| ||
| ||
|
College & University Information | |
|
|
Building Interaction Into Your Online Course
You've already decided that you're ready to author online and you have your content organized. Now it's time to face the ultimate challenge in online learning - making it interactive! Interaction in online courses is a two-edged sword. On one hand you want students to participate. This enhances their learning by letting them question and discuss issues in the course. On the other hand, as the instructor, you need to decide the level of interaction you want to have with each student - and build your courses accordingly. As an illustration, let me relate a poor choice I made in a course I wrote several years ago. Because I wanted everyone involved, I required that each student post at least one message per week to the discussion group. In addition, I required that they respond to two other messages. Simple? Yes. But because I had decided that my level of involvement was to respond to every posting, I was faced with 3 messages for every student every week - and this was only the minimum requirement! I soon found myself bogged down in responding to an overwhelming number of messages. To decide on your level of involvement, let's look at 5 levels of interactions you can provide. 1. Respond to every email. At this level of interaction, you are reading and responding to every email or discussion sent. Beware. While this may be effective at the beginning of a discussion when there is little interaction, you'll soon be overwhelmed just responding to and encouraging students. 2. Respond to every nth email. This is a more rational view. Here you can decide to pick every 5th posting and respond to it. The danger is that you'll miss a student's best posting or that you'll miss an important question. 3. Respond to 1 message per student per week. You can set the expectation that you'll welcome questions from everyone, but that you'll only guarantee a response to one per week. That will put the burden of composing an effective message on the student's shoulders, rather than just jotting off a quick question every time they think of it. 4. Post provocative questions. This is a great way to get a discussion started. If you choose this route, you may choose not to participate in the discussion yourself - but instead, just summarize it at the end - or not. 5. Employ help. This may be a Teaching Assistant, a mentor, students who have taken the course in the past, etc. You may also choose to separate the types of correspondence - for example, one person may cover technical questions, while another handles course mechanics and you take the content questions. Now that you've decided on your level of involvement, it's time to design the exercises. Recognize that almost any type of exercise you use in face-to-face training has an online counterpart. So be creative - and try your ideas. You can even ask your fellow instructors for help by saying "In an instructor-led course we would do such-and-such for this lesson. What would you suggest we use to replicate that learning online?" Keep in mind that the format of the course you are creating will help determine the appropriateness of an interactive exercise. For example, if you have a rolling enrollment, self-paced course where students sign up and work through the materials at their own pace, it may be difficult to assign them team activities. To get you started here are some ideas for interactive exercises. These cover a variety of levels of interaction, so choose your favorites. Polls and surveys - ask a series of questions, then summarize the results for the participants. This can be done with a survey tool or you can use a multiple choice exam. Poll early and often. Your first poll might be the type of computer participants use, how they connect to the Internet, and their level of expertise in computer skills. This provides good feedback to you and gives them a profile of the "average" student. Go and do - give students an assignment to do offline. Then ask them to come back and use one of the other techniques (reflection, chat, summaries) to report on their activities. Read and react - give students an article, a series of websites, or other assignment. Then ask them to write a short reaction paper based on their readings. Reflection - ask each student to use their personal note space to reflect on reading/group discussions. 3-word summary - ask each student to summarize their thoughts in 3 words in the discussion group. Others can ask for clarification. Teams - use teams to create small discussion groups. Then ask one person from each team to summarize the discussion in the larger discussion area. Office hours - use a chat to hold weekly office hours. Just tell everyone when you'll be "in", then wait for the questions. As an alternative you may decide to offer a chat time to a smaller group or team of students - either to encourage more interaction or to handle what would have been an overwhelming amount of interaction. Expert panel - invite one or more experts to participate in a live event such as a video or audio conference. Take questions from the audience. Then continue the discussion with the discussion group. If possible, invite the experts to participate in the discussion. You will continue to discover new interactive exercises that you use with your courses. For a full course on the topic, send an email to elearning@TechTamers.com Dr. Jeanette Cates is an Internet strategist who works with experts who are ready to turn their knowledge and their websites into Gold. Her reputation as a speaker and trainer has earned her the title of The Technology Tamer. With more than 20 years in instructional design and elearning, Jeanette shares her news and views in OnlineSuccessNews.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
