Discussion Boards and Time Management

It becomes very easy for discussion boards (an online courses in general) to take over an instructor's life, especially if you teach a large online class. I am still figuring out the most efficient processes for me, but here is what I've learned so far.

1. When it comes to managing your discussion boards, choose a frequency, length of time and time(s) of day that are manageable, and stick to them. You don't want your students to think you created the course and then abandoned them, leaving them to fend for themselves the entire semester. But you also don't want to feel that your course has taken over your life. 
• If you let your students know when, how often and in what capacity they should expect to "see" you in the forums, then you won't disappoint them and won't overwhelm yourself. 
• If you have a discussion that is meant to be student-directed (with little to no facilitation from the instructor) make sure the students know upfront so they aren't left to wonder where their teacher went. 
2. Read the posts in order so they make sense, but don't worry about grading at that time. 
• My first semester teaching online, I thought I would save time by grading as I read through the posts chronologically. This actually took more time (at least with the way Blackboard is set up) because of all the clicking and page navigation I had to go through to get from the post to where I could submit grades. 
• What worked better was when I would read through the discussions chronologically, facilitating as appropriate, and then would grade everything at once, by student, after the due date. In Blackboard, instructors can click on a student's name and view all of the posts s/he contributed to a single forum. From there it becomes easy to see how many posts s/he wrote (you my have a minimum required), whether the posts met the requirements outlined in the grading rubric, and submit a grade from there. I thought this would be confusing at first (since I am rereading the posts out of order) but since I had already read them all over the course of the week (and in chronological order) the quick review I would do for grading purposes was enough to remind me of the context in which they were written. And then everything does make sense. 
3. It is important to participate in the discussions as a facilitator, to ensure that the goals of the discussions are met. You don't have to be active in every discussion to do this (though you should be clear about when your students should expect to "see" you in the conversation, as mentioned above). You could and should follow up with lessons learned, a summary or another brief response that shows you were present for the discussion, whether or not you were active in the conversation. 
• To save time, you can have elements of the message pre-written: if you know you want to point out certain concepts, questions to ponder, etc., there is nothing wrong with having all that drafted ahead of time. But make sure that there is also an element of personalization so your students know you're truly part of their learning experience, and modify/add any details to make your message relevant to the current students and discussion.  
• In my class, I address the questions/topics discussed and may write a blog post to elaborate. If it's an issue I addressed in a previous semester, I may send a link to the archived blog post and articulate how it is relevant to the recent discussion.
  
4. Utilize Blackboard's rubric feature, which allows you to create a rubric directly in Blackboard. It takes time to create a rubric from scratch, but if you develop one that is clear and comprehensive, it makes your grading process very quick and easy. Once a rubric is created and attached to the discussion forum or thread, you simply have to check the appropriate boxes; once you hit "Submit", the grade tabulates and auto-populates in the Grade Center.  If your rubric is comprehensive, there is no need to provide much if any written feedback because the grading criteria clearly articulate why the student earned the number of points s/he did.

How to Proceed with Developing a New Online Course from Scratch (in 4 easy steps)

Recently, an instructor asked me for a brief outline of how to proceed with designing and developing an online course from scratch. Here was my advice:

To give a really general outline, here is how I would proceed:
1.    Review the course objectives/student outcomes
2.    Determine what topics need to be covered and in what order to meet those objectives
3.    From there, create an outline covering 16 weeks (or however long your course will be) and then fill the info in week by week. What outcomes are met each week? (Write those down) Then what assessments will you assign to show that the students have met the student outcomes? Finally, what activities will the students need to complete in order to succeed in the assessments?
4.    Build the assessments, rubrics and activities

Do not simply go by the book because often times the topics emphasized by the text books are not the ones that best meet the outcomes, and some areas that the text glosses over are actually more important for your students to learn. Therefore, always use your course objectives and the outcomes assigned to each week as your guide.

I hope this helps!

