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[octoprof]

This year I simplified my life based on a suggestion from the fora. Have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section on your course module (maybe in week 1; maybe in a general section) to cut down on the amount of repetitious emails you get. In here I also posted a great lesson on how to write proper emails from larryc.

I do this, sort of. I have a learning module (listed first on the list, above Module 1) called "Things You Need To Know." In which I put all manner of random things they need to know, including a one page document explaining what a PDF is and how print to one from other applications and where to find the scanner at the library to scan a document to PDF. I also have some old exams there so they can see what my exams look like in a general way.

[prof_cj]

A) Welcome!

B) Any offered courses and guides by the institution in using the online system is a must if you have the time. If they don't offer it but you still have some time to kill before you start...explore. Learn the ins and outs. You'll be getting a lot of "I can't find the Uploaded Documents section" and "can I email it to you instead of using the DropBox section, it's too confusing" emails about 1/3 of the way through. This way, you can keep everything lined up.

C) You think in-person students like to wait until the last minute? Online students are literally at times, down to the wire by seconds. Be ready for floods of messages and posts at the most inopportune times.

D) Be prepared to, to an extend, treat it like an in-person classroom. "After so-and-so time EST, I do not check the system until the next day" goes a long way.

[jpson50]

What a great forum and thread. Thanks for the advice, octoprof in particular!

[dr_starbucks]

We had a similar discussion recently where LarryC posted a list of valuable advice.  I haven't mastered the search function but perhaps someone could post that here or coax Larry to repost that chart. 

[marigolds]

I find that repetition of course policies in multiple places--the syllabus, the announcement page, the course main page--is a good ida. I also have a policy that I have 24 hours to reply to an email, and I return papers within 7 days.

I'm taking an online pedagogy course now, and one recommendation was that you NOT repeat things in multiple places, but use links instead--that way any differences in wording are minimized and it trains them to look in The One Right Place eventually.

This made sense to me in theory since the idea of horizontal linking instead of reposting is what the Web is all about. Does this notion not actually work in the wild?

[octoprof]

I find that repetition of course policies in multiple places--the syllabus, the announcement page, the course main page--is a good ida. I also have a policy that I have 24 hours to reply to an email, and I return papers within 7 days.

I'm taking an online pedagogy course now, and one recommendation was that you NOT repeat things in multiple places, but use links instead--that way any differences in wording are minimized and it trains them to look in The One Right Place eventually.

This made sense to me in theory since the idea of horizontal linking instead of reposting is what the Web is all about. Does this notion not actually work in the wild?

I think the idea is to create things only once but link them as many times as you want. The problem I had is different CMS/LMS/whatever work differently. When I was using BBL CE 8 (WebCT), I drove the whole class from the calendar which linked to everything on it's due date (and often linked to things well ahead of the due date as "available now" which actually gets students to notice before the due date).  Unfortunately, the change to BBL 9.1 seems to come with a useless calendar from which I can't link anything, so I've changed my course organization (from the student's point of view) to be more learning module driven.

[mickeymantle]

Octoprof, I've been recently reading your posts here because I am taking an on-line training course.  It's been an eye-opening, even humbling, experience.  Thanks!

[octoprof]

Octoprof, I've been recently reading your posts here because I am taking an on-line training course.  It's been an eye-opening, even humbling, experience.  Thanks!

:o)

I hope your online training folk are as good as ours were. I would never have survived that first semester of online teaching otherwise.

[mickeymantle]

I will refrain from making comments about my instructors until the course is over, but I am a bit disturbed at the attitude that we must provide constant interaction for the students.  Is there no reciprocal relationship here (i.e., students must actually do the coursework) or are we just simply providing infotainment?

[octoprof]

I will refrain from making comments about my instructors until the course is over, but I am a bit disturbed at the attitude that we must provide constant interaction for the students.  Is there no reciprocal relationship here (i.e., students must actually do the coursework) or are we just simply providing infotainment?

