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University of Maryland University College Graduate Schedule of Classes 2005 2-Summer
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Effective Classroom Communication - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Effective Classroom Communication
Agnes Bouldin
Collegiate Faculty
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: September-October 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication
Faculty often struggle to find the best method for encouraging meaningful discussion in face to face
classrooms and online. Dallimore, Hertenstein, and Platt, (2004) discuss six recommendations
identified by students that encourage classroom participation: required/graded participation,
incorporating ideas and experience into discussion, active facilitation, asking effective questions,
supportive classroom environment, affirm contributions and provide constructive feedback. I'd like to
focus on providing a supportive classroom environment and required/graded participation.
It's very important to build a sense of community early in both the face to face classroom and online.
Online education is still new to many of our students and they are not sure what is expected of them.
Faculty need to actively facilitate meaningful class discussions. In the face to face classroom, I try to
create a setting much like a business meeting. One tool that has been very beneficial to me in the
traditional classroom setting is the use of name cards. At the first class meeting, I have the students
pair up and get to know each other and then introduce each other to the rest of the class. This activity
supplies me with the name they prefer and it gives me a fairly quick method of getting to know their
background. Then by the time class meets again, I've prepared a name card for each student that is
placed in front of them. It helps them to get to know each other and it's a nice way for me to take
attendance without having to call out names. It also helps me to learn the student's names.
In the online classroom, I ask the students to introduce themselves in the conference area by sharing a
little bit about themselves and also answering the following:
your purpose for taking this course
why you took this course online
your biggest fear about taking a course online
how you would like to be addressed online
Making clear your expectations regarding class discussion at the beginning of the semester is extremely
important online and in the traditional classroom. For example have you made your expectations clear
regarding classroom discussion (or online conference participation)? Development of evaluation tools is
an excellent method for clarifying your expectations. It's also important for students to understand how
often they are expected to participate in class discussion or online conferences. In the classroom, you
may assign presentations, have students work in discussion groups, or have a large group discussion
and limit the time for individual speakers (to discourage one student from taking all the time). For
online participation, it's important for you to tell your students how often you expect to see them
participating, and whether or not they should be commenting on the input of their classmates. Do you
want to see them making entries 2 times a week, or 3 times a week? You need to tell them what you
expect and how it will affect their final grade. In one of my courses, overall participation is worth 40%
of the final grade. Participation consists of completing several open book exercises and participation in
several discussion conferences. I label each conference GRADED so there won't be any confusion about
whether or not a response is expected.
Effective Classroom Communication - DE Oracle
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Development of a discussion rubric is an excellent method for clarifying your expectations.
Documenting your expectations for classroom discussion will provide the student with a valuable tool
for your class and possibly others. To get started on developing your own rubrics, visit the presentation
developed by Dr. Porto.
References
Dallimore, E. J., Hertenstein, J. H., and Platt, M. B. (2004). Classroom participation and discussion
effectiveness: Student-generated strategies. Communication Education, 53 (1), 103-115.
Porto, S. (n.d.). An introduction to the power of rubrics.
About the Author(s)
Dr. Gussie Bouldin (BS, Education, West Virginia University; MA, Health Care Administration, Central Michigan University;
DrPH, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health) is a Collegiate Professor in the Graduate School. She has
taught in UMUC's Graduate Health Care Administration program for 5 years. Prior to coming to UMUC Gussie worked in a
variety of health care operation positions in the federal government.
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University of Maryland University College Undergraduate Schedule of Classes 2005 3-Fall
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Moderating Conference Discussions - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Moderating Conference Discussions
Cynthia Whitesel
Other
Published: July-August 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication
Facilitation Ideas for Conferencing
What to say and do in the conference? Truly, this medium makes this kind of reflective discussion so
rich. There are three parts to conference facilitation: 1. what the discussion will be; 2. how you want
participants to contribute; and 3. how you, the facilitator, will moderate the discussion or have the
discussion moderated by your students.
What Kinds of Discussion Topics?
