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"Active Online Teaching Strategies-Sharing Best Practices"

Conference Paper · January 2015

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Belinda Boon
Kent State University
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Revised 11-12-14 Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science

BEST PRACTICES FOR ONLINE TEACHING

Guidelines for SLIS Instructors

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

1. USE THE SLIS COURSE TEMPLATE IN BLACKBOARD LEARN (BBL) FOR COURSE DESIGN AND TEACHING
 Contact the Instructional Design (ID) staff to set this up
o Ben Hollis (rbhollis@kent.edu) or Kristen Chorba (kchorba@kent.edu)

2. DEVELOP ASSIGNMENTS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES THAT ALIGN WITH STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 VIDEO: Developing Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students have attained as a
result of their involvement in a particular set of educational experiences.

3. RECORD LECTURES USING VIDEO AND AUDIO

 Instructions available at the OCDE Online Teaching Resource Library

4. INCLUDE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS FOR LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS IN THE SYLLABUS AND IN THE BBL COURSE
MODULES

5. SET CLASS NORMS AND NETIQUETTE EXPECTATIONS

6. GO “OUTSIDE THE ASSIGNMENT BOX” TO ENCOURAGE ACTIVE LEARNING WITH YOUR STUDENTS
 EX: use wiki spaces for collaborative activities

7. ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO BECOME RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN LEARNING

 EX: allow students to teach some of the course topics
 EX: include a student cover sheet for written assignment

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NOTE: The content of this handout was developed using the Community of Inquiry model defined by Taft (2011), Anderson et al. (2001), Garrison
et al. (2000), Brook and Oliver (2003), and Fish and Wickersham (2009).
Revised 11-12-14 Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science

ESTABLISHING A TEACHING PRESENCE

VIDEO: Creating Presence and Community in the Online Classroom

Establishing a presence as the instructor of an online course means using effective course
development and design, such as providing a clear and specific syllabus, and asserting intellectual
leadership to facilitate student learning. Students should feel like they’re being taught!

RECOMMENDED COURSE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:

Online Tools to Use* - consult with the Instructional Designers (Ben & Kristen) to help match tools to outcomes, goals & activities

WHAT TO DO HOW TO DO IT ONLINE TOOLS TO USE*

 Offer synchronous online office  Face-to-face meetings  Collaborate (Blackboard Learn)
hours to support student learning  Telephone consultations  Skype
and knowledge development  Online audio/video  KSU Google Hangouts

 Engage in personal  Email greetings  BBL or KSU email

communication with students,  Posted or recorded welcome  Blackboard Video Tool
individually or as a group messages (audio or audio+video)  Other lecture capture software
 Post announcements on the BBL (e.g. Camtasia, Mediasite)
course page

 Provide recorded lectures and  Audio + video (highly  Mediasite

assignment explanations
 Provide direct (synchronous
instruction)
recommended)  Audacity (audio only)
 Audio only (at minimum)  Screencast-o-matic
 PowerPoint (with audio)
 Develop seminar or lecture courses  Collaborate (BBL)
 Facilitate meetings with students  Google Hangouts
 Set up student group work space

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Revised 11-12-14
RECOMMENDED FACILITATION ACTIVITES:
WHAT TO DO
 Interact regularly with students,
individually or in groups
 Create a positive learning
environment to stimulate learning
 Communicate clear expectations
for student work
 Assist students in knowledge
construction (applying, integrating
and synthesizing information)
 Diagnose and correct
misconceptions by providing direct
feedback
 Assess students’ learning efficacy*
*The student’s ability to reach
goals and complete tasks
 Provide formative** and/or
summative*** feedback on weekly
discussions and other assignments
**Formative feedback is usually done “on the fly” to catch and correct deficiencies in students’ understanding of the course content.
***Summative feedback is normally provided at the end of a course to assess the students’ overall ability to meet the course
outcomes.
Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science
HOW TO DO IT ONLINE TOOLS TO USE
 Email  Collaborate (Blackboard Learn)
 Participate in online group  KSU Google Hangouts
discussions  BBL Discussions
 Conduct chat sessions with
individuals or groups
 Show respect for students by your  Email
conversational tone and word choice  BBL Discussions
 Provide explicit instructions in the  BBL Rubrics
syllabus and individual course
modules
 Provide detailed assignment sheets
in addition to syllabus descriptions
 Provide handouts and checklists
 Act as the intellectual leader in  Varying
discussions (consult with ID staff for options
 Refer students to new information based on case)
sources
 Monitor or facilitate weekly  BBL Rubrics
discussions  BBL Grade Center
 Provide individual or group feedback  BBL Assessments
 BBL Discussions
 BBL Announcements
 Contact students who haven’t logged  KSU Email
onto the course page within 2 days of
the start date
 Respond to questions within 24 hrs.
 Communicate with students,  BBL Rubrics
individually or in groups  BBL Grade Center
 Record responses to student  BBL Announcements
comments in your weekly lectures
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Revised 11-12-14 Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science

