Posts Tagged ‘asynchronous’
September 30 - Online Teaching Challenge: Creating an Emotional Connection to Learning, part 2
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
“One of the biggest barriers to online learning is our inability to respond in the moment, unless we happen to be on live chat or video, which is really rare in most of the online learning world,” says Rick Van Sant, associate professor of education at Ferris State University.
September 28 - Online Teaching Challenge: Creating an Emotional Connection to Learning, part 1
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
Learning research indicates that people learn better in the presence of some emotional connection—to the content or to other people. Creating this emotional connection is particularly challenging in the online classroom, where most communication is asynchronous and lacks many of the emotional cues of the face-to-face environment. Nevertheless, it is possible to do, with a learner-centered approach to teaching and a mastery of the technology that supports it, says Rick Van Sant, associate professor of education at Ferris State University.
September 20 - How to Design Effective Online Group Work Activities
By: Mary Bart in Online Education
There are many reasons why students don’t like group work, and in the online classroom the list of reasons grows even longer as the asynchronous nature of online courses not only makes collaboration more difficult but almost counterintuitive.
June 29 - Lessons Learned: Advice to Online Instructors
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
If you have taken online courses, you have likely gained some valuable insights into what to do and what not to do as an online instructor. If you have never been an online learner, here are some lessons learned from Anna Brown, a learning technology specialist enrolled in a hybrid doctoral program in learning technologies.
December 7 - Primed for Learning: Maximizing Teachable Moments When Students are Ready and Willing to Learn
By: Mary Bart in Teaching and Learning
Teachable moments, those special times when students are most ready and willing to learn, are traditionally considered unplanned opportunities. But should teachable moments be treated like unexpected gifts or can they actually be set in motion with a little advanced anticipation and planning by the instructor?
November 23 - Synching up with Your Asynchronous Learners
By: Rob Kelly in Asynchronous Learning and Trends
Some students are reluctant to enroll in online courses, afraid they will miss some of the social aspects of the face-to-face classroom. For these students, it makes sense to incorporate online synchronous sessions to provide some of the benefits of the face-to-face class while maintaining most of the flexibility of an asynchronous online course.
October 30 - Policies for More Meaningful Participation in Online Discussions
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
One instructor’s study of student participation in online discussions in two of his asynchronous online courses over a five-year period has yielded some interesting results that have influenced how he conducts his courses.
August 25 - Eight Ways to Support Faculty Needs with a Virtual Teaching & Learning Center
By: Kathleen MacDonald in Faculty Development
Teaching and learning support professionals, particularly those who must perform miracles as a “Department of One,” can have one of the most challenging jobs on campus. They not only support the course design, content delivery strategies, technology integration, and training/orientation for faculty and students in online learning programs (asynchronous and synchronous formats), but they also support all other teaching/learning needs for classroom, blended, and any other teaching environment. This professional may be an instructional designer, an educational technologist, or very often, a designated faculty member with some or all of these skills.
August 14 - How to Train and Maintain Your Distant Faculty
By: Christopher Hill in Distance Learning Administration
When online instructors work off-campus, as many often do, it can pose unique challenges. The lack of contact with colleagues and the institution can lead to isolation, and drifting out of the main currents of technological and pedagogical innovation.
June 12 - Establishing Online Instructor Performance Best Practices and Expectations
By: Lawrence Ragan, PhD. in Distance Learning Administration
Helping faculty learn to survive and even thrive online is critical if we are to realize the potential of this new learning space. During a Magna online seminar awhile back, I made reference to a strategy that an institution can employ to help faculty save time online. I referred to a document created at Penn
