The Online Teaching Survival Guide

Judith V. Boettcher is a nationally known consultant and author on online distance learning. She has led faculty support organizations at Penn State University, Florida State University, worked with faculty at the University of Florida and Duquesne University and is the founder and principal of Designing for Learning. She is a frequent keynoter at teaching and learning conferences, conducts faculty workshops on best practices in online learning, consults on program designs, and coaches individual faculty. Judith is the coauthor with Rita-Marie Conrad of two editions of the Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web (1999, 2004) published by the League for Innovation and the first edition of The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips (Jossey-Bass, 2010). Rita-Marie Conrad is an online educator, award-winning author, and digital learning strategist in the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of California, Berkeley. She works with hundreds of faculty nationally as an online workshop facilitator on the topic of designing online instruction for the Learning Resources Network (LERN). Rita-Marie developed and taught online courses at Florida State University as well as several other universities. She also served as the instructional strategist for Duke University's Institute for Educational Excellence. Rita-Marie co-authored The Faculty Guide for Moving Teaching and Learning to the Web (1999, 2004), Engaging the Online Learner (2004, 2011) which received the 2012 IAP Distance Education Book award, Assessing Learners Online (2008), The Online Teaching Survival Guide: Simple and Practical Pedagogical Tips (2010), and Continuing to Engage the Online Learner (2012).

List of Tables, Figures, and Exhibits xv Foreword xvii Preface xxi Acknowledgments xxii About the Authors xxiii Introduction xxv PART ONE: CORE PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES OF ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING 1 1 Teaching Online: The Big Picture 3 Preparing to Teach in the Online and Blended Environments 4 Uh ]Oh. What Did I Say I Would Do? 4 Is This You? 5 The Definition of a Course 6 How Do Online and Blended Courses Differ from Traditional Courses? 8 Types of Online and Blended Courses 10 The Four Stages of a Course 13 Learning Theories and Theorists 13 Summary and What s Next 22 2 Pedagogical Principles for Effective Teaching and Learning: Ten Core Learning Principles 23 Background of the Ten Core Learning Principles 25 Ten Core Learning Principles 26 Principle 1: Every Structured Learning Experience Has Four Elements, with the Learner at the Center 27 Principle 2: Learners Bring Their Own Personalized and Customized Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes to the Learning Experience 30 Principle 3: Faculty Mentors Are the Directors of the Learning Experience 32 Principle 4: All Learners Do Not Need to Learn All Course Content; All Learners Do Need to Learn the Core Concepts 33 Principle 5: Every Learning Experience Includes the Environment or Context in Which the Learner Interacts 35 Principle 6: Every Learner Has a Zone of Proximal Development That Defines the Space That a Learner Is Ready to Develop into Useful Knowledge 36 Principle 7: Concepts Are Not Words But Organized and Interconnected Knowledge Clusters 37 Principle 8: Different Instruction Is Required for Different Learning Outcomes 38 Principle 9: Everything Else Being Equal, More Time on Task Equals More Learning 39 Principle 10: We Shape Our Tools, and Our Tools Shape Us 40 Summary and What s Next 41 3 Best Practices for Teaching Online: Ten Plus Four 43 Best Practices for Online and Blended Teaching and Learning 44 Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course 44 Three Types of Presence 46 Best Practice 2: Create a Supportive Online Course Community 47 Best Practice 3: Develop a Set of Explicit Workload and Communication Expectations for Your Learners and for Yourself 48 Best Practice 4: Use a Variety of Large Group, Small Group, and Individual Work Experiences 50 Best Practice 5: Use Synchronous and Asynchronous Activities 51 Best Practice 6: Ask for Informal Feedback Early in the Term 52 Best Practice 7: Prepare Discussion Posts That Invite Responses, Questions, Discussions, and Reflections 53 Best Practice 8: Think Digital for All Course Content 54 Best Practice 9: Combine Core Concept Learning with Customized and Personalized Learning 55 Best Practice 10: Plan a Good Closing and Wrap Activity for the Course 57 Four More Best Practices for Online and Blended Teaching and Learning 57 Best Practice 11: Assess as You Go by Gathering Evidences of Learning 58 Best Practice 12: Rigorously Connect Content to Core Concepts and Learning Outcomes 58 Best Practice 13: Develop and Use a Content Frame for the Course 59 Best Practice 14: Design Experiences to Help Learners Make Progress on Their Novice ]to ]Expert Journey 60 Summary and What s Next 61 4 Technology Tools to Support Teaching and Learning 62 Guidelines for Choosing and Using Technology Tools 63 Basic Set of Technology Tools for Online and Blended Teaching and Learning 65 Basic Set of Digital Technology Tools: Their Teaching and Learning Purposes 66 More Thoughts on the Basic Tools 70 Tools for Practicing Contextual Knowledge and Exploring Possibilities 74 Staying in Sync with Tools 77 5 Four Phases of a Course: Themes and Happenings 79 Phase 1 Course Beginnings: Starting Off on the Right Foot 79 Phase 2 Early Middle: Keeping the Ball Rolling 85 Phase 3 Late Middle: Letting Go of the Power 90 Phase 4 Closing Weeks: Pruning, R