Setting Up an Online Experience

Knowing the Technology

It is vital to know the technology available to you as an online instructor.  When I worked for Polk Virtual School, they sent us to a special franchise training course through Florida Virtual School.  The two day training taught us how to work virtually, of course, but mostly spent time on the ins and outs of the CMS.  One suggestion from our text is one that I noticed they mentioned quite a bit in our training: make sure to only add tools one at a time and only when you feel comfortable (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  One of the tips they suggested for us was to create the bulletin board slides in advance and then they also added to put in other information – like tips the kids needed to work on as a whole.  I tried, but couldn’t successfully add those each week, but I did put the kids who were “on track” on the bulletin board slide.  This helped with keeping the kids motivated because they wanted to see their names on the front page of the course every time they logged in.  However, I hope to – in the future – add in more synchronous chat sessions so they can ask more questions face-to-face, but I know that I have to add tools over time instead of all at once.

Clear Expectations

Chapter 5 in the text is all about how to create clear expectations for students.  However, I see very little difference in this requirement from teaching face-to-face to teaching online.  I think it is vital that we create an atmosphere where students know exactly what they are expected to do from the start of a course or assignment.  Models should be provided for discussion boards, for example, so that students know what level of posting they should be creating.  Rubrics should be present for every assignment and with clearly defined parameters.   Not only does this help the student when crafting the response, but it also helps the instructor with the grading and creating a fair environment.  The creation of a “living” syllabus is essential to help establish and maintain these expectations.  It is the faculty’s responsibility to make sure to have well defined and stated expectations that are upheld throughout the course (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).

Additional Considerations

One additional consideration that needs to be taken into account when setting up an online learning experience is the role of the instructor.  The instructor must establish a social presence that is very regular and timely.  Research shows that students feel more satisfied when they see their instructor interacting within the course (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).  Therefore, an instructor must consider ways to become involved.  They can e-mail students, chat with them through various programs, set up synchronous sessions, or even add to the discussion boards.  The getting acquainted posting, like the ones we have been working on for our course applications, are essential in establishing the rapport you have with your students.  This posting helps connect with your students and really adds to the online learning experience.  The more I feel I know about my professor, the more I can see that he/she is human and really does care about my education – rather than just hitting in a few grades.

Synthesis
I think that there are quite a few things I would do in the future when I work as a virtual instructor.  For one, I will make sure to create clear expectations and to have a social presence within my course.  I think the initial posting will really be helpful - like the one we are working on for this course.  I learned about how to get to know the students individually and remember doing that when I taught online briefly.  Even if it was just asking about their guitar lessons, I noticed they were more likely to work for me because they saw I cared about them on a level other than grades.

I apologize for this post being a day late... I've been in NYC monitoring a school spring break trip and it's a very tiring schedule.

Online Learning Communities

For this post, we were asked to watch the video “Online Learning Communities,” where Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt define communities and talk about how to sustain them.  I found the video to be very beneficial because it shared a variety of experiences from all different fields.

• How do online learning communities significantly impact both student learning and satisfaction within online courses?

I think that students feel more satisfaction when other students validate their opinions and analysis postings.  We learn more when our posts are challenged, as well.  I learn so much when other students reply to my posts with something more than “hey, great post!”  When they pose questions are ask for more elaboration, I feel that I’m actually involved in a discussion rather than just writing to the World Wide Web, which can seem dark and lonely.

• What are the essential elements of online community building?

According to Dr. Palloff & Dr. Pratt…

1.    You must have people and must be able to interact and connect within each other.  They have to have a social presence.

2.    You must have a purpose.

3.    The process must be functional.

• How can online learning communities be sustained?

I feel that the facilitator helps with building community.  When they post replies that link two or more participant postings together, it develops collaboration within the group.  In the video, they mention that it’s not just the faculty that is responsible for creating this community though – it’s every person’s participation that sustains the structure.  However, an engaged professor can really make a huge difference in a successful or unsuccessful course.

• What is the relationship between community building and effective online instruction?

I think they are very similar.  You must have a community in order to bridge the gap to create effective online instruction.  If we were just running correspondence schools, it would be different.  However, online learning is collaborative and that’s why it works.  We gain a higher perception of learning because of the reflective nature of the courses.  Also, students gain virtual social skills through effective online instruction!