What are they telling you you have to provide in terms of constant interaction?  Sounds over the top to me, mickeymantle.

Students who don't do the coursework in my courses fail. Period.*

*Of course, I'm teaching a mixture of traditional/hybrid/online classes at a traditional (non-profit publis) university. The standards for the course are the same regardless of delivery.  If you are teaching at a for-profit, I imagine your experience can be very different.

[luckychance]

I'm doing an intro level course online this summer and wanted to know if people record themselves doing actual lectures and post them online for the class. If so, do you do the full lectures (e.g., twice a week for 75 min each) that you would do during the semester or just include briefer segments? How do you make the videos available to students? I was thinking of using a Youtube channel.

[octoprof]

I'm doing an intro level course online this summer and wanted to know if people record themselves doing actual lectures and post them online for the class. If so, do you do the full lectures (e.g., twice a week for 75 min each) that you would do during the semester or just include briefer segments? How do you make the videos available to students? I was thinking of using a Youtube channel.

Yes, I record myself (voice over PowerPoint via Camtasia) but they are more numerous and shorter than what I do in a 75 traditional class meeting (same slides, more or less, but I chip them up into shorter videos and give the fundamentals). Because I teach a computation based course, I also record demonstration videos using a tablet PC and OneNote (and Camtasia screen capture).

The lectures and the demos are short and cover one topic or subtopic. A dew are longer because tomchop them into pieces would be confusion (such as when explaining the master budget). Most are under half and hour and many are in the 5 to 15 minute range.

The videos (and lots of other things) are available in BlackBoard (organized in Learning Modules) but if you want to do it outside your CMS try Vimeo.com . I've used that as well.

Never record/post a 75 minute lecture. No one will watch it. I try to keep almost all under 20 minutes. That's better for short attention spans and also easier for them to find the segment they want when studying later.

[luckychance]

I'm doing an intro level course online this summer and wanted to know if people record themselves doing actual lectures and post them online for the class. If so, do you do the full lectures (e.g., twice a week for 75 min each) that you would do during the semester or just include briefer segments? How do you make the videos available to students? I was thinking of using a Youtube channel.

Yes, I record myself (voice over PowerPoint via Camtasia) but they are more numerous and shorter than what I do in a 75 traditional class meeting (same slides, more or less, but I chip them up into shorter videos and give the fundamentals). Because I teach a computation based course, I also record demonstration videos using a tablet PC and OneNote (and Camtasia screen capture).

The lectures and the demos are short and cover one topic or subtopic. A dew are longer because tomchop them into pieces would be confusion (such as when explaining the master budget). Most are under half and hour and many are in the 5 to 15 minute range.

The videos (and lots of other things) are available in BlackBoard (organized in Learning Modules) but if you want to do it outside your CMS try Vimeo.com . I've used that as well.

Never record/post a 75 minute lecture. No one will watch it. I try to keep almost all under 20 minutes. That's better for short attention spans and also easier for them to find the segment they want when studying later.

Thanks; that's very helpful!

[mickeymantle]

Octoprof, I think this emphasis on interaction (i.e., keeping in constant touch with students) is not something just restricted to for=profit universities.  Colleges and universities in general are worried about enrollment, for various reasons, and this particularly pertains to on-line courses.

[octoprof]

Octoprof, I think this emphasis on interaction (i.e., keeping in constant touch with students) is not something just restricted to for=profit universities.  Colleges and universities in general are worried about enrollment, for various reasons, and this particularly pertains to on-line courses.

I don't have any directives on this (with regard to online teaching) from my university, but I do interact with the online students via email many times more frequently than when teaching traditional or hybrid courses. Mainly, I do this because I have no other way to discern their level of understanding or commitment or whatever. It also helps prod them to think of me as a person, not just a computer thing.

Of course, I expect them to respond! The ones that don't are clearly those that are not committed to the course. At some point you just can't force them to do the work, eh?