ESTABLISHING A SOCIAL PRESENCE

When both the instructor and the student engage socially and emotionally with each other and the
course content they are establishing a social presence. Following are recommended activities to help
encourage interactions student interactions with the instructor (Student-Instructor), between
students (Student-Student) and between students and the content (Student-Content)

RECOMMENDED STUDENT-INSTRUCTOR & STUDENT-STUDENT ACTIVITIES:

WHAT TO DO HOW TO DO IT TOOLS TO USE

 Introduce yourself and share
aspects of your own personality
with students
 Give students an opportunity to
introduce themselves and share
aspects of their own personalities
 Create an instructor bio  Mediasite
 Record a welcome video  iSpring, Articulate (PPT +
 Include photos or videos of audio)
yourself in non-work settings  Camtasia (record screen)
 YouTube mywebcam (record
self via webcam)
 Allow or require student bios  BBL Discussions
 Use social networking tools  BBL Blogs
 YouTube mywebcam

 Give students the opportunity to  Students conduct individual or  Collaborate (Blackboard

interview each other group interviews Learn)
 Incorporate “ice breaking”  KSU Google Hangouts
activities  BBL Discussions
 Give students opportunities to  Have students work in groups of  BBL Groups
complete large- and small-scale 1-3 or 4-6  KSU Google Docs
projects together  Collaborate (Blackboard
TIP: Maintain the same group Learn)
memberships for 7-week courses;  KSU Google Hangouts
group members may switch in a 10-
 BBL Discussions
or15-week course
 KSU Presenter

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Revised 11-12-14
RECOMMENDED STUDENT-CONTENT ACTIVITIES:
WHAT TO DO
 Provide practice options such as
worksheets, hands-on activities
and exercises
 Incorporate case studies in your
classes
 Use annotated bibliographies
 Develop formal student
assessments
 Demonstrate activities
 Provide interactive study guides
 Facilitate field trips
Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science
HOW TO DO IT TOOLS TO USE
 Worksheets  BBL Assignments,
 Hands-on activities Assessments, Journals,
 Exercises Discussions
 KSU Google Docs
 Have students write summaries  BBL Assignments,
 Have students discuss in groups Assessments, Journals,
Discussions
 KSU Google Docs
 Provide them as handouts  BBL Assignments,
 Have students develop their own Assessments, Journals,
Discussions
 KSU Google Docs
 Develop quizzes, tests, exams  BBL Assignments,
 Develop critiques for student Assessments, Journals,
presentations Discussions
 KSU Google Docs
 Record video lectures  Mediasite
 Create screencast tutorials  iSpring, Articulate (PPT +
audio)
 Camtasia (record screen)
 YouTube mywebcam (record
self via webcam)
 Include hyperlinked resources  BBL Items
 BBL Links
 On-site or virtual (e.g. video  Mediasite
tours)  iSpring, Articulate (PPT +
audio)
 Camtasia (record screen)
 YouTube mywebcam (record
self via webcam)
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 Revised 11-12-14
 Guest lectures (live or recorded)
 Guest interviews (live or
recorded)
NOTE: Either students or the
instructor may arrange for guest
speakers
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Belinda Boon, KSU School of Library & Information Science
 Allow students to ask questions  BBL Assignments,
during or after the presentation Assessments, Journals,
(e.g. Mediasite, email, discussion Discussions
boards on BBL)  KSU Google Docs
 Require students to provide
written or oral feedback (e.g.
discussion posts or videos)
 Interview a guest speaker  Collaborate (Blackboard
(optional: prepare and send Learn)
questions to the speaker in  KSU Google Hangouts
advance)  Mediasite
 Allow students to be guest  iSpring, Articulate (PPT +
speakers to share their expertise audio)
 Allow individual or small groups of
 Camtasia (record screen)
students to interview the guest
speaker  YouTube mywebcam (record
self via webcam)
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