OLT provides some easy to access resources for Faculty who are new to teaching in distance education. Here are a couple of resources that you can download or print and save for easy reference:
Category: Start of Term
Learners, Instructors and teaching support staff are involved in different activities at each of the stages of a course or program. These stages may break down (simply) as:
- Getting In
- Getting Started
- Getting Through
- Getting Out
When planning a course or program, its helpful to consider the things that learners will be expected to do at each stage of the game and build from there to consider the role of the instructor and the institution in supporting that activity. The Learner Support Framework (developed at OLT) is a useful resource.
For instructors new to teaching online, it may also be helpful to keep track of the various teaching tasks that you’ll want to pay attention to in these areas:
- Pedagogical: Guiding student learning with a focus on concepts, principles, and skills.
- Social: Creating a welcoming online community in which learning is promoted.
- Managerial: Handling organizational, procedural, and administrative tasks.
- Technical: Assisting participants to become comfortable with the technologies used to deliver the course.
The CSU Center for Distributed Learning offers some tools and checklists that you may find helpful:
Assessing Online Facilitation Instrument
Both of these tools were developed to assist instructors in objectively reviewing their roles as online facilitators.
- Image by leighblackall via Flickr
Recently, Larry Ragan, Director of Faculty Development for Penn State’s World Campus, was asked “how would you rank the critical competencies for teaching online? Here are the 6 he identified:
1. Teaching and Learning
- State objectives, expectations, & policies
- Establish communication rules & group decision-making norms
- Give prompt, effective feedback
2. Technology Aptitude
- Know the LMS
- Seek technology assistance
- Be creative and flexible
3. Classroom Administration/ Management
- Check & manage roster
- Submit grades according to University policy
- Manage drop/adds
4. Faculty Workload Management
- Define time frames
- Develop schedule & responsibilities
- Communicate expectations
5. Building Community
- Foster dialog & interaction
- Provide for “space” for instructional & social interactions
6. Attitude/Philosophy
- Be open minded
- Take some risks
- Be willing to fail (with support net!)
Read the full article from the Distance Education Report, November 15, 2009
How Would You Rank the Critical Competencies for Teaching Online? (pdf)
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Categories
Back to school
It’s close to that time again! If you are new to teaching in distance education, you’ll likely be looking for a few tips to get you started on the right track. Here’s a snippet:
- Connect with your learners at the start of term (Sept. 2nd for most of us). The Faculty Service Centre is the best way to do this if you are teaching a print based course or if you want to be in touch before your online course officially opens. You’ll need to know your course and section number. For distance education, the Sept. term is Term A.
- Print off your list of Key Contacts for DE. This will come in handy through the term.
- Bookmark the DE Instructors’ Guide. This is where you’ll find information and resources about distance teaching.
- Bookmark the e-Learning site. This is where you’ll find information about upcoming training sessions for WebCT Vista and other course technologies.
You may also want to reference the Teaching Tips for Online and Print. They’re both short reads and full of links and resources to get you off to a good start for Fall 2008!
Happy start of term, all!
Categories
Easing into Fall Term
Seems like summer never quite got off the ground and the start of fall term is next week! If you are thinking about your distance courses, here are a few reminders to get you going:
- Review your course site. Courses are typically cleaned out and re-set before the start of term. Check with your course developer to find out when you can have access to it to check links and review content.
- WebCT servers will be challenged with the start of term volume. Remind your students to log on during mid-day (rather than evening) whenever possible – they’ll be less frustrated. You may want to check for updates on the WebCT upgrade project – periodically.
- Check your class list on the Faculty Service Centre.
- Send a welcome message to your students via the Faculty Service Centre. Online instructors usually do this as soon as the term starts (Tuesday, Sept. 4th). Print based instructors may want to wait until the close of registration (Sept. 18th).
- Check out OLT’s DE Instructors’ Guide and Instructors’ Resources – especially if you are new to teaching a distance course.
Note that there all many upcoming opportunities for learning about WebCT and Vista – both online and in-person. Check for upcoming events on the e-learning or TAG websites.
Happy start of term!
Categories
Welcome back!
It’s deceptively quiet on campus today. Some of us are still recovering from the “holiday” and others are in full prep mode for the start of term next week.
On that note, here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you head into next week:
* WebCT servers will be challenged with the start of term volume. Remind your students to log on during mid-day (rather than evening) whenever possible – they’ll be less frustrated. You may want to check for updates on the WebCT upgrade project – periodically.
* Check your class list on the Faculty Service Centre.
* Send a welcome message to your students via the Faculty Service Centre. Online instructors usually do this as soon as the term starts (Monday, Jan 8th). Print based instructors may want to wait until the close of registration (January 22nd).
Note that the Teaching and Learning with Technology series starts up again on January 30th. Watch for upcoming events on the OLT or TAG websites.
Happy start of term!
Categories
January…coming soon!
Time to prepare for another term start. Here are a few things you may want to do in preparation for the start of another term:
If you’re a new instructor, be sure to familiarize yourself with the OLT Instructor’s Guide
You may also want to download the full Term Prep Checklist (pdf)
Weblogs can be used for many purposes. This one is for sharing information relevant to teaching a distance course at UBC. So far, this has kind of been a one way street. But what about you? I’m sure many of you have comments, stories and issues to share with your colleagues, perhaps you’d like to seek some feedback or generate a discussion. One way to do this is through the use of Comments.
Click on the word Comments at the bottom of this entry and try it out! Your comment will appear as soon as it has been approved (annoying, I know, but the approval process cuts down on spam).
You might also want to post an entry on a subject of interest. In this case, for now, please send it to me and I will post it. If you want to post regularly, let me know and we’ll set you up as an author on the blog.
That’s all there is to it! Comment away!
Cindy
For whatever reason, many students seem to be confused this term. Here are some of the more common confusions:
Is my course online or print-based?
How do I get my course materials?
When is my course going to start – I don’t see it on my webCT list (it’s a print-based course)?
As you know, students are sent a welcome email at the start of the term by our Course Support Liaison. You should have received a copy of this. If not contact our CSL. Sadly, some students have set their spam filters on high alert and consequently some of the emails were not received.
Here are a few things you can do to help un-confuse the confused (when they contact you):
inform the CSL of any course materials issues that students encounter at the Bookstore (so she can follow up).
Cindy
This August, UBC’s e-Learning Institute is leading 3 hands-on WebCT
workshops aimed at helping instructors prepare for the upcoming fall term.
Sessions are scheduled for August 28 & 29 and cover the basics of setting up
a WebCT course, getting started with quizzes and assessments and promoting
community in your online course through the use of communication tools.
Register now, space is limited:
WebCT Workshops
Spread the word to interested colleagues in the UBC teaching community.
We gratefully acknowledge funding for this Institute, provided by UBC
students through the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund
(TLEF).