An Education in Saving on Textbooks Every year students flock to the college bookstore to purchase the various textbooks that they require for their classes. Little do these students realize that, in doing so, they are throwing good money away. Making the Most of Your Summer At last, summer is here! After a school year full of hard work, you can finally put away your books, break out your bikinis, and soak up the sunshine. This is not only what you deserve but in fact what you need: If you have been working to your maximum level during the school year, you owe your body about two weeks off during the summer for a real break. How to Choose the Right School For You Now that the admission committees have handed you their decisions, it is time for you to choose which college to attend. For some, this choice is easy. College Roommates: Threes A Crowd It's hard enough sharing a dorm room the size of a postage stamp with one person, but what happens when your roommate consistently invites friends and dates to hang out too? Even if you all get along, it can get old fast. Sometimes you just want a little privacy. Looking For a Rewards Program That Offers Free Money for College Students? With the rising cost of books, tuition and housing, it's no wonder that college students are looking for ways to cash in on anything that can lighten their financial load. It isn't easy trying to balance an exciting social life, education and your finances at any age - not to mention in your teens and twenties. Online Colleges as a Resource for Your New Career Online Colleges require successful team buildingMost online colleges require their students to work together in teams to fulfill their coursework obligations. The University of Phoenix Online, for example, requires weekly participation and discussion questions, 4 to 5 individual assignments, and 3-4 team assignments. College Low Expectations Game Cost Students, Parents, & Taxpayers Thousands of Dollars During a recent conversation with a client, he shared with me his frustration when registering his son for his first year at college. This university, incidentally one of the big 10, would only allow his son to register for 12 hours. I Hate My Roommate! So its the beginning of the school year, your first day of class is over, and you just want to sit down and relax for a moment because you know that the rest of the semester won't be as easy as Day 1. You're alone in the room. Medical Assistant - Medical Assistant Distance Education Considerations in Distance Education for the Medical Assistant InstructorMedical Assistant distance education is emerging to meet the demands of a new generation of students in the twenty first century. St. Outstanding Business Professors at WVU, Part 2 Stratford Douglas enrolled at the University of North Carolina in an economics graduate program in 1982. Five years later, he graduated with his Ph. Exam Guides One: 5 Great Tips To Improve Your Strategy In order to do well on a exam, you must first have a good knowledge of the information that is being examined. But, aside that, you must have a good strategy for taking the exam. College Freshman: How to Get Over Homesickness Whether you're a freshman or a senior, studying abroad or going to college in your hometown - it's natural to have a period of adjustment when you leave home. Experiencing new things and meeting different people can be exciting and stressful at the same time. Government Research Procurement Fails to Bring Efficient Bidders Many have complained of the Government's procurement process for research proposals. It is totally flawed. Writing Effective (and Requisite) Essay Openers When we write for college courses, we write for an audience other than ourselves. And it's an audience of more than one-the professor who assigned the piece. All About Grants for College Students Grants are a type of student aid that is awarded by the government. Grants for college students do not have to be repaid. Online Education: 57 Leading Institutions Getting a college degree today is easier than ever before thanks to the number of institutions offering distance learning opportunities. Whether you are pursuing a undergraduate, graduate, or doctorate degree you can choose from scores of degree granting schools. Getting Into College No Longer A Numbers Game! Sending your kids to college has never been more difficult or more expensive, and outstanding grades no longer guarantee admission! Student competition is at an all-time high and families now face the toughest admissions committees in history, soaring tuition costs, and a financial aid system designed to eliminate all but the most knowledgeable and persistent applicants.America is knee deep in an unsung higher education crisis that is affecting families from all walks of life. Dont Graduate - What Students Should Know About College, But No One Ever Tells Them For all the students even dreaming about going to college, I have one piece of advice: don't graduate. Yes. The Oxford Student - Official Student Newspaper Academics from Oxford University have mathematically proven long held suspicions that the Eurovision Song contest is a fix. The team, led by Professor Neil Johnson of Lincoln College, compared statistical models of a contest where votes were fairly cast purely on musical merit with actual results over twelve years of the competition's history to expose the complex political allegiances and cliques at the heart of Eurovision. Natural Healing Schools What are NATURAL HEALING SCHOOLS? Natural Healing Schools teach natural medicine that are holistic approaches that rely on natural remedies. Sunlight, air, and water are thought of as natural healers; this, along with nutritional supplements and massage therapies are all curriculm in natural healing schools.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