How to Ensure 'Regular and Substantive Contact'

Yesterday, I attended a discussion about 'regular and substantive contact' in online courses at the Online Teaching Conference held at Long Beach City College. In the state of California, 'regular and substantive contact' initiated by the instructor is required in order for the state to reimburse the college for that course. Correspondence courses, where information is broadcasted to the learner with minimal or no feedback from the instructor, are not funded. Ph.D. candidate Margie White led the discussion and shared some simple and practical ways to satisfy the requirement for 'regular and substantive contact' while providing a truly rich learner experience. Here are a few highlights:

1. Start in your comfort zone.

Consider how you provide 'substantive' contact to your face-to-face (f2f) students. Do you enjoy facilitating class discussions? Do you prefer one-on-one meetings where you provide feedback? Do you have journal assignments where you communicate with your students through extensive feedback on their journal comments? Do you have a hands-off approach to discussions because you want the students to direct the conversation, but then offer concluding remarks and a discussion summary highlighting the key takeaways? Whatever you already do, start with that and just apply it to the online experience. Once you are comfortable with those familiar methods, you can expand your modes of 'regular and substantive contact'.

2. Know your students, content and technology tools.

See what methods fit best with your students and content area, and can be accomplished using technology you have at your disposal.

3. Track student participation.

Have prewritten emails you can send to your students when you notice they are not participating in class, or are not engaged enough to be successful. This is especially important in the first weeks of the course when students are just figuring out how to use the technology, while learning how to effectively study for a new subject and exercise time management. Take advantage of early alert tracking technology and/or statistics tracking if your LMS offers these tools, since they will save you a lot of time and oversight.

4. Facilitate strategic discussions.

 Be actively involved in a way that shows you are present, and that encourages deeper thinking on the part of the students. Don't answer questions that your students could answer for one another, and don't ask right or wrong questions since there is nothing to say after the first person correctly answers the question. Be sure to offer incentives for participation (I.e. grades/points) and use rubrics so students know how they are being graded.

5. Offer public feedback.

Public feedback to students can take place in discussion summaries or weekly summaries; highlight the efforts and actions of individual students as you sum up the key takeaways. You can also respond to student discussion posts to offer direct feedback in a public setting.

6. Offer private feedback.

Private feedback can take place through grade feedback, virtual meetings, and through journal comments. Be sure to tell your students where they can find comments and feedback in their course.

7. Use synchronous tools.

Tools like Blackboard Collaborate, CCC Confer, and Google hangouts are great for office hours, study sessions, final reviews, moderated group work and interactive lessons.

8. Use asynchronous tools.

Create asynchronous presentations, videos, podcasts (with transcripts), and/or voice thread (with transcripts) so students can see you or hear your voice, and feel connected to you directly. For example, you can create a welcome video, weekly video summaries, and quick tutorials.

Reduce Student Anxiety About Grades Simply by Articulating Your Grading Process

This week, a couple questions came up in my online course about grading. Specifically, some instructors only received half credit for their work and were wondering why. The fact is that at the time of grading, I may have only seen half of their work for the week. They may have received 100% on that assignment, but it looks like they only got a 50%. This happened because I have a couple designated times for reviewing work and grading, and grade everything I can at those times.

I grade this way for two reasons:
1. It is more efficient for me to grade what I see during the times I designate for grading (rather than wait for all work to be submitted) so that I don’t have to repeat the process and double the time I spend grading.

2. The other reason is to bring to light just how sensitive grades are to students. It is easy for us teachers to grade using a process and at times that meet our schedules and needs, and overlook how this may affect our students. When we have classes that meet in person, you either hand back everyone's graded work at once, or you don't give grades to anyone. But it is very clear to the student if their work has been graded, what they were being graded on, and whether there are aspects of their work that are still yet to be graded or can be resubmitted for a chance at a higher grade. In an online class, you may be in the middle of grading when a student looks at his or her grade. That student may be alarmed to discover a 50% grade, which is due to the fact that you only graded 50% of the work. Or, it may be four days after a major assignment was submitted and your student is anxious because he or she does not see a grade in the Grade Center.

To ensure that your students don’t have the anxiety my instructors experienced when they did not see their complete grades posted when expected, be sure to clarify your grading process. A lot of instructors put a disclaimer in their course overview stating that they look at the discussion boards X number of times per week, or on specific days of the week, and need X number of days to grade assignments, etc. so that students know what to expect. Furthermore, it is good to use the grade notes and feedback sections to elaborate on grades if it is not clear why a student got a certain grade. To save time, I typically won't leave feedback or notes when students get 100% since it is clear how they did (unless they usually get poor grades, whereas then I would congratulate them for their improvement). However, if I deduct points and it is not clear from the rubric why points were deducted, I will explain in the notes section. After all, students will have a hard time being successful if they do not understand where they should focus their efforts for improvement. So, empower your students to "Go Forward" with success and confidence!

