June, 2006

Online Classroom - June, 2006 - Full Issue PDF
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The Instructor’s Challenge: Helping ‘Newbies’
By Maura A. Ammendolia, PhD
I have found that online courses typically contain students of varying degrees of technical expertise, computer experience, patience, and personal stamina. Consequently, classroom materials such as lectures, readings, and assignments should be designed with clarity and viewed from the perspective of the least-skilled user. In addition, technical support materials such as Web-based tutorials, help desks, and the services of other technical support staff must be readily available, easy to use, and practical. Finally, the instructor should develop personalized methods using e-mail, chat, teaming, and discussion tools to support students new to the online environment. Otherwise, overwhelmed students can easily disappear into cyberspace, becoming retention statistics.

Tips from the Pros - Should This Course Be Offered Online?
The following considerations, developed by Janet Smith Strickland and Judy Butler (see reference below), can help determine whether or not a particular course will be a good candidate for online delivery:

Online Presentations Encourage Critical Thinking, Peer Interaction
Online student presentations play a key role in developing students’ critical thinking and peer interaction in Patricia Schafer’s online nursing courses at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. This assignment, which counts for 25 percent of the grade, asks each student to produce a PowerPoint presentation on a topic related to his or her clinical and/or personal experiences with gerontology and to use the presentation to facilitate a threaded discussion.

Assessing Student Learning Online: It’s More Than Multiple Choice
By Elizabeth Reed Osika, PhD
As more and more instructors move their courses into the online environment, one consistent question that arises is, “How do I know what the students have learned?” The answer is not simple, but it can be effectively addressed with some common sense and a little bit of creativity.

To Plan Good Instruction, Teach to the Test
By Patti Shank, PhD, CPT
Building effective instruction involves multiple tasks, but planning is one of the most critical. For online courses, planning is especially important because even under the best of circumstances, online learners often struggle with understanding what’s expected of them; at a distance, they can get unbelievably frustrated (or worse) and stop trying. That’s one of the best reasons for using a systematic approach to planning your instruction. One of the best planning strategies for good instruction is teaching to the test.

Handling Student Excuses: A Delicate Balancing Act
By Errol Craig Sull, MA
We’ve all heard them: the death in the family, the problem with the computer, the illness, the new job with added responsibilities, the natural disaster, the “major” personal problems, and the good ol’ “things have just been overwhelming of late.” They’ve come so often that it is very easy to get a bit jaded and to begin looking at every excuse with suspicion. There are certainly instances in which the student’s excuse is legitimate; it then falls to the instructor to decide how much flexibility and leeway that that student should get with an assignment, quiz, etc. How do you decide on your response to a student’s excuse? What role should you play when a student is experiencing a difficult situation? How can you incorporate these excuses into your approach to teaching?