Taking Your Classroom Teaching Online

If you’re new to online teaching, you might be wondering, what is my role in the online classroom?

Don’t worry! You will not be one of the disembodied cyborgs that Burgess describes in “Cyborg Teaching: The Transferable Benefits of Teaching Online for the Face-to-Face Classroom.”

As an online instructor, you are using different methods to accomplish many of the same things you do in your face-to-face (f2f) classroom.

Let’s look at some examples below. Most of these things can be accomplished through your online course. You don’t have to know how to do everything listed below – your instructional designer can assist you.

• Announcements and Reminders: Post announcements in text, audio, and/or video format 3 – 5 times per week. Remind students how to subscribe so they get immediate updates by email.
• Office Hours, Advising: Let students know how to contact you. Options include email, phone, instant messaging, web conferencing. Check student progress and follow up with students as needed.
• Introductions, Icebreakers: Use an Introductions discussion assignment; respond to every student. Have students complete their profiles and use the profiles in an activity.
• Syllabus & Course Overview: Use a Syllabus quiz and/or a course scavenger hunt activity.
• Lectures: The modules will include materials such as readings, commentaries, videos, and interactive lessons.
• Assessments:
  • Multiple choice and/or short answer quizzes
  • Discussion assignments
  • Reflection assignments or papers
• Individual feedback on Assignments: Leave feedback through Grades, on the assignment, through Quizzes, and/or by using rubrics.
• Class Feedback on Assignments: Use announcements, Discussions, feedback “pre-programmed” into quiz or exam questions.
• Academic Honesty: When possible, restrict quiz and exam submission views to a period of time after the quiz or exam closes. Cycle exam questions by randomizing questions and question answers.

What other things do you do in the classroom that you are wondering how you would do online?

References

Burgess, O. (2015, March). Cyborg Teaching: The Transferable Benefits of Teaching Online for the Face-to-Face Classroom. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 112-121. Retrieved March 2015

Harris, J., & Sami, L. (2015, March). Success Assured: How to Apply Classroom Management Skills to the Online Environment. Online Classroom, 15(3). Retrieved March 2015, from http://www.magnapubs.com/newsletter/online-classroom/133/How-to-Apply-Classroom-Management-Skills-to-the-Online-Environment-13433-1.html

Lin, H., Dyer, K., & Guo, Y. (2012). Exploring Online Teaching: A Three-Year Composite Journal of Concerns and Strategies from Online Instructors. XII(3). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall153/lin_dyer_guo153.html

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Julia Lehman Caldwell

I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from UW-Eau Claire, working as a Technical Writer for 5 years in between. In 2004, I began working at UW-Eau Claire as a Technology Training Coordinator and teaching Freshman Composition, joining iDocs as an Instructional Designer in 2012. I love the process of translating what our learners need to know into engaging, interactive online activities.

I live in Eau Claire with my husband Chuck and my son Wesley. When I’m not chasing my son around, I enjoy reading, experimenting with kitchen gadgets, and trying new recipes.

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