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[neophyte]

Hello everyone,
   My college offers quite a few on-line courses, a format I have never done.  There is a need to teach a particular science course (biology) this coming academic year, but no one available to teach it.  Somewhat reluctantly,  I agreed to take it on. I will receive some (though probably minimal) training.

Do any of you have any thoughts on how to put a course together on-line, especially a science class?  By the way, students are required to attend weekend lab sessions twice in the term.  

Any advice about on-line teaching would be appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

[%sig%]

[Dr. Zarkov]

Designing a course and teaching an online course are two separate activities, and you should be paid for both.  

The designer needs to be a subject matter expert and familiar with online teaching and the software being used (eg. Blackboard).  Pay ranges from 1K to 3K or more for designing an online course.

The teacher then takes the "shell" and actually runs the course.  Figure on typical adjunct pay for this, say 1K to 2K or more.

One person can, of course do both pieces, and in fact it is great when the designer can pilot the first run of the online course.

One suggestion is to try and teach an online course that has already been developed, or maybe get TA permission to sit in on a course.

[neophyte]

Thanks for your comments, Dr. Zarkov.  I am on the tenure-track at my college, and am (as you put it) "a subject matter expert."  I will be teaching the same course in person this fall, with the on-line class following in spring.
I will get no extra pay directly for the on-line offering -- rather, my regular teaching load will be reduced.

At our school we don't seem to have "prepared" or canned on-line classes, every instructor does it their own way.  Though I will inquire whether I can access older versions of the course to peruse them.  My big concern is how to relate the subject matter on-line and do a good job.  It seems so alien to me at the moment!!

[geneticist]

There are many online biology classes, labs, etc that can really help you out.  Depending on the online system you use, you can provide lecture notes (linked to sites of interest), audio (maybe with the correct pronunciation of specific terms), quizzes, discussions, chat rooms, and many other resources.  Don't make the mistake of assuming that the same materials for your in person class will work online.  Online materials require much more clarification, and you must be available online (check email and the online program often).  

You should be able to find sample online courses.  I know they are available at the WebCT site, and even if it's not in the same subject, they can really help with organization.  If you have never taken an online course, then you may want to see if you can take one this fall (find someone that's done it a while).  That way you can see what it is like from the student perspective, and it really helps.  I made sure to take an online course from my college before I took my course online, and it made all the difference.  In my case, I learned a lot of what not to do (it was not taught well), but hopefully you can find a good one.  Also, get the most you can out of that training.  It may be minimal, but sometimes you can get out more than the provide by reading between the lines.  It will be a ton of work, but I'm sure you'll get through it.  Good luck!

[neophyte]

Thank you, geneticist!  Those are good ideas I hadn't considered, especially the one on taking an on-line class myself!

[%sig%]

[geneticist]

Actually, one of the courses I took online was the course about how to set up an online course.  If your institution has one like that, it's a great option.

[neophyte]

Thanks again, geneticist.  Ours is an undergrad institution, so I suspect such a course doesn't exist.  But it's worth checking into at other universities!

[%sig%]

[marta]

Here's another site to check - I believe they have free demos you can download and play with.


http://blackboard.com/


Good luck!

Marta

[Dr. Zarkov]

marta wrote:

> Here's another site to check - I believe they have free demos
> you can download and play with.
>
>
> http://blackboard.com/
>
>
> Good luck!
>
> Marta

The other two members of "the big 3" are WebCT and eCollege:

www.webct.com  and www.ecollege.com

Find out which -- if any -- your school uses, and you can begin to check things out.  Also, most schools using one of these course management systems (CMS) have someone on staff called an instructional technologist (or something similar).  If so, ask about what help he/she can provide, and perhaps ask to see some existing courses.  

Also, about training, I took a class for online instructors offered by a school where I did some part time teaching, and it wasn't really that good.  Later I took the class for online instructors at "the really big proprietary school" and the training was excellent.  YMMV.

[Jennifer]

My advice is for what not to do...

I worked for a long time at a college in their online learning department. I helped professors post content to their courses, helped design their courses in many cases, and helped professors and students with problems. At least at this college, most professors simply translated their classroom courses to their online courses, and they gave multiple-choice tests since the system (we used Educator) could grade it, and then they let them run semester after semester with few updates! I was shocked that so many students were paying for this sub-par instruction! It was not teaching; the students could have simply read the textbook!

I have not taken an online course myself, but some of the things that friends of mine who have said they liked were:
1) Discussion boards with posted topics and required responses (part of the grade).
2) Assignment due date flexibility (but then again, doesn't everyone?)
3) Courses that are easy to navigate and understand.
4) Links to other sites.
5) Ability to email their professor and get a very timely reponse (within the day).

I think it's a great idea to be able to see other science online courses, especially from your university, and model what others are doing for the first time. Then, you will find out what works and what doesn't. Perhaps even ask students to contribute their experiences with your class at the end and suggest changes.

[neophyte]

Thanks to everyone for all their advice!

[Dr. Zarkov]

Although I have not read it (yet), Using Technology in Teaching by William Clyde &  Andrew Delohery got great reviews at Amazon.  (I have a copy on order.)