …

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By now in your online course, you should be starting to receive feedback from students – both informally as they share in the discussion forums and as they interact with you, and formally through your online survey (if you set it up). How to View Survey Results in Moodle If you set up a survey …

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Andrews University is a Christian school; and therefore faith integration in online learning is an important value and task. Among other statements, the Andrews University Mission Statement includes this: Andrews University students will seek knowledge as they understand life, learning, and civic responsibility from a Christian point of view. How this is done makes for …

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Teaching online takes up your time in different ways, which can make it feel like it is taking more time. Van de Vord and Pogue (2012) found that “overall, face-to-face teaching required more time per student, but certain aspects of online teaching take considerably more time per student than in the face-to-face classroom.” So today, …

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Occasionally online students will present special problems. Some challenges you may experience include: Discussion domination Student may seem to be completely unprepared f or the level of work required Academic dishonesty Disappearing group members Belligerent and opinionated students Additional scenarios of difficult online students Prevention Be clear and explicit in your expectations in the syllabus. …

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Your online discussion forums and any live sessions you conduct are a critical component of your “faculty presence” and “learning community” in your online courses (Swan, 2002; Gosmire, Morrison & Van Osdel, 2009). In classes where there is no interaction, students frequently complain that they feel like they did not “get anything” for their money. …

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During the past several tips, we’ve been examining grading and providing feedback to students. However, it is also helpful to collect feedback from students to see how they are interacting with the online course and what can be improved. When To Ask for Feedback Magna 20 Minute Mentors suggests asking for student feedback at these …

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