Folks,
Wow, I can not beleive the responce that I received. Thank you for everyone
who responded. I promised that I would do a "hit" when I got the responce.
Its not even 24 hours and I have plenty of information on this subject. If any
more information is posted I do a second "hit".
would have a separate email address and for each student I would create
message rules so their messages went directly into their email folders on my
computer. Otherwise, I would be swamped with messages and get disorganized.
They also had to identify themselves in the From line by their REAL NAMES
not an alias, and put the topic of the message in the subject line.
: :
: : 7. Do you use threaded discussions? If so about how many responses are
: : posted per day? Does this part ever feel overwhelming?
Yes the discussions were very productive, but I would ususally post a topic
and insist that the students write a response, and reply to at least two
other postings. If they posted an assignment for marks, then I would have
them send me a message to notify me. I used a lot of peer evaluation, and
tried to stay out of the discussion as much as possible. Just give
encouragement and post the best submitted work online, or in a student
showcase. See http://www.atherton.ca/showcase.htm
: :
: : 8. Approximately how much time do you spend per week facilitating your
: : course?
One hour per student per week. 50 students would be 50 hours per week. -
this is for high school students.
: :
: : 9. Do you feel it is more or less work to facilitate a course versus
: : teaching a traditional class?
It is more work at first (it takes about 3 months full time to write a 100
hour course for a semester), but then the work is mostly done and each time
you run the course, it is easier. You also collect exemplars to show the
students, and this does the teaching for you.
The problem lies in the tendency for the school board to give the online
teacher too many students, as though the computer does the teaching, not the
teacher. If you have a 100 students, you can end up teaching around the
clock, and there are only 168 hours in the week.
: :
: : 10. Do you feel your support structure is effective? Would it be for a
: first time facilitator?
I kept a tracking sheet for each student (an Excel spreadsheet) so the
students knew exactly what their marks were, which assignments were due and
when. I updated and sent it to them every time they submitted, along with a
marked version of their assignment.
They always knew their marks. This was very helpful. I had another
teacher use one of my course, but I gave her a lot of support material -
and she felt it was easy to use. Having examples of previous work is also
helpful.
: : 11. What learning strategies do you feel work best for the online
student and you?
Individualizing is best. For example, I taught students who were LD and they
used Speech Recognition software to write emails and post on the message
board.
It is also best to empower the students - encourage them to find resources
and share their knowledge with others. They like seeing what others are
doing. They tend to "find" each other too - another student with similar
interests and background or circumstances. It is important to have a good
welcome conference - and stay out of it- so the students get to know each
other. I would have the students finish sentences that I posted in the
Orientation unit.
The students won't work for a machine; they need to know that someone cares
about them and their progress.
: :
: : 12. What types of assessment do you use? Do you post rubrics for any
: : assignments?
I used a variety of assessments. Online quizzes/tests, letter writing,
postings, powerpoint presentations, report writing, completing forms,
manuals, creating web pages, etc...I always posted an evaluation checklist or
rubrik.
: :: : 13. Do you have any tips you can share, either things to avoid or :
strategies for success?
Remember the human, and encourage the students to learn how to communicate
effectively in the online environment -with correct grammar and spelling. They
will improve dramatically in this area. Reading instructions and posting and
writing (specific) requests for instructions will improve their literacy
greatly. It is one of the greatest benefits of online learning.
Find someone to talk to for support. You will start to feel isolated, if you
don't have someone to reflect with about what you are doing. You will need to
be very patient, since their are always problems when you rely on technology.
Back up your work! :o))
You can look at one of my Business English courses - I have it saved, though I
am no longer teaching it. I shortened it for a one month summer school, and it
is copyrighted by the TDSB.
http://www.atherton.ca/EBS4A/ -login "ebs4a", password "money"
Fran Maye
Graduate Student
Jersey City University
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