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[future online teacher]

I'm doing a training class to prepare for online courses I'll be teaching.  Part of the assignment is a very brief interview with someone who has done the same thing in the past.  If you've taught an online course (for a traditional or online school) or have incorporated a significant degree of online instruction in your traditional courses, I'd like to get your opinions on the following questions (or whichever are applicable to your experience):  

    * What were your initial concerns about online teaching?

    * What type of students took your online classes?

    * How was/is feedback managed?

    * How was weekly feedback provided?

    * How did you manage discussion threads that have close to 100 comments?

    * How much time did you invest in facilitating your courses?

    * How effective was the support structure for the first time facilitator?

    * How was attendance and grade reporting handled by the facilitator?

    * Do you have any additional tips, advice, or opinions about your experience to share?

Thanks for any info.  Those who wish their personal info to remain anonymous may do so by responding directly to me via email at hollywoodtunes@yahoo.com.

[Unanimous]

Online teaching is a great rip-off to the students.  It is nothing more than the old "correspondence school" with a different delivery method.  It is training, NOT education.  Real education happens face-to-face in the classrooms, the dorms, the coffee shops.  Training happens on the internet.future online teacher wrote:

[future online teacher]

I should mention that this does not necessarily have to be within a degree program. I'd be just as interested in hearing from someone who's done this within a business or other environment.

[Virtual Classroom]

* What were your initial concerns about online teaching?
That students do indeed miss something by not being in a face-to-face setting to interact with the educator and classmates

* What type of students took your online classes?
Adult students returning to school for a degree--most were already employed and a degree would simply increase their pay scale

* How was/is feedback managed?/How was weekly feedback provided?

At one school, weekly feedback is required. Some instructors use spreadsheets, while others write up "strengths/weaknesses" and grade for the week in an MS Word document

At a second school, instructors post comments in private communications with each student and in (attached) graded Word documents

* How did you manage discussion threads that have close to 100 comments?
At one school, I provided threads for assignments, comments, and misc. discussions that students were required to use--this made reading the posts manageable

At the second school, the students aren't required to log on everyday, so many show up only to submit assignments--in short, there will never be 100 comments on any given "page"

* How much time did you invest in facilitating your courses?
20 for course taught previously
30 hours for new course (incl. prep)

* How effective was the support structure for the first time facilitator?
Okay at both schools--not stellar

* How was attendance and grade reporting handled by the facilitator?
At one school, students were required to log in at least 4/7 days week
At second school, there is no such requirement--attendance not taken

Grade reporting
At one school, instructors keep their own gradebook (usually spreadsheet)
At second school, platform includes gradebook that instructors are required to use to record grade--it calculates the students' averages

* Do you have any additional tips, advice, or opinions about your experience to share?
Opinion:
Although I teach online, I have mixed feelings about the quality of education that students receive. The benefits of "traditional" educaiton cannot be replicated in an online environment.

However, there are some exceptionally bright students who have mentioned that, given their work/travel schedules, online classes offer them a way to earn a degree.

Tip #1:
Because you're teaching in an online environment, be careful what you write and document everything (CYA)

Tip #2:
Manage your time wisely. It's easy to get "sucked into" hours of sitting before a computer screen.

Advice:
Take from it what you will and enjoy the ride!


**Excuse any typos or errors--it's late and I'm exhausted:-)

[future online teacher]

Thanks Virtual Classroom.  Do you mind answering the following (by email at hollywoodtunes@yahoo.com if you prefer):  

Which institutions did you teach at? (You said two.  Were either online courses for a traditional school? If so, why online?)

What specific courses? Did you find the online environment particularly well suited to this subject or not?

[on-line person]

I've developed and taught a variety of on-line courses at my school, and mentor new instructor.  In answer to your questions:

* What were your initial concerns about online teaching?  I worried that classroom interaction and discussion wouldn't be as lively as in a traditional class.

* What type of students took your online classes?  Traditional-age undergrads and returning adults

* How was/is feedback managed?  I use a discussion platform, individual e-mail, and all -electronic submission and returnong of papers and exams -- all features in our software.

* How was weekly feedback provided?  See previous

* How did you manage discussion threads that have close to 100 comments?  If students get off-track I gently steer them; out software shows threads clearly and allows me to track each student's participation and input.

* How much time did you invest in facilitating your courses?  Getting them going is time-consuming -- I'd estimate a couple of solid weeks to get them up and running -- and then I'm on-line to check in at least twice a day.  Paper and exam grading takes the same amount of time as traditional classes, and student/teacher interaction has also been comparable in my experience.

* How effective was the support structure for the first time facilitator?  I was dropped in the deep end, since I was the pioneer instructor at my school.  The user manual was my bible.  Now that I'm mentoring, I hope that the support structure is quite effective ;-) -- I've always gotten positive feedback.

* How was attendance and grade reporting handled by the facilitator?  We can track students' log-in times and what they view each time.  We can also use a spreadsheet function to upload grades along the way, and each student sees just their grade and the class average.

* Do you have any additional tips, advice, or opinions about your experience to share?  Be ready to respond quickly in the electronic format, be very organized when you set up the course, and try to project your persona as an instructor.

[get real]

You obviously have no idea how great online courses can be.  I teach both traditional face-to-face and online courses with 20-year-olds who live in dorms and older students in both formats.  Just as there are there are truly awful f2f courses and online courses, there are truly great ones in both formats.  The quality has nothing to do with the format and everything to do with the design of the course and dedication of the faculty.  If you take old lecture notes, transcribed them, put them online and call it a course, it's going to be just as terrible if you read them out loud in class.  If you check in with an online course one a week for a couple hours, it's going to be a terrible course.

I teach the same course with exactly the same requirements both online and f2f.  While the experiences are very different for the student,  student evals from both groups are excellent.  Student grades are comparable.  I actually prefer the student discussions in the online format because the students are much more thoughtful than f2f.  A group of 25 20-year-olds who may or may have read the assignment, may or may not be hung over, may or may not be in the throes of some late adolescent angst will produce class discussions that vary tremendously in quality.  The class discussions in the online course  are consistently more lengthy, more insightful, and reflect a higher level or preparation.   These students are actually reading the material, thinking about it and responding to questions I've posted and other students.  Without my prompting, many online class discussions take off and the students discuss, disagree, cite opposing sources for their opinions., everything you want a classroom experience to be.