By Maria Albo

Teaching online presents unique challenges for faculty. One of the things that typically surprises new instructors the most is the amount of up-front work that is required in designing an online course. At UNG, we use the Quality Matters rubric to guide faculty through the “development, evaluation, and improvement” of online classes (https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/rubric-standards/higher-ed-publisher-rubric).

The QM rubric represents best practices in course development and assessment, which includes having appropriate materials and resources available from the start.  Strategies for online course delivery will vary depending on course level, discipline and learning objectives.  However, investing in your course setup and maintaining an active presence in the virtual classroom is the key to success for an online instructor.

Many faculty new to online teaching underestimate the amount of time it takes to develop a new online course. Teaching face-to-face allows for a certain amount of improvisation. However, teaching online requires more up-front work in designing and constructing course materials into the learning management system. Part of online teaching success is about basic course organization. Taking the time to set up your course will help guide your students throughout the semester, provide comfort to new online learners, and free you up to focus on providing interaction and regular feedback.

Once the class is set up and all materials are updated, it is time to begin teaching the course.  It is essential for you to be present and visible in the online classroom and help facilitate communication in the virtual class environment throughout the semester.  Consider posting weekly updates and announcements to help remind students of deadlines and reiterate requirements laid out in the syllabus.  In addition, weekly announcements can also be used to clarify upcoming assignments and share supplemental course material. Many students feel isolated when taking an online course, and your presence can compensate for the lack of face-to-face presence, increasing the likelihood of student success. DETI offers a number of tips for faculty on their website, highlighting best practices for online teaching:

https://my.ung.edu/departments/distance-education/Pages/faculty-resources/best-practices.aspx

One of the biggest challenges I have faced as an online instructor was a lack of interaction among students on the discussion board. Students would procrastinate until the deadline, and the timing of the discussion board postings did not allow for peer interaction. Most courses follow a similar structure for the discussion board—original postings and responses to classmates.  However, this does not necessarily encourage meaningful engagement among students.

In an effort to combat this problem, I began developing open-ended “questions for the class,” which I use to encourage ongoing dialogue and opportunities for students to further apply what they are learning.  In addition, I began staggering the due dates of the responses, which obliges students to participate regularly on the discussion board. Once an initial posting is completed, students have access to the “questions for the class” so they can begin engaging without having to wait for their classmates to post. This approach has increased engagement in my online courses, with positive feedback from students.

Rick Reis of Stanford University offers additional hints for discussion postings based on conversations with experienced online faculty in this blog posting: https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/1091

Lastly, make sure to set aside time each week to keep up with grading.  The nature of online courses means you will likely have more grading as opposed to a face-to-face course. Students appreciate prompt and meaningful feedback, especially when it can be applied to future assignments. In addition, students who are new to taking online courses may be nervous about not physically “seeing” you, and your comments can be comforting to an isolated online learner. Frequent feedback allows you to maintain a connection with students in the virtual classroom and improves the overall experience for instructor-student interaction.