The best kinds of topics for discussions are those that ask the participants to apply the new theories
and concepts they are learning to their own experiences. You don't want to ask participants for
responses where there is only one right answer or a few right answers. You want to use the questioning
to open up the topic and bring forward new ideas and insights into the material you are learning.
Having students share their experiences and insights is one way to do this.
When you respond to your students, affirm what they are saying or address it in some way. Then, ask
more questions of them, probe their conversation with your critical eye to encourage them to become
better at articulating their thoughts. When you find a particularly gifted student, ask that student to
respond to others or ask that student what s/he thinks about something. Asking more questions keeps
the discussion moving forward, avoiding the 20 responses to one topic approach!
You can ask them to compare and contrast what they are learning with their current practices. You can
ask them to apply the new learning to their own work environments or practices. You can ask them
how the new learning explains their current practices. You can ask them how the new learning fits with
their notions of what a practitioner does. You can ask them for more information that can be found in
researched articles they can summarize in the conference and then explain the significance of the
article contents for the readings. In general, asking participants to apply, analyze, problem-solve, or
synthesize ideas and information will lead them to give you insights into what they know.
The key is to create rich discussion questions. Another method is to lead the participants to create
operational definitions. Ask them to write about their own experience in light of the new learning. What
did they do? What were the considerations? How did they solve a particular writing problem? When
participants draw on their readings, theory, and experience, they can come up with good discussions
that reflect sophisticated learning. As facilitator, you can then see what concepts the participants have
brought forward and what concepts need to be brought forward.
How Do Participants Participate?
As far as how you want participants to contribute, you can ask for any number of ways. You can ask
participants to respond to one another in any order, e.g., discuss with one another as you see fit;
respond to the last one who responded in the conference; or every fourth (or whatever) participant in
the conference synthesize the other three responses and ask another question that the next three
Moderating Conference Discussions - DE Oracle
participants will respond to. You, as moderator, can respond to every three students with a synthesis
and then ask another question that the next three students should respond to and then repeat the
pattern.
Another method is peer-to-peer. You can establish the criteria you want participants to use and how
their responses will be evaluated. The facilitator can even pair up the peers, asking them to work
together to create a response. Ask the first person who responds to respond to your topic discussion.
Ask each successive person who comes to the conference to respond to the last response in the
conference.
Another effective way is to assign your students to groups and ask each group to facilitate the
discussion for the week. Permit them to decide how they will respond and to let you know what they
will do. In fact, you can even ask your students to create the discussion questions for the week. Give
them this reading so they know what you know about how to set up interactive discussions!
When participants are responding to each other, the moderator(s) can observe rather than have to
respond to each person. Then, the moderator(s) can synthesize ideas at different intervals and draw
more questions to keep the discussion going (just like a classroom discussion that furthers itself with
more questions rather than everyone responding to the first question over and over).
How Does the Moderator Facilitate Discussion?
What the moderator or facilitator then does to help with learning can be handled in a constructivist
way. That is, the moderator/facilitator can help the participants construct their own knowledge from
the discussion and share what they learn with one another. Research shows that there is little
difference between learning from lectures and learning from constructing the knowledge oneself.
However, there is a significant difference in retaining that knowledge. Those who construct their own
knowledge retain it much longer!
The model for this strategy, then, for using constructivist's concepts might look like this. First, have
participants articulate the conceptions and assumptions that were in the readings. Be sure that
participants have some common understandings at this point. After this discussion, the facilitator can
ask questions to lead to the target conception. At some point, the facilitator then articulates the target
conception. Through discussion, the moderator can help participants problem solve the distance
between what is known and the target conceptions by leading or asking significant questions.
Sometimes it's called concept attainment; sometimes it's called dialectical method.
Another method is called bringing forward operational definitions. Bring forward the assumptions and
conceptions in their definitions and assertions. Let participants know what your assumptions and
conceptions are to the degree that it may play on their assertions. Help them arrive at their own newly
conceived definitions out of their own understandings and experiences.
Let them see where the target conception may be. Let them try to figure out how to get there. Or,
provide the guiding questions that, when addressed, will help the students apply the thinking pattern
you wish them to learn to solve the problem, arrive at the correct thinking, or manifest the higher
order thinking skills.
