Teaching Tips

What Online Students Want to Tell Faculty

• Design a course that is clear and well organized.  Make sure we know what is expected and when.  Clear deadlines are important to students.  "Course outlines should better outline all the assignments that must be completed.  That way it would be easier to gauge your time.”
• Designing your course to promote quality interaction between faculty and students and among students is essential.  Consider emphasizing the course conference by making it a part of your class assessment possibly as a substitute for test, paper, or project.
• Be patient and available.  Remember some of us are first time online learners and are still trying to figure out this method of teaching and learning.
• Facilitate student access to other students by helping them share email and phone numbers so they can communicate among each other easily.
• If you use testing for assessment, clarify what material is most important and would be emphasized on tests.
• Be accessible.  "Professor X sent emails of concern.”  "Quick response to my questions.”  "You could email at any time with a question or comment.”
• If you are going to assign group projects, do so with the knowledge that we signed up for these courses due to their time flexibility.
• Put yourself into the class.  "The professor was always available, encouraging and even made the lessons humorous by adding personal tidbits.”  "She gave us constant feedback and encouragement.”
• Think about your role in the discussion.  Students want you to be present.  "The instructor responded to almost all postings, he gave very good feedback and insight.”  But students also want to hear each other’s voices.  " She let us discuss topics amongst ourselves and added her feedback.”
• Make sure students have the ability to communicate with you alone, outside of the course conferences.  "Online your questions to the instructor are posted so the whole classroom can see them.  Sometimes it has made me feel stupid to ask a question that everybody in the classroom already knew.”
• Give frequent feedback on assignments so students have a sense of what they have mastered and where they need to focus attention.
• Your presence in the class is important.  These courses should not be seen by the student as "self-taught."