5 Ways to Minimize Online Student Separation

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What can instructors and distant students do to minimize feelings of separation? When you are designing courses, what can you do to provide support to your online students? Here are some easy ways you can help your students feel more connected to your class.

NEWS | FREE Professional Development Opportunities @ ADOBE

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Keeping you update with educational opportunities around the Web!

If you are like me, you are probably engaged in your summer activities but are still looking to take on one or two professional development opportunities. (Yes, we teachers still need these!)

So, here are some FREE courses that you can take at Adobe Education Exchange. There are many opportunities that are really great for online higher education teachers. There are self-paced workshops, collaborative courses and live events. You can search for only "college/university", by subject, by Adobe product and by ISTE / Common Core Standards.

Check out Adobe's Education Exchange for professional development for teachers, https://edex.adobe.com/professional-development/

Using Video (Pt. 2) | FREE Online Video Repositories for Higher Education

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Do you know what OER is? OER stands for open educational resources which means that the resources are accessible to anyone and are completely free. I have been consulting in this space for awhile now and will write on this topic at a later time.

In this post, I'd like to continue the series on the "Use of Video in Online Courses" by sharing some great OER video repositories in education. These repositories contain loads of educational/instructional videos that you can use in your online courses.

Using Video (Pt. 1) | 5 Types of Video Assignments for Online Courses

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Over the past decade, the use of video has increasingly become a great option for creating engaging learning activities for students in all types of courses. The use of videos are prevalent in blended courses, self-paced courses and in online in higher education. Many instructional videos are now available in the public domain that can be used in online courses. Teachers also have the option of creating their own videos to use in their course assignments. Some of the most common questions I hear from teachers involve how to create compelling video-based assignments that will enhance their students' learning experience. Here's how I look at it:

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.

Easy Micro learning Strategies for Online Courses

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Micro learning involves in 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. You can check out some resources on micro learning in my previous post entitled, Micro learning Basics.

Micro learning Basics

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Do you know what micro learning is? Micro learning is a newer way of 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.

The table below compares micro learning to traditional learning:

How I Motivate Students in Online Courses

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I'm one of the many teachers who came to the online space after many years of working face-to-face. I taught face-to-face for about 10 years before I started teaching courses that were blended and subsequently 100% online. As a classroom teacher, I always knew that my job was to -

1) present the subject matter for students to learn (in my case it was computers, mathematics and business courses) AND
2) motivate students to invest in the course enough to succeed. 

Yikes!...4 Teacher Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Classes

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Have you ever had a "Yikes" moment in your teaching career? I had one in my very first semester of teaching over 25 years ago! I still remember it this day. I mistakenly gave material on an exam from a topic that I told students would not be on the exam. Yikes! Let's just say it was a small mutany. Even in my online teaching career (10 years in the making now), I've made blunders that I've had to "clean up" to avoid the mutany that inevitably follows.

4 Types of Student Behaviors in Online Discussion Forums (Part 2)

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In Part 1 of this series, I talked about the behaviors I observed from my students in my weekly discussion forums. I identified four behaviors of my online students, namely - leaders, reactors, lurkers and slackers. So, as I ponder my students' behaviors online, I ask the question: Why do they behave this way? I used to think that student behavior in my online forums was mostly determined by their personalities. From my dissertation research and research "in the classroom", I've found that student behavior online has more to do with their motivation than with their offline personalities.  For instance, many of my "leader" students have told me that they are really shy in person. So, what makes them assume the "leader" behavior in the discussion forums?  Interesting.  I've continually looked at what motivates my students to participate in my courses (in particular, the weekly discussion forums) and how their participation affects their overall learning experience in my courses. Here's what I think. 

4 Types of Student Behaviors in Online Discussion Forums (Part 1)

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For my dissertation research, I studied the behaviors of users in online communities for 8 years.  I conducted a series of "ethnographic" studies on communities in which people shared career advice, shared personal stories, supported each other through hard times and tried new technologies together. I found that these learning communities provided support and enrichment opportunities for the participants. While teaching online, I've realized that the discussion forums in my courses have provided my students with the same opportunities as those participants I studied all those years ago.

10 Tips for Creating an Engaging Class Newsletter

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The other day, I was talking with another faculty member about class newsletters and he asked me how many times I email my students during the week. He was surprised when I told him that I have an email newsletter for the top, middle and bottom of the week. He told me that he only emails once a week mainly because he didn't know what to say in them other than remind students what to do for the week. For me, the class newsletter is not only an opportunity for me to interact with my students, but it is a great way for students to engage more with the class. 

20 Learning Activities for the Visual Learner

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When developing course activities, teachers must keep in mind that students learn in a variety of different ways. One common way that students learn is visually. Visual learners are those who process and assimilate information in a visual way. So, how can you design stimulating course activities that can enhance the learning experience for the student who is more visually-oriented? Luckily, web-based technologies make this task a little easier. As it turns out, there are many activities that can be designed (or redesigned) for the visual learner. In the list below, I've divided them up to make them easier to consider.

Best Places to Go for Online News about Teaching in Higher Ed

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Where can you get information about teaching college and teaching online?
 
The answer is lots of places! While the K-12 area is bustling with websites, online training programs and loads of resources for teachers, these resources can also be applied to higher education teachers. In addition, resources just for higher education teachers is indeed catching up. 

Tips for Creating Video Activities that Promote Deeper Learning

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Videos can provide an instant level of interest for any material. This is because videos invoke emotions and motivate students to learn in their own way. Videos can be used in course activities to promote deeper learning by helping students to pace themselves in learning about a topic, thinking critically and developing the knowledge to solve problems. 

When using a video, consider the tips below to ensure that the course activity is as engaging to students as possible.

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.

8 Ways to Create Engaging Discussion Forums (Poster)

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In the series, Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 1 of 2),  I talked about the different types of discussion formats in Moodle and 8 ways to create engaging discussion forums for your students.

For your convenience, here is a 8.5" x 11” poster to download as a PDF file. I would suggest putting this poster in a sheet protector. You could use this on a bulletin board or in a binder for easy reference when creating discussion forums for your courses. 

Click to download

3 Ways to Use a Wiki in Your Course

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In my online courses, I use wikis in conjunction with weekly discussion forums.  My students love the wiki assignments because it gives them a chance to create their own content instead of just responding to a discussion question.  Wikis are a collection of articles about a subject. Depending on your learning management system (LMS), users can add text, images, audio and even YouTube videos to the wiki.

In online courses, wiki assignments are always a fun and creative way to get students to learn a subject. Wikis enhance student learning by getting them to utilize deeper levels of cognition and engagement with a subject.  For my courses, I use wikis in a variety of ways. Some of the wikis my classes have completed include -

Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 1 of 2)

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Most discussion forums are the “lifeline” of any online course. They are places where students can interact with each other and the instructor in order to build community.  Forums are one place where instructors can build a presence by engaging with their students in a more conversational and relaxed way.  While the tips in this article can be applied to many LMS's, here we'll talk about the discussion forums in the Moodle LMS.

Creating Engaging Discussion Forums (Part 2 of 2)

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In the first article of this series, I talked about the different types of discussion formats available in Moodle.  Now, let's discuss 8 ways to create more engaging discussion forums. There are a few must-haves you'll need to make your discussion forums more engaging and at the same time, easier for you to administer.