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Basic Tips for a Quick Transition to Online Teaching

Tips for Online Learners
Dr. Marsha Fralick

There are many advantages to online learning but knowing good online study strategies is essential for success.

   

Advantages of Online Learning
Thinking about the advantages of online learning can help to increase motivation. With online learning, you don’t have to travel to class or spend time in a classroom. You can learn at your own pace and in the privacy of your own home. Online courses are convenient, and save time and money.

New advances in technology have provided powerful tools for online learning. Students from the New Millennial Generation and Generation Z already understand, use, and enjoy the social media and technology used for online education.

Challenges of Online Learning
Learning in a classroom provides opportunities for interaction with the instructor and other students. Some students may miss the opportunities for social interaction and asking questions. Remember to take advantage of online opportunities for interaction and ask questions if needed. Discussion boards and chats are the most frequently used tools for interaction. These tools are often required, and points are awarded for participation.

Face to face courses have a definite schedule of meetings. Online courses are more flexible. Getting assignments done with a flexible schedule can be challenging for some students.

Balance Freedom with Responsibility
Online courses generally have weekly learning objectives and modules. This gives students the freedom to choose when they are going to complete course work. There are generally no set days and times for learning. This freedom can lead to procrastination. Students who wait until just before an assignment is due have increased stress and lower performance. Procrastination is the leading reason for lack of success in an online course. One way to avoid procrastination is to think about how online learning is important to accomplish your lifetime goals. Spend your time on what is most important and then reward yourself for getting the work done.

Establish a Personal Schedule
Log into your online course at the beginning of the week to see what is expected. Some professors may expect you to log in more frequently. Then make a plan or schedule for completing the work before it is due. List due dates on a calendar and check them off as they are completed.

Minimize Distractions
We have more distractions in our personal spaces than in a classroom. The most common distractions are related to the technology we are using to learn. While learning online, we are distracted by phones, messages, notifications, and the myriad of connections through social media. Minimize these distractions by putting your phone in another room or turning it off. Avoid browsing the Internet, checking your email or responding to social media while studying. Use these potential distractions as a reward for completing your work. Work first and then reward yourself by checking your phone or browsing the Internet.

   

Read the Syllabus
Begin your online course by reading the syllabus. It contains important information and explains what is required in the course and how you can earn a good grade.

Online Learning and Memory
The brain learns best with distributed practice and frequent review. This means that it is important to break learning tasks into small parts and review them frequently. It is stressful and ineffective to study or complete projects for large amounts at a time right before an assignment is due.

Review Tools
Review is important to store information in long term memory. Here are some review tools you can use online.

• Take notes on any videos or presentations. Write down the most important ideas. Review these ideas immediately and then periodically to store the information in long term memory. The physical act of writing notes reinforces memory.
• Some students find it helpful to read the material out loud, especially if it is complex or difficult to understand.
• If you are reading online text, see if there is an option for highlighting. Some programs allow you to highlight important points and then print out the highlights. Review what you have highlighted immediately after reading and then review again periodically.
•  If there is no option for highlighting, print the material and highlight it.
• Another option is to copy and paste important points into a separate document for review.
• When reading online, it is helpful to read a small amount at a time rather than marathon reading sessions. Reading a small amount helps with motivation and retention of the material.
• If you are required to learn detailed information, make flash cards and review them frequently.

Online Assessment
Online assessments generally de-emphasize objective exams and rely on creative projects. For example, in the place of a final exam, a final creative project may be required. Spend the time needed to complete these creative projects and showcase your best work. Ask your professor if you can use creative media or video to complete your project.

Expect More Writing
A classroom involves more speaking in contrast to an online course that requires more writing. If you dislike writing or find it difficult, try these ideas:

• Understand what is required. Is there a grading rubric that details how points are earned and what is expected? Is there a requirement for a certain number of words or pages in your paper? Are you required to write a formal paper or is it more informal writing such as a response to a discussion that requires your personal thoughts?
• Begin with free writing. Free writing is just writing down whatever comes to mind without worrying about perfection. This technique can be helpful to get started and come up with ideas for writing. Free writing is not the finished product. It is a way to begin.
• Organize your thoughts into paragraphs with the main idea and supporting detail.
• If you are writing a paper, put your first draft away and look at it another day. This will help you to review and edit your work. 
• Begin early. 

These tips can help you to enjoy the advantages of online learning and to be successful in your online courses.

Additional Resources

Student Blog

Staying on Task with Online Learning
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/thats-what-she-said-blog-staying-on-task-with-online-study/

Here are some useful videos on how to learn online:

How to Effectively Study with Online Courses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-deFSyeXSM&t=25s

How to Study with Online Courses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-deFSyeXSM

Online Learning: Keys to Success
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnDyAc64JU4

Tips for Online Learning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3G1iRDjQeA

Contact marsha@marshafralick.com if you would like a .pdf of this blog to share with your students. 

Basic Tips for a Quick Transition to Online Teaching

Many colleges and universities are quickly transitioning to online teaching as a result of our current health emergency. These tips are designed for those who are new to online teaching. It is important to “keep it simple” and realize that you will improve with online teaching experience.

