Unit 2 - Online Teaching Techniques

I leave here some tips and tricks for teaching online:how to teach like a pro!

Teaching online is an alternative to teaching in a classroom. Sometimes instructors use teaching in classroom methods while teaching Online.

Sometimes online instructors may feel inadequacy and illprepared.

For teaching online, the instructor needs to use multiple tools and the internet.
Then, the course must be prepared early, the learning invironment must be structured and all the materials that are needed introduced.
Planning and preparating a course is necessary even before the course is open to students.Course objectives must be defined, early posting and late work policy defined.Sometimes it is necessary to define deadlines for the students work.
the instructor must attend to the student´s expectations, that should be clearly defined.
Students must always be awared to save their work in two or more storage device.
In the first day of the course, the instructor must break the ice and welcome the students to his course.Sometimes using emoticons helps.
Communication is always needed.
The teacher can define whether students can work in groups or not. If so, he can define the number of elements for each group. The ideal is 4 students per group.
Finaly, it is necessary to assess the students and instructor's work. See what went well and what went wrong and if necessary make some improvements for the next season.
Students can improve the teacher's teaching by sending feedback, and this can be done at any time, not only at the end of the course.
When the course is finished, at the end of the semestre,course or year the instructor should revise and refine both course design and teaching.
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In the previous post i didnt answer these 2 questions:
What are the implications of using individual and group assignments in online education?
How can we secure a reasonable workload for online teachers?
First in the article Online Study Orientation to Online Study, i found this important information about online courses.

"Elements of Online Courses

Online courses at UMUC often include the following elements:
■Asynchronous, frequent student and faculty participation
■Lectures and assigned readings (from textbooks and online resources)
■Individual and group assignments (for example, case studies and discussion questions)
■Individual and group papers
■Literature analyses
■Use of online library resources
■Online quizzes and exams. "

Using individual and group assignments in online education is another question.
Evaluating an online group activity
Another question emerged from this issue: How Fair are Group Assignments?

second to answer the question How can we secure a reasonable workload for online teachers?, i found this article that contains all the important information: The Online Teacher's Workload--What to Expect and How to Handle It, that was written By Elizabeth Armentor, focusing aspects like "Teachers want to help their students succeed in class, and technology has improved their accessibility. Instead of waiting to talk after class or going to your office hours, a student can shoot off an email at midnight and you can answer it the next morning. An online class increases the prevalence of this phenomenon, but being too available can quickly lead to the impression that you're always "on call." This can contribute to burnout. Consequently, organization and time management are the keys to handling the workload of an online class. "
you as a teacher must Organize Your Workspace, Organize Yourself, Organize your Class,Automate When Possible, Set Boundaries and specialy Be Patient.
In the article How to manage your Online Teacher workload , i found another perspective of how to organize the teacher's work as the author's say "Quite often when considering online workload issues, it can be tempting to focus on how to minimise it, though care should be taken as reducing workload can have a negative impact on student workload and learning quality. It may be more productive to think about how to manage online teacher workload effectively and this can be done in context with maintaining overall learning experience. Online teaching workload can be managed through successful time and information management, aspects of course design and effective teacher and technical support."
Aspects like Time management, Information management, Course design, Technologies, Timing and structure, Teacher Support and Technical Support must be considered.

"You will find, with experience, that you develop your own strategies for managing your workload, depending on the type of programme you are teaching, your students and your work arrangements. It may be that some workload management strategies need to be provided by your employer whilst others depend upon your own awareness and needs. With attention to time and information management, sympathetic course design and suitable support, you should be able to find an approach that works for you and allows you to manage your workload effectively."