Jamie DeWitt Sarah Legaspi Karen Amesse February 2016 IEM Growing Together Conference Teaching a Synchronous Online Course for Esi: Tips & Tricks

Online Teaching Buzz Words Synchronous  Live online classes  All students and teacher log in at the same time to interact in real time  Using web conferencing platforms like Big Blue Button, Whiz IQ, Blackboard Collaborate, GoTo Meeting, etc. Asynchronous  Course materials, activities, and assignments that can be accessed and completed at any time within the confines of a course  Using Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Course Management Systems (CMS) like Schoology, Google Classroom, Moodle, etc.  Or those used by online course providers such as APEX, Advanced Academics, Compass Learning Odyssey (Time 4 Learning), eDynamics, etc. VS.

Lessons Learned…. Student response time, Q&A, interactionMake your presentation visually appealing, without being to busy and overwhelming Make the presentation easy to follow along visually and match and enhance what you are talking about Build in many opportunities to practice talking on a microphone, interacting via text chat features, interacting on a whiteboard, using the communication tools available in your web conferencing program Know how to troubleshoot basic tech issues; anticipate the challenges students will encounter Create PowerPoint presentations, handouts, assignments, resources, links, etc before class Log in early Test that everything works the way you want/need it to Prepare ahead of time! Interacting online takes practice for both the instructor and the students. Everything takes longer online! Use a lot of visuals.

Best Practices in Online Teaching Let the students do the most work  The more quality‘ time students spend engaged in content, the more of that content they learn Interaction is the heart and soul of effective online learning  Students can interact with one another, with the teacher, with the text, with the Internet, with the entire class, in small groups or teams, one-on-one with a partner, etc. Create and maintain social presence  When participants in an online course help establish a community of learning by projecting their personal characteristics and presenting themselves as real people. Create and maintain cognitive presence  Students construct meaning through ongoing discussion in a community of inquiry. Create and maintain a teaching presence  Teacher can facilitate discussions and/or provide direct instruction Bill Pelz ―(My) Three Principles Of Effective Online Pedagogy, ‖ Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, Volume 8, Issue 3: June 2004.

Some tips for designing your course Use flexible deadlines to motivate students, and allow for technical problems. Create social interaction through group collaboration; Create opportunities for students to communicate with each other Organize course material to enable students to interact with the content, other students, and instructor. Include a warm-up period with light-hearted exercises aimed to help student get to know one another and feel comfortable with the technology. Incorporate different modalities to allow for differences in learning styles, reduction of barriers to participation, and communication. (ie. use visuals, audio, and resource materials) Create a welcoming, safe, nurturing online environment.

Thoughts, questions, ideas? Please share!