How Do We Prepare Participants?
We need to prepare our participants as best we can if we have expectations about how they should be
contributing to the discussions in the conferences. To do that, be sure you clarify what your goals are
and how you would like participants to work with the discussion. Tell them what your criteria are for
successful participation (e.g., engaging, thoughtful, insightful contributions; contributions reflect their
reading materials and real-world application of ideas; contributions consider the other participants'
discussions). Give them examples of what you mean if you see that the discussion is faltering. Model
Moderating Conference Discussions - DE Oracle
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good facilitation by being there in the conference and talking with them.
These are some ideas to ponder. Whatever you do with these discussions in the conference, avoid
putting up questions and topics that have only one right answer. Encourage participation and
acknowledge your students' contributions. Be there; don't neglect the conference discussions. Of
course, you may come up your methods for conducting conference discussions. Please let us know
what they are as you prepare us to participate in your own conference.
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Effective Practices in Online Teaching_ Accessibility - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Accessibility
CSI Staff
Staff Writer
Center for Support of Instruction
Published: March-April 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Accessibility
How the Classroom Looks || Online Classroom Management || Accessibility
It is important for UMUC to serve all its students, regardless of any possible disability. Some may suffer
from relatively minor disabilities, such as color blindness, while others may face bigger challenges such
deafness or complete blindness. The online classroom can be even more critical to these students than
to students without disabilities in terms of providing access to higher education.
Many faculty members are aware that UMUC is bound by various laws to provide access to the
disabled, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (http://www.ada.gov/) (ADA) and Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/assistivetech.html) which covers
institutions receiving funding from the federal government including most universities.
While students who require accomodation are required to notify UMUC's Office of Veteran and Disabled
Student Affairs in before they start their course, proactive steps taken by faculty members can help
avoid unpleasant surprises and make it easier to re-use exsiting material. We wrote some time ago
about the accessbility issues involved with using video in the online classroom, but there are
ways that a page can be inaccessible whether or not video or other mulitmedia components are used.
While not all faculty are creating their own HTML pages, and those who do might find compliance with
the two main web accessbility standards (the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (http://www.w3c.org/TR/WCAG10/) , and, in the United States, Section 508
(http://www.section508.gov/) ) daunting, there are simple steps that can make a big difference. If done in
advance, many improvements to accessibility can be made without too much effort, whether creating
web pages, using the WebTycho text formatting editor, or simply attaching MS-Word or Adobe Acrobat
documents.
Color: Say It Another Way, Too
In part I of this series, we talked about avoiding color overload. Indeed, judicious use of color is a
key accessibility consideration. According to the Sight & Hearing Association
(http://www.sightandhearing.org/) , more than one in 15 men is color blind (http://www.sightandhearing.org
/news/healthissue/archive/hi_0204.asp) . It is important to make sure that any information conveyed with
color should also be conveyed in some other manner. For instance, imagine how the following
assignment posting might appear to a color-blind student:
Make sure to read the readings shown in red (required). Depending on your choice of final project, you
might find some of the readings shown in blue (recommended) useful as well:
Evaluation on a Multi-Factorial Basis (Dupont, pp. 231-289)
Systems Thinking in Dynamic Settings (Johnson, pp. 78-99)
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Accessibility - DE Oracle
Analysis Based on Seven Critical Questions (Johnson, pp. 160-187)
A simple solution, of course, is to simply group the assignments by whether they are required or
recommended and label them as such. Color can still be used for additional emphasis.
Another example is one to consider when using visuals either self-created or reproduced from
elsewhere. Compare how the following graphs might look to someone with color blindness.
The graph on the right is much clearer (possibly even for those readers without any color blindness).
Color blindness is more complex than just seeing the world in shades of gray. These examples are
simplifications for purposes of illustration.
Color: Keep Things in Contrast
Even when color is not the sole form of communicating information, it is still important that there be
enough contrast between the text and the background. The following is difficult enough for those
without visual impairements and likely impossible for people with some kinds of color blindness:
More detailed information on using color in the context of color blind readers is available in an article
entitled Effective Color Contrast (http://www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm) by Lighthouse
International (http://www.lighthouse.org/color_contrast.htm) , an organization which helps the partially
sighted or blind remain productive and independent.
