{"id":951,"date":"2017-12-08T19:24:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T19:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/?p=951"},"modified":"2017-12-08T19:24:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T19:24:46","slug":"what-makes-a-great-online-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/2017\/12\/08\/what-makes-a-great-online-class\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes a great online class?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I near the end of my requirements of my Masters in Library and Information Science, I have the great opportunity to work on an remote instructional librarian internship. As part of the University of Alabama national cohort distance education, the majority of my classes have been online. Although, one of my most treasured experiences with the distance education cohort was our first class was actually in person on campus which helped me become connected to the University and assisted in creating class collaborations and group work. \u00a0Completing my degree online his has been great experience since I had to learn cutting edge technology, troubleshooting and could experience online educational outreach so I can become a great information literacy teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So this leads me to reason for this post, what makes a great online teacher? Today\u2019s college students are very diverse, some come to college right out of high school, \u00a0some work, save money and then go back. \u00a0Current college students do not all fit the same mold, some have families, hold full time jobs so learning does not always occur in the classroom or even the same geographic location. \u00a0Flexibility is key to reach these students.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Since the majority of my program has been online, \u00a0I have found that certain techniques are beneficial. \u00a0I personally prefer synchronous over asynchronous classes. \u00a0I.like the real time accountability and discussions of synchronous classes so having the class at a set time was really helpful to me to complete this degree. \u00a0If this program was filled with asynchronous classes where you watch a video at your own time I would not have succeeded. \u00a0There is a time and place for asynchronous classes but I personally found asynchronous classes or classes not in real time to be confusing and lonely. \u00a0This led to dissatisfaction in the asynchronous class, I kept thinking am paying tuition I should be able to have a learning environment and discussions \u00a0with my classmates and professor, if not why pay to go to school to learn in a vacuum? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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So this is a problem for the online classroom how do you create a class culture? \u00a0When taking an asynchronous class, I felt like I was \u00a0being cast adrift in a canoe in the middle of an ocean with no map. \u00a0Whereas in a class that meets regularly everyone is starting out in their own canoe out in the ocean but there is communication between classmates and professors that can help you figure out how to find the paddle and read the navigation maps. It is important to have frequent in person check ins maybe with polls, games or questions, \u00a0for accountability and to see if students are struggling. \u00a0So how does this apply if make an asynchronous class more accountable \u2013 I suggest set online office times, email and contact information, so students can have discussions and brainstorming sessions and not learn in a vacuum. \u00a0To show accountability when not face to face \u2013 questions that need to be typed in or polls help show who is still paying attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It is a good practice for online and classroom instructors to regularly review lessons to make sure links work, articles are up to date and information is applicable. \u00a0This is particularly important in asynchronous classes where learning depends on watching videos or completing reading on your own time and completing assignments for credit. \u00a0Technology \u00a0and computer software is constantly changing so when a video created even a few months ago on an old platform such as Microsoft 8 is not going to be relevant and will lead to massive student confusion if a new platform such as Microsoft 10 is now being used. \u00a0So regularly reviewing articles, links, and videos for current content is important. \u00a0Frequent checking in of students using the content will help the instructor keep the information current.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each student is unique and adds a different perspective. \u00a0To catch the student\u2019s attention a good hook is needed, otherwise the temptation to check facebook, twitter or online shopping becomes too great, both online and in a classroom. The problem with online learning is the instructor can;t tell when the student is distracted. \u00a0I tend to like learning for the sake of learning but even I tend to pay greater attention and retain more when I can see a reason why learning the material. \u00a0So having an objective and a hook is really important. \u00a0Another useful technique for engaging students is project based learning. \u00a0How can you do hands on project based learning when online? It is assignments based on real world projects such as web usability studies, that determine if a company\u2019s website is user friendly, homework based on actual questions patrons asked a librarian, creating actual research guides, and making an online poster with powerpoint while collaborating with a classmate in another state. \u00a0Non traditional students balancing work, family, school do not need busy work, the more practical the project the more time resources were spent on in and more information was retained.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As a high school teacher I learned that there are many different types of learners: \u00a0visual, auditory, kinesthetic, to read and writing learners, so each lesson needs to take that in account. \u00a0The best online courses I have taken have a reading or a textbook to address read writing learners, concurrent visuals such as slides, along with auditory so if the internet connection gets interrupted you could still hear what was going on or if the audio cut out, could still see what was going on, and if all else fails there is a reading or transcript. \u00a0I personally found the recording feature of blackboard a great feature since when there are too many connection interruptions,or life distractions it was helpful to go back and watch the recording to fill in the gaps. I find it annoying taking an online class and the instructor is talking and the slides are blank or not relevant. \u00a0Being able to see the key words spelled out when being discussed is significantly helpful when people of various dialects or accents are presenting so everyone is included. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In summary, learning can occur either together in classroom or online with students in various geographies maybe even different time zones, it can be face to face or on one\u2019s own time. \u00a0In general the lesson plan or content the teacher needs to convey is the same however the method of delivery must be tailored to the class, instructors who acknowledge that tend to be great teachers both in person and online.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I near the end of my requirements of my Masters in Library and Information Science, I have the great opportunity to work on an remote instructional librarian internship. As part of the University of Alabama national cohort distance education, the majority of my classes have been online. Although, one of my most treasured experiences … Continue reading What makes a great online class?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":537,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/537"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/instructionadventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}