Peer Reviews and Post Replies... Facilitating Effective Student-to-Student Interactions

So you have this great idea... you'll exercise your students' critical thinking skills while asking themto apply what they learned in class by having them complete peer reviews. Nice! Just make sure to work out all the kinks so that the process goes as smoothly as you had hoped.

The Scenario:

I developed a project for my Teaching Online students that involved completing an assignment, posting the assignment to a Blackboard discussion board, and reviewing one other student's assignment. I also specified that students should review work that has no feedback before reviewing any assignments that have already been reviewed. Not only are the students required to reflect carefully on their own assignments, but they are asked to make effort on behalf of their classmates. One of the nice things about projects like this is that if an online community has been developed, students will put extra effort into their peer reviews, because it is not solely about the grade... it's also about helping another community member attain success.

Challenges:

Peer reviews require completed assignments to be reviewed. Only two students were able to complete their assignments well before the due date (Sunday night at 11:59pm); the rest submitted their work late Sunday night, which means that only two people were able to review those assignments, following the directions specified above. Other students were forced to review assignments that already had reviews or face the penalty of late assignment completion. (Of course, I don't penalize my students for being unable to complete the assignment as specified, but I don't let my students know that: A core goal in this class is to develop sensitivity to course structure, delivery, and expectations, and recognize how these factors affect  students.) Students who regularly go above and beyond will most certainly review some of the later submissions, even if they had already reviewed one of the original two, but since we can't count on that, potentially there could be students who receive no peer feedback.

Solutions:

Although many online courses are run by week, you may want to create a midweek deadline for any assignments or discussion threads that need peer reviews or replies. This way, students know that after that deadline, there will be plenty of fodder for their critique, and they can schedule their participation around that date.

Part of the value of this activity is the autonomy to choose the assignment to review (which can mean a wide selection of topics and areas of interest.) Students are often more engaged with an assignment when they have an element of choice. However, depending on your subject matter and class dynamic, it may make sense to assign students as partners. When the students know that they are accountable to one another, they will more likely complete their assignments on time so that their partner will have an assignment to work from. Again, this kind of camaraderie and accountability is more affective when effort was made to build classroom community.

Finally, if for some reason there is a student who does not receive a peer review, I may offer extra credit to students who review any remaining assignments that still need feedback, and I may contact individual students to ask them personally for their feedback. Some students may reluctantly turn me down due to time constraints, but generally, students are flattered that their teacher counts on them when help is needed and want to go the extra mile for that reason. Often times, this personal requests lead to even more commitment on the part of the student because s/he feels personally invested in the course and its success.

Is Building Community Really That Important?

Are We Over-Catering to Students?

One may argue that in the workforce, no one "builds community" for you as the employee. You're usually thrown in to fend for yourself. So why should we make so many accommodations for our students? Are we doing them a disservice by treating them in a manner that is different than what they will experience in a work environment? Are we setting them up for hard lessons later in life?

It's All About Your Course Goals

I guess then it's a matter of your course goals and objectives, and what you want the students to walk away with. Is the goal of the course to prepare the students for what to expect in a professional environment? Then, I suppose yes, you want to give them an accurate experience. But if the goal is more so for them to learn certain content and to critically think about and apply that content, then community building does become important.

Vygotsky's "Zone of Proximal Development"

It all goes back to Vygotsky's "Zone of Proximal Development," which he defines as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers." (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86) Collaborating with more knowledgeable individuals raises a student's learning potential far higher than she ever reach in isolation.

Employers Want Employees with Group Skills

Furthermore, one of the chief complaints employers have with young professionals is that they do not know how to work effectively in groups. Any guidance we can give them as instructors will better prepare them for the working world and will give them a leg up during the hiring process. Creating a safe and comfortable learning environment is the first step to successful group learning.