Although the examples shown here may seem trivial, they highlight problems that are easy to overlook.
If you're curious to see how your materials might actually look to people with various kinds of color-blindness,
you can use a tool like Vischeck (http://vischeck.com/vischeck/) which simulates various kinds of
color blindness.
Click Here: Use Meaningful Links
If you are using links in your course material, be it in an HTML document, in an attached MS-Word
document, in a PowerPoint file, or what have you, it is often tempting to link just the words "click
here". But compare the following (NB: these are non-working links for demonstration purposes only):
For an example of dollar-cost averaging, click here (javascript:;)
.
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Accessibility - DE Oracle
Please see an example of dollar-cost averaging (javascript:;) .
There are two problems, with this, however.
First, readers who are blind often use screen reading software to "read" pages to them, these often
work by jumping from link to link. This means that links might be read without the context around
them, so when a link reads "click here" it's not at all clear what that link will lead to.
The second problem concerns viewers without visual impairments. When they scan the text, the links
will stand out, but will be largely meaningless, forcing the reader to stop, scan the words around the
link, and then evaluate the link anew. Much more expedient would be to simply link the appropriate
text as in the second example.
What Am I Saying?: Script It Out
If faculty make use of some kind of narrated audio, whether stand-alone sound or as part of a
multimedia or PowerPoint presentation, they are encouraged to consider writing up a script beforehand.
Not only does this allow for a tighter, more professional sounding presentation, but it also means that a
ready "transcript" is available for posting alongside the audio. The text needn't match what is said
verbatim. As long as there is no material difference between the two, this fulfills the goals of
accessibility. Incidentally, this transcript is not only useful for the hearing impaired, but can also be
appreciated by students who are connecting from areas with unreliable or costly internet connections.
This often includes students who are serving in military deployments.
Adobe Acrobat Files: From Word with Style
Adobe Acrobat (also called "portable document format" or "PDF") files are superior to MS-Word
documents for most purposes in the online classroom. Although it is possible to "tag" these files for
higher accessibility, this is more complicated than most faculty members are likely to feel comfortable
with. However, when creating PDF files from MS-Word documents, Acrobat will retain the "style"
information from the original MS-Word documents which will make the resulting PDF files more
accessible. By using styles, assistive devices can better tell whether a piece of text is a header, body
text, or a caption for an image, and therefore help the user determine its meaning. More information
on using styles in MS-Word is available from the help feature within the software or from Microsoft's
Word 2003 Assistance site (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/CH060830091033.aspx) .
More information about the accessbility features now included in Adobe Reader is available from the
article Accessbility Features in Adobe Reader 7 (http://www.webaim.org/techniques/acrobat/reader)
available from WebAIM (http://www.webaim.org/) , a website focussing on questions of accessbility and
the Web.
What Is this Graphic??: The Famous alt Attribute
If you are creating HTML pages by whatever means (including popular editors like Netscape Composer,
FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc.), you should include an alternate explanation of any graphics that you
include in your material. This allows the visually impaired who might be using a screen reader to speak
a page out loud to have description of the graphic they may not be able to see. Even mediocre editing
tools allow you to add this so-called "alt" attribute.
WebAIM (http://www.webaim.org/) has detailed articles on using the accessbility features of several
popular web authoring packages including FrontPage (http://www.webaim.org/techniques/frontpage/) and
Dreamweaver (http://www.webaim.org/techniques/dreamweaver/) .
For More Information
Effective Practices in Online Teaching: Accessibility - DE Oracle
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More information is available from UMUC's Accessibility in Distance Education (http://www.umuc.edu
/ade/) site.
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The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho
Richard Schumaker
Manager, Worldwide Training
Center for Teaching and Learning
Published: January-February 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-communication
Most online instructors realize that academic rigor in an online course comes from a combination of
scholarship, interaction, presentation, and the course syllabus itself. Often, however, a vital element in
this enumeration tends to get left out--conference design.
