Course Design Tips for Micro learning

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Micro learning involves learning in "nuggets" or digestible chunks. Learning this way discourages the idea of mastering a topic but instead promotes learning information as it is needed. 

Teaching online requires teachers that are subject matter experts in addition to course designers. Micro learning supports this by presenting material in a less threatening way to students who may be easily intimidated. Also, creating learning "nuggets" allows you the freedom to present materials in different, more interesting ways rather than spend countless hours developing materials.

Here's how to do it.

Technologies that Promote Social Learning in Online Courses (Part 2)

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This is the second post in a series about technologies that promote social learning. The first post covered using discussion forums to encourage social learning in online courses. So to recap, what exactly is social learning? Basically, it is comprised of three situations - 

* students helping one another learn

* students inspiring and motivating each other
* students teaching each other

Research on student success in the online environment, clearly shows that students who learn socially increase their chances of success. We are the facilitators and course designers of the learning space that students find themselves in. To that end, how can we create online learning environments that encourage social learning? In this second post, I will talk about ANOTHER TECHNOLOGY for online courses that promotes social learning.

Technologies that Promote Social Learning in Online Courses (Part 1)

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I'm sure you've heard the phrase "social learning" being tossed around in the online education discourse for quite sometime. What exactly is social learning? Basically, it is comprised of three situations - 

* students helping one another learn

* students inspiring and motivating each other
* students teaching each other

In the online environment, we are the facilitators and the course designers of the learning space that students find themselves in. To that end, how can we create online learning environments that encourage social learning? In this post, I will talk about the MOST POPULAR course activity that promotes social learning and is the easiest to implement in courses.

3 Tools for Creating Online Course Activities

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Image: WikiMedia Commons

Oftentimes, teachers who develop courses online,
find it difficult to gauge WHAT and HOW MANY activities
they should include in their courses.

Many college-level teachers have no formal training in education or background in teaching. For instance, many adjunct teachers come from professional careers after many years and then start teaching online. It is assumed that they would automatically know how to design a course, develop course activities and deliver them in an engaging way to students. So, many teachers are left to figure out how to do this all on their own.

Leaving Your LMS

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Ever feel constrained by your Learning Management System (LMS)? Are there activities that you want to do with your students but your LMS doesn't support them?  I use Moodle for my current classes and at times, I've found it a bit constraining. For instance, the Moodle discussion forums can be a little boring if you use them in the same way ALL semester long. Instead, what I do is change up my interactive activities every week. So, one week, I'll have two Moodle forums; the next week a group Wiki and a discussion forum; the next week a VoiceThread presentation with a Moodle discussion, etc. It works to break up the boredom of using the same Moodle tools. The trick is to not confuse the students with too much technology in too many places.

How Often Should You Communicate with Your Students Online?

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I teach several undergraduate online courses per year and have often wondered how and when faculty members communicate with their students each week. Some schools actually have guidelines (really requirements) for how often faculty should contact their students to find out how they are doing, but my school leaves it up to the individual faculty member.

I personally like to communicate with my students a few times each week. In looking at my faculty evaluations each semester, students always give me high marks for communication. When I ask them specifics, they have said -

What Should Your LMS Modules Contain?

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I'm in the process of building my next summer computer course in Moodle and I started thinking about what key elements belong in each LMS module. From years of teaching courses online, I've learned to "keep a tidy ship" in this area.

Lately through my consulting work with building courses and working with teachers in educational technology, I've been able to preview quite a few LMS modules. 

For the most part, I've been pretty impressed with how teachers set up their LMS modules with the essential information.