The Importance of Social Engagement in Online Learning

In terms of learning online, the social engagement is often what makes or breaks the class. Anyone can read resources or watch videos online. It is nice that an instructor curates those resources because then the student can trust that the resources are high quality and accurate. However, one of the core strengths of learning online is having the opportunity to interact with other students and with the instructor. A shy or quiet student has as much of a voice as the students who dominate in-person class discussions. Students have the chance to think critically and for as much time as they need before responding to a question or comment. Furthermore, groups of students tend to mix and interact, who otherwise may never speak to one another.

Work Cited:
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 86

Using Poll Everywhere for Student Feedback and Engagement

Some of the instructors in my Successful Teaching Online course asked about ways to get formative student feedback. One way that seems to work is through quick polls. Using www.Polleverywhere.com, teachers can create simple one-question polls that update in real-time. They are fun to use in class because students can vote anonymously using their cell phones, computers, or iPads and see the results immediately on the lectern projector. Poll Everywhere polls are used for surveying student opinion and preference, checking comprehension, and as stimulus for dialogue. Try it out.You can see the results populate instantly using this results link.

To enlarge this graph, type Ctrl + and to reduce the size back, type Ctrl -.

Getting Students to Use Blackboard (or other LMS systems)

I have found that instructors who require their students to take quizzes online through Blackboard have a greater success rate in terms of having students acclimate to using Blackboard in general. Since there is no way to score points on a Blackboard quiz unless they enter Blackboard to take it, they are more likely to learn the skills needed and develop the comfort required to log into Blackboard regularly. If they can take a quiz, they can learn to download a file, view a file or upload an assignment in Blackboard. However, if you only use Blackboard to provide course readings or copies of PowerPoint presentations, your students may not make the effort to learn how to retrieve these pieces of information, and my either rely on a classmate or will try to make do without them. The same is true for submitting assignments. If you only use Blackboard for assignment submission, you may find a number of students will simply email you their work. However, the more value they find in Blackboard (that they cannot access otherwise) the more likely your students will take the time to acclimate to the technology. And once they start to use it, they do get comfortable, and in may cases begin to rely upon and value it.

I know that Blackboard can seem intimidating. Where do you start? I would go to Blackboard On-Demand, where you can watch quick how-to videos and even engage in self-assessment practice activities. Find the skill you want to learn and follow the link to a brief but effective tutorial (e.g. uploading course content, which is under "Understanding and Building Your Course" or creating a rubric, which is under "Assessing Learners"). 

One Way to Find Out Early On if Your Students Are "Tech Savvy"

Some instructors use icebreakers to reveal their students' levels of comfort with technology, which helps them plan how they approach their course. They may ask their students to share their favorite online activities and/or computer programs with one another. They may have the students fill out a quiz or a survey about the technology they use on a regular basis. I am currently developing an online orientation for students that includes a technology review, which will hopefully make students aware of the technical skills they will need in order to be successful in online courses of study. A great existing resource can be found at http://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

Can You Really Build Online Community?

It is possible to build community online, and in fact, I have a colleague who is moving to Texas to be with his girlfriend, whom he met in an online class. Of course, the facilitator’s effort to create online community influences the degree to which students feel online courses meet those intangible needs for social companionship and interaction. For kids and teens, Facebook has become a primary mode for social interaction, so the social needs or desires of this younger generation may be evolving differently than those of older generations. I've seen many teens get together just so they could surf Facebook together and look at each other's profiles. They will all sit together in the same room but all be looking at different computers.  Others make plans to meet online even though they live in walking distance from one another! So while Facebook will never (hopefully) replace face-to-face social interaction, it has certainly become a bigger part of the social experience for younger generations than I think anyone anticipated. Similarly, online community and camaraderie has greater potential than I think some of us teachers realize. However, it is up to us to facilitate and nurture safe, supportive and engaging community interactions.

On the Road to Success

Welcome to the Tips 4 Teaching Online blog! This blog will hopefully be a resource to my students and to any educators who wish to learn more about teaching online successfully. This resource includes tips and tricks for teaching fully online courses, but also blended learning and flipped learning classes. Everyone is invited to jump into the conversation. My intention is to write blog posts that are short, sweet and to the point so that you can reference your exact topic of interest at any time and on-the-go. I know we are all busy people so let's see what we can do to help one another with our best tips, tricks and quick advice. Together, we can support student success through our own faculty development.