Think Positively

We are all teachers because of the satisfaction of seeing the light bulb go on for students as we interact with them on a personal level. For this reason, some faculty have been hesitant to teach online. However with current developments in online teaching, we can experience similar personal satisfaction and student success. It helpful to remember that our students are probably more accepting of online teaching than faculty who have been teaching for many years.

Stay in Contact and Reassure

Use your campus resources to stay in contact with students. Reassure students that things are under control and that you will work with them to be successful.

You can use https://www.remind.com/ to send text messages to students in your course without using your own personal phone number.

Get Familiar with Your Campus Course Management System

Most colleges have course management systems such as Canvas or Blackboard that have all the tools you need to teach your course online. Many are offering workshops and faculty mentors to help you get started right away.

Here are the directions for logging into a sample Canvas account I use in teaching my online College and Career Success course:

Go to: https://humanesources.instructure.com/login/canvas 

Use this email: marsha@marshafralick.com

Use this password: facultydemo

Begin by clicking on Modules on the course menu on the left. This will show you how I organize my course.

Once you are inside Canvas, you can also click on the photo of the textbook to access a demo of the text. 

If you want to see a new copy of the text, here is an access code: RB32DKN

Get Organized

I recommend setting up your course using weekly modules. Each module would contain all the files, videos, assignments, and directions for the week. This is especially important if you are new to course management systems and are expected to begin quickly. In am emergency, you can stay one module ahead of your students. See examples of modules in my Canvas account above.

Be Especially Sensitive to Student Needs

We are all experiencing overwhelming change and disruptions to our daily lives.  Some of these issues include changes in daily routines, increased fear and anxiety, loss of employment and childcare, illness, homelessness, food insecurity, financial stress, isolation, and many unforeseen circumstances. Include a weekly discussion about the challenges students are facing and how they are dealing with them.

Consider more flexibility on due dates for assignments. As an example, I give students 10 participation points for completing all the items in the weekly module on time. Students can get full credit for late work. I personally follow up with students who do not complete work on time. I offer friendly assistance, reminders, and ask if students are having difficulties. In the Canvas gradebook, there is a great feature called “Message Students Who Have Not Submitted.” I use this weekly to follow up with students who have not turned in assignments on time. This policy has resulted in high retention and success rates in my course.

Explore Online Content

Resist the temptation to merely post your lecture notes online. Save time and increase personal interaction by posting a brief video of yourself giving directions and previewing the content.  

One of my favorite ways of creating these short videos is using my cell phone with the Tellegami App. It is creative, quick, and easy and I don’t have to stress about my personal appearance and acting skills in a video.

Here is a link to Tellegami:

https://tellagami.com/edu/

With this app, it is easy to create an avatar and read a script that is then automatically animated. You can choose personal characteristics that match your own.  Here is a link to one of my Tellegami videos:

https://www.collegesuccess1.com/Gami%20Avatar/6BrSciMem.m4v

Look at the topics you plan to present in upcoming courses and search for them on YouTube. Post these videos on the discussion board or in your weekly modules. It is best to post short videos.  My favorites are less than five minutes long.  Here is a link to some of the videos I use in my college and career success course.

https://www.collegesuccess1.com/VideoClips.htm    

Keep it Interactive

The best quick tool for interacting with students is the Discussion Board. As you are constructing your discussion questions, keep in mind Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and move beyond knowledge to comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Helpful discussion questions:

How can you apply ____?

What is the best _____?

How do these ideas fit with what you already know about ____?

What is your evaluation of ___?

What do you think about ___?

What would you do in this situation?

What would you recommend to a new student?

What are the pros and cons of ___?

You can also post a video for discussion.

Remember to ask students to make a posting and then reply to one or more other students so that they actually read other student comments and interact with others in the classroom. See my discussion questions in my Canvas container above.  I specify that students write at least 200 words in the discussion including replies to other students.

Although you may not be able to interact with all students, I at least reply to students who have no replies from others.

Reconsider Evaluations

For an online course, the traditional quizzes and exams may not work as well as in a traditional course.  Consider projects that involve personal involvement and creativity. I use short journals and writing projects in my course to help students understand the material and apply it to their personal lives.

Here is a link to the Word files and grading rubric I use for short journal entries:

https://www.collegesuccess1.com/JournalEntries.htm

Course management systems offer tools for creating self-scored quizzes to help students focus on the material. I view these quizzes as reading comprehension tools and allow students to repeat the quizzes to improve scores.  These quizzes have less value in my point system than the writing and individual projects that students complete.  

 I like to give students options for completing an assignment beyond Word documents,  including videos, PowerPoint, Powtoon (https://www.powtoon.com/home/?) and other new media. Students are already familiar with new media and use it to interact with friends.

Looking Toward the Future

My personal philosophy is that life is a dangerous opportunity. The present situation involves danger, but also opportunity. I predict that higher education will be changed by our current emergency in that faculty will become more familiar with technology and include more online elements in their courses in the future.

Contact me at marsha@marshafralick.com if you would like a Word copy of this blog.

Note that I am the author of several interactive online textbooks on the topics of college and career success that can be customized to match your student learning outcomes. Textbooks are listed in the column to the right with links to the table of contents. Contact me at marsha@marshafralick.com if you have questions or would like to receive an online demo for future adoption consideration.