In this brief article, I would like to present three different patterns or models for designing WebTycho
conferences. These models have at least three virtues. First, they assist the teacher in presenting
material of considerable cognitive complexity. Secondly, they ground and provoke rich student-instructor
and student-student interaction. Thirdly, these models are all exceedingly flexible: they can
be altered by individual instructors to fit a wide range of teaching situations; they can also be modified
to suit individual students or groups of students. None of what follows is offered dogmatically; on the
contrary, teachers are encouraged to modify, experiment with, and expand all three of these patterns.
For the sake of simplicity, I am going to name the three patterns as follows:
The Problem Analysis Model (#prob)
The Devil's Advocacy Model (#adv)
The Information Literacy Model (#model)
In order to better present the three models, I would like to refer to single topic—the current decline in
the dollar vis-à-vis other major global currencies—throughout this article.
The Problem Analysis Model
Let's begin by taking a look at the Problem Analysis Model for organizing conferences.
1 The Instructor Introduces: the Demise of the Dollar?
Richard
Schumaker
2 >Team 1: A Disaster Waiting to Happen (12 responses) Warren Wade III
3 Team 2: American Economic Power Will Prevail (56 responses) Raoul Speranza
4 Team 3: Bravo--Good for Exports! (12 responses) John Dollops
5 Team 4: OK for Now but Current Accounts Need Strengthening (54
responses)
Paula Halston
6 Team 5: American Hubris from the Global Perspective (34 responses) Jan Smythe
The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
7 Instructor's Wrap-Up: Strong and Weak Points of This Discussion (6
responses)
Richard
Schumaker
8 Transition: Now Let's Look at the Political Dimension (1 response)
Richard
Schumaker
The instructor, Richard Schumaker, has chosen an especially complex problem from his course material
and has designed a conference around the problem itself. As one sees from the title of the first Main
Topic, the instructor has emphasized the problematic nature of the issue; hence the title—"The Demise
of the Dollar?" The instructor is communicating that this is an issue with different, opposing points of
view. Isolating a single topic and devoting an entire conference to it enhances the focus of the
teacher's presentation.
Looking at the conference as a whole, one readily sees that the teacher is striving for a balanced
approach. On the one hand, he is in firm control of the discussion. The instructor presents an
introduction to the problem itself; the instructor also recapitulates at the end of the conference; finally,
the instructor also supplies a transition to the next part of the course. On the other hand, the student
teams are responding to the question in the first Main Topic: they are taking clear positions on "the
demise of the dollar" and attempting to give a rhetorical spin to their ideas by altering the title line of
their Main Topic.
In this conference, the teacher is using teams. Obviously this does not have to be the case and will
vary from course to course and teacher to teacher.
In my experience as an online instructor this approach to conference design has a somewhat hidden
advantage; it accustoms the students to the focused discussion of complex issues; it sets a high
standard of intellectual rigor for later discussions.
The Devil's Advocacy Model
The second model might be called "The Devil's Advocacy Conference." Here is a typical example of it:
1 The "Devil" Speaks: The Dollar Will Crash--Very Soon!!! (4
responses)
Richard
Schumaker
2 Team 1: A Crash is Possible but Not So Soon (34 responses) Samuel Squall
3 Team 2: This Will Never Happen (23 responses) Janice Walls
4 Team 3: What Does the Devil Know? (17 responses) Fran Lositz
5 Team 4: The Devil's Squad: Let It Fall!!! (43 responses) Walt Koblenz
6 Team 5: It's All Politics, Stupid!! (12 responses) C.D. Roberts
7 Student's Recapitulation of This Discussion Jamie Rice
In this conference model the same teacher maintains at once a stronger and weaker presence than in
the first conference model. The instructor is stronger because his introduction to the conference is
much stronger: "The "Devil" Speaks: The Dollar Will Crash—Very Soon!!!" No longer is he merely
The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
presenting a problem; he's taking a very controversial, time-sensitive, and speculative stand. He is
somewhat weaker because he doesn't personally frame the conference with a summary and transition
material. His goal here is to give the students the opportunity to analyze the problem and propose their
own solutions. By taking a hyperbolic stand, he is being playful, urging the students to think for
themselves and express themselves in a decisive manner. This kind of discussion, in almost all cases,
becomes spirited, interesting, and inventive.
