I was reading an article about critical thinking and educational technology, and came across the following aspects of a successful teaching program:
- Motivated – the student should be deliberately practising in order to improve skills
- Guided – the student should have some way of knowing what to do next
- Scaffolded – particularly in early stages, there should be structures preventing inappropriate activity
- Graduated – tasks should gradually increase in complexity
- Feedback – the student should have some way of telling whether a particular activity was successful or appropriate
I believe this is true not only for online teaching, but for teaching in any occasion. Keeping these aspects in mind, I can be more confident that I’m teaching the students, not the subject.