Week 8 - Classroom Management: Special Issues

Until I read this chapter I really had not thought about problem students in an online class. It seems the instructor must be a psychology major, in addition, to detect odd personalities in an online situation.  Bullying, cheating, identity theft, controlling, and conniving, can all take place in this type of classroom situation. It is important that an instructor do some reading about the different types of personalities, as depicted in Chapter 11 of Online Teaching, and then be ready to inform the administration if a student is not acting normally. The instructor should be sure and save copies of all correspondence with any unusual student. An instructor can also possibly ward off problems with a personal and private email to the student, trying to lead him or her down a different path or get off a certain subject. However, bear in mind that anything typed into a discussion forum does not necessarily reflect the context in which the student meant the words. "Some instructors post their own classroom codes of conduct at the beginning of the class to help set boundaries for students." (Ko and Rossen, p. 229)

Week 8 - Classroom Management: General Considerations

When I think of classroom management I remember all the trouble I had teaching vocational 11th and 12th graders in person! My management skills were lacking. I hope that it is easier in the online environment.  Somehow setting rules for email, chat, rules for group participation and "non-rules" for attendance at a certain time seems silly in comparison to setting rules for language in class or permission to use the facility.
However, all kidding aside, the amount of paperwork and software management (here is a site that will offer software and billing capabilities for your course http://www.jackrabbitclass.com/home.cfm) that an online teacher faces is tremendous. Things like synchronous and asynchronous time can cause minor inconveniences. Advanced planning is of the utmost importance as well. Even keeping students on topic in a discussion area must be well- thought out.

Week 8 - Preparing Students for Online Learning

A good facilitator must "lead the way" for the online learner. You must assume that every student is brand new to online learning. They must be walked step-by-step through what is expected and most importantly, how to use the technology available and how to navigate the course. New students will be very uneasy the first couple of weeks. I remember how scared I was to take my first online course. And I had many technology skills already! Think of the learners that are "slow" with technology tools, or even keyboarding. Here is a link to Ball State University's orientation tips for online learners. It's great, short and sweet: http://www.bsu.edu/web/iandt/tutorial/orientation8.htm

Week 7 - Chapter 8 Copyright and Intellectual Property

So you have become a great online teacher!!!! Better protect all that work you did preparing a terrific course. You can try and protect YOUR property in some of the following ways: using password protected sites or course management systems, use software that allows you to protect your work from being copied, use Adobe Acrobat for some protection capabilities, use streaming video that can't be copied. Here is a site that we use where I work in a school district: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/scc/legislative/teachkit/.

Week 7 - Chapter 7 Creating Courseware

The actual design and homepage of the webpage is the most important tool for your online course. It can make or break you. A webpage must have a nice look to it with a simple background and lots of white space. You need consistency and repetition within a website. You also need contrast. Text should be mainly left-aligned (the normal way) and you shouldn't be forced to scroll forever to read things. Be reasonable with your choice of fonts and don't clutter a homepage with lots of links all over. Don't use too many graphics and too much multi-media. less is more. I loved going to http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/webhound/index.html to surf with the webhound for "the good, bad and bandwidth-hogging ugly". This link is a riot and gives you great examples of what not to do. The financial support of the institution you work for will also help determine how you create your site and how professional it may look.

Week 7 - Chapter 6 Student Activities

This chapter was of particular interest to me as I am planning to create a lesson plan about collaborative, group learning in the online environment. I don't have it all planned out yet, but this chapter in Ko's and Rossen's book, Teaching Online A Practical Guide has helped me start planning my lesson. Group work can be designed to be a lot or a little work for the participants, but it must be guided very specifically by the instructor. For example, the instructor must prepare the way by getting the class to introduce themselves early on. Then the instructor should choose the groups to work together (considering things like time zones and interests) and leave specific instructions and rubrics for the group to work together. (For rubrics see http://www.sjsu.edu or http://webquest.sdsu. ed u/rubrics )The instructor should make sure they are evaluated separately as well as evaluating the group work. Reflection of the group assignment is also important for the individual's learning process.