Different teachers will handle "devil's advocacy" conferences differently. Some will give precise
guidelines for administering the groups; some will let the students organize themselves. Some teachers
will intervene frequently; some will stand back and let the students debate amongst themselves. As in
the first conference pattern, using teams is not necessary. Each student in the course might have
posted their own Main Topic. It is also possible to appoint student moderators.
In my experience, this pattern of conference inevitable energizes a course; it adds intellectual
atmosphere and creativity to even a sober topic. It is also an ideal model for the middle of a long
course, at a point when tedium might tend to set in.
The Information Literacy Model
The following model offers an approach for integrating sophisticated skills in information literacy into
the natural flow of one's online class.
Here is the sample conference in WebTycho:
1 Instructor: Guidelines for This Conference (6 responses)
Richard
Schumaker
2 Team 1: The Economist Passes the Buck (2 December 2004) (32
responss)
Will Rasperly
3 Team 2: Morgan Stanley and the Infamous Soft Landing ( 4 June 02)
(32 responses)
Henry Bail
4 Team 3: Niall Ferguson's Historical Point of View Post ( 06.19.04)
(12 responses)
Martha Sparks
5 Team 4: Comparative Analysis of Our Three Sources (45 responses) Neal Netherby
6 Instructor Suggests Some Additional Sources (6 responses)
Richard
Schumaker
Once again, this conference is carefully designed by the instructor, who is attempting to maximize
student interaction without jeopardizing order or intellectual content. Guidelines are given in the first
Main Topic to give direction to the students' research. These directions, not visible in the above screen
shot, are precise without being patronizing:
In order to deepen our discussion of the current instability in international exchange rates, it is
necessary to locate incisive, informative sources and to evaluate them carefully. In conjunction with
your team, please survey library and WWW material on this situation. Find a single source that in the
opinion of your team contains all the criteria that your textbook author developed in Chapter 3. As a
Main Topic, give the source (live link or directions how to find it) and in a carefully written single
paragraph of under 300 words, explain why the chosen source is a valuable contribution to this
The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracle
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discussion. Change the subject line to name your source and, additionally, to reflect the thematic
content of your evaluation Please post your evaluation before 3 November 2004. Once the groups have
posted their evaluations, as individuals please post a response to one of the Main Topics.
The instructor also concludes the conferences by offering some key sources that he finds germane to
this discussion.
In a conference like this, the student discussions in fact serve double duty; the instructor can not only
discuss the economic issues themselves but can also assess the students' research skills and methods.
Conclusion
Each of these three model conferences enhances the cognitive complexity of the course discussions by
requiring students to carefully analyze thematic material. Because of the way the conferences are
designed, students must think for themselves, evaluate current sources, draw on their own experience,
and evaluate the points of view of others. All three of these conference designs act as springboards to
personal involvement on the part of the students and spirited, probing, and creative student-student
and student-teacher discussions.
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The Importance of Conference Design in WebTycho - DE Oracl
Five Habits for Effective Online Classes - DE Oracle
No full textDE Oracle @ UMUC
An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Five Habits for Effective Online Classes
Joan Berkowitz
Adjunct Faculty
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: July-August 2005
Category: » Online-pedagogy » Classroom-management
Five habits are key to the effective management of my online classes; these habits have endeared me
to my students and them to me. It's mutual, as it has to be.
Introduce yourself early and ask for advice (#earlyintro)
Have your course online on Day One (#day1)
Get to know your students (#knowyourstudents)
Stimulate class discussion (#stimdiscussion)
End on an up-beat (#upbeat)
Each habit is discussed below.
Introduce Yourself Early & Ask for Advice
If you have never taught an online class before, then as soon as your class roster is full, send an e-mail
to all the students. Tell them that this will be your first online class. Ask them for their advice about
what works and what doesn’t. In response, they will tell you how pleased they are to be asked, a good
start toward building trust and rapport. You will also learn a lot. If you've taught online before, you can
still request feedback early on what works and what doesn't.
Have Your Course Online on Day One
Lay out all 15 weeks of the course - lecturettes, readings, and assignments - before the term begins.
Make everything accessible to the students. There are three reasons.
1. It makes the students think you are well-organized.
More importantly, it frees you during the term to participate in class discussions and to interact with
each student based on his or her level of interest and experience. This is one of the major benefits and
joys of teaching online.
2.
3. It enables the students to plan their coursework around their own schedules.
I do not take off points for late submission of assignments. I do remind students of the perils of falling
behind. They all know that; it was the factor mentioned most often when I sent out my first e-mail
soliciting their advice on online teaching and learning. I don’t have to be a nanny; I do tell the
students, “If you expect to be away, get your assignments in early rather than late.” Many do just that.
All say how much appreciate the flexibility, even though few take advantage of it.
Get to know your students
How? I use two approaches:
In the Week 1 Conference, I ask the students to write an extended biography – where they
went to school, what degrees they have earned, what their current job is, what their previous jobs
were, where they are in the ENVM program, what their goals are, what they like to be called, and
1.
Five Habits for Effective Online Classes - DE Oracle
anything else that would help us to know them better. I provide them with my biography by way of
example. This exercise helps you to understand where your students are coming from and what they
have to contribute to your course. If a subsequent class discussion turns to aviation, for example, and
your aviator doesn’t participate, draw him out.
Also in the Week 1 Conference, I ask the students to read my objectives for the course as
given in the syllabus, and to write down their objectives, what they would like to get out of
the course. The responses help me tweak the course content. In the Week 5 and Week 10
Conferences, I ask the students to revisit their objectives, to indicate whether they are being met, and
if not, to suggest modifications to the curriculum. I take the responses very seriously. I either act on
the suggestions or say why I am not acting on them. One semester, a student expressed
disappointment that we would not be covering ecological risk as part of the environmental risk
assessment course. I explained that the basic principles were the same as those for human health risk
and that the student might choose a topic in ecological risk for a term paper. When the third student
expressed the same disappointment, I found a great paper on ecological risk and managed to fit it in.
2.
Stimulate Class Discussion
As part of every Conference, I require the students to comment or ask questions on the reading for the
week or on my lecturette.
Some instructors specify a conference discussion topic. I’ve tried it both ways and find I get a much
richer discussion if I leave it open-ended. When I provide a discussion topic, or even more than one,
the first five students cover the topic(s) well. The others simply agree. When I leave it open-ended, the
students ask good questions and expand on the subject.
One student commented that 85 percent of the discussion in my class was substantive, a far higher
percentage than in other online classes he had taken. In order to get an A, a student must contribute a
little something extra – a pertinent reference, a relevant example from their own experience
(particularly helpful), or an insightful comment or question.
I visit the classroom at least once a day and participate in conference discussions in 3 ways:
If I want to bring out a new point or move the discussion in a new direction, I add my two cents. I do
so not so much as the learned professor but as a member of the learning community, which is what I
am trying to create.
1.
If a student makes an obvious error or has clearly misunderstood 2. some of the material, I point it out.
If a student asks a question, I answer it. But one student told me, “Dr. B, don’t be so quick to answer
our questions. Give us a chance to respond to each other.” Now I wait a day before answering.
3.
In Week 15, when I ask for a final critique of the course, over half the class mentions how much they
learned from each other. As an afterthought, they say something nice about the professor. That doesn’t
do much for my ego, but I don’t have to prove how smart I am. My credentials speak for themselves.
My job is to give students confidence in how smart they are.
End On an Up-Beat
To round out the class, I have the students post their term papers. I require them to read at least one
paper other than their own and to provide feedback to the author. The students spend a lot of time on
their term papers. The work product is too good to be reserved for my eyes only. The students relish
the opportunity to read each others' work. They say they do not get that opportunity in other classes.
The discussion of the papers enhances the dialogue I foster throughout the semester. The papers
themselves convey a broader perspective on the many practical applications of the material we have
covered in class.
Sharing of the term papers does not quite make up for the end of class parties that I host for f2f
classes. Still, the compliments and constructive advice that the students get from each other on their
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papers end the class on an up-beat.
***************
In conclusion, I urge you to put out of your mind any comparison between f2f and online classes. Focus
on how to use the online medium to greatest advantage. We are all learning, teachers and students
together, and the process is a continual source of excitement, renewal, and fun.
About the Author(s)
Dr. Joan Berkowitz (BA, Chemistry, Swarthmore College; PhD, Physical Chemistry, University of Illinois) is a 2003-4
recipient of UMUC's Stanley J. Drazek Teaching Excellence Award (http://www.umuc.edu/faculty
/drazek_awards/2004-2005/berkowitz.html) . She has taught in UMUC's Graduate School of Management and Technology
ENVM program for 10 years. Her courses include Planning for Environmental Managers, ISO 14001, Land and Water Resource
Management, Watershed Planning and Management, and Environmental Risk Assessment. Joan is Managing Director of Farkas
Berkowitz & Company, a management consulting firm that assists companies in the environmental industry with strategic
planning, profitability improvement, and commercialization of technology. Prior to co-founding Farkas Berkowitz & Company,
with Alan Farkas, Joan was Vice President of Arthur D. Little, Inc., in charge of that firm's environmental practice worldwide.
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Faculty Toolbox_ Enhancing the Face-to-Face Classroom with WebTycho - DE Oracle
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An Online Learning Magazine for UMUC Faculty
Center for Support of Instruction
Faculty Toolbox: Enhancing the Face-to-Face Classroom with WebTycho
Enid Bank
School of Undergraduate Studies
Published: May-June 2005
Category: » Webtycho » Face-to-face
Computers, software, projection devices, and the Web are among the tools faculty use to enhance
teaching and learning. In the face-to-face (f2f) classroom, these tools expand the learning environment
by adding an electronic component. The use of PowerPoint slides to provide a visual guide to class
material is one popular tool for f2f classes; Web Enhancement (WE) is another.
Since the inception of WE in the summer of 1997, face-to-face (f2f) classes offered through Adelphi
have used WebTycho to enrich the learning experience for students. Today, all f2f classes are
automatically provided with WE. WebTycho has many functions that integrate well into a f2f classroom.
These include:
Announcements
Here is a place to share information between f2f sessions. Reminders of due dates, assignments, and
exam schedules can be posted. The announcement area is a perfect place to inform students of any
emergencies that may affect the next f2f meeting.
Syllabus
Although the f2f students receive a paper copy of the syllabus, posting it in the WebTycho classroom
assures added access to the data in case the paper copy is misplaced or the student wants to review
information and does not have the copy available.
Gradebook/Portfolio
Students always want to know how they are doing in the class. When faculty post grades in WebTycho,
students may access this information through their personal portfolio any time they wish to check on
their progress.
Study Groups
For students, one of the inherent problems with study groups is deciding when and where to meet. This
problem is solved by the creation of an electronic study group in WebTycho. Within the study group,
the users can conference asynchronously, chat in synchronous mode, and collaboratively work on a
document.
Reserved Readings
The UMUC Office of Information and Library Services can obtain the copyright to journal articles, books
chapters, newspaper articles, etc., and post the full text in the WebTycho classroom. The student just
clicks on the Reserved Reading function to review the information. For information on how to submit a
reserved reading request, please see Electronic Reserves on WebTycho (http://www.umuc.edu/library
/ereserve/resfaq.html) .
Conferences
In an online course, conferencing is the heart of the classroom. This is where the discussion of course
material takes place. For the f2f class, discussion is held inside the f2f classroom; however, there may
be occasions when a discussion might continue between f2f meetings in the WebTycho conference
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area. A summary of the discussion could be brought back to the next f2f meeting.
Course Content
This is a great place to post PowerPoint slides, lectures notes, FAQs, tutoring sessions, and other
supplemental material. Placing them in the Conferences section is also acceptable.
A Chinese proverb states: "Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." Once faculty open the door
to the electronic classroom, students will enter. Add Web Enhancement to your toolbox and participate
in the enrichment of teaching and learning.
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