In my 12+ years of teaching face-to-face, blended, and online undergraduate and graduate-level courses in higher education and current role as an instructional designer, I've encountered and observed many mistakes in instructional delivery, learning design, and student engagement. The old saying "learn from your mistakes" has held true in my own instructional practices from my early days as a graduate assistant teaching technology skills in a computer lab to the later days of being a tenure-track assistant professor designing and delivering fully online graduate-level courses in instructional design from scratch. Along this journey I've picked up many "do's and don't" of teaching online and engaging learners in online environments. My main point...........we all make mistakes along the way, especially when teaching online.Below, I outline common mistakes with online course design and development that I've encountered in my own instructional practice and continue to observe in my current instructional designer role. Additionally, I provide suggestions on how you can avoid these mistakes.
- Mistake #1: Using too many new tools at once OR not using any new tools at all. Instructors are frequently introduced to LMS tools and capabilities, LTI's (learning tool interoperability), blogs, Google apps, cloud storage, and many other online learning tools. Some faculty will shy away or avoid these learning technologies all together while some faculty are ready to dive in and use as many tools at once.
My suggestion: Use one tool or other instructional media in your course. Start off by identifying a learning objective or outcome that students tend to struggle with and/or allow students to achieve that same objective in a more engaging way. Then, use this learning objective/outcome to select the one tool you want to integrate into your online course. In this selection process, continuously ask your self "how will students (not just you as the instructor) use this tool to achieve the identified learning objective/outcome?"
- Mistake #2: Giving into fear. It is common for faculty members, especially those new to online teaching, to become nervous prior to the developing an online course. This nervousness is expected and can actually be a motivator for creating quality online courses. However, giving in too much into fear can hinder your progress. Common fears include:
- uncertainty on where to begin
- technology competency
- uncertainty on how to create and facilitate student interaction
- handling student plagiarism, cheating, and general academic dishonesty
- worried that the rigor and quality of instruction in the online environment doesn't match that of traditional face-to-face courses
My suggestion: Rather than dwell on fear, just begin the course design process. Take small steps and begin with your syllabus and course schedule/calendar for the term in hand. Just be sure to give yourself ample time to engage in the course design process. As a general rule, it takes more time to design and develop an online course as it does a face-to-face course. Giving yourself ample time will little-by-little reduce your fear.
- Mistake #3: Uploading instructional materials, then calling it a course. Reading digital versions of your course materials on a computer screen does not constitute as an engaging meaningful learning experience. Using an online course as a document repository is not teaching online. Similar to a traditional face-to-face course, students need to hear (asynchronously and/or synchronously) from the instructor on what to do next, receive feedback on their current progress, have opportunities to interact with their classmates, and have questions answered in online learning environments. Simply linking to course documents and files online does not achieve learning.
My suggestion: As you begin the course design and development processes, keep in mind that teaching online involves a process. Course documents (i.e. instructional materials) are just one component of this process. Begin by stepping back and taking a new global view of your content in the context of the Web. Ask yourself, "how can I present my content that leverages Web resources and learning technologies that are readily available to me, as the instructor, and my students?" For example, consider redesigning handouts that contain tedious lab procedures in the form of an animated visually appealing presentation/slideshow. Consider bringing art history images to life by linking to historic sites, YouTube videos, or even Google street views. Take advantage of how Internet-connected computers can distribute your content in more interactive and engaging ways.
- Mistake #4: Expecting students to consume knowledge rather than create it. The majority of online courses simply focus on pouring information into students' minds rather than support opportunities for students to be creators of knowledge through practical applications, experiences, and simulations. Internet-connected computers provides students with opportunities to actively participate in their own learning rather than passively receive information and knowledge. Creating content that asks students to recall and apply what they've learned is essential to student learning.
My suggestion: For course tasks/activities/assignments, consider having your students use the same digital tools you use to present content to show their understanding of the content. In the online learning environment for example, you can follow up text readings or PowerPoint presentations with a short comprehensive assessment (i.e. a quiz or survey) OR develop tasks that require students to collect and analyze data with Google spreadsheets, collect photos and videos for evidence on student-created blogs, or create a explanatory video presentation that's posted to YouTube.
- Mistake #5: Transferring your course rather than transforming your course to the online learning environment. Online course design requires much more than simply copying and pasting content from your face-to-face course. Neglecting this paradigm of "rethinking for the online learning environment" can increase the chances for students to become disengage or even drop out of the course.
My suggestion: Maintain the rigor and quality of face-to-face learning environments while dealing with the following areas of course design that affect student learning in the online environment:- Course organization: Since you don't have the traditional face-to-face class time to discuss confusion with concepts or make general course announcements, you have to be very explicit, clear, and concise with your course navigation AND communications (i.e. reminders, instructions for assignments and projects, due dates, etc.).
- Interaction: Whether you're thinking about (a) student-to-instructor, (b) student-to-student, or (c) student-to-content engagements, don't assume interaction will automatically take place as it may in the face-to-face environment. Include tasks that allow students to engage in their learning through a combination of the engagement types listed above.
- Multimedia content: Avoid recording lengthy 30 min. to an hour lectures. Evidence shows, in general, that this medium fails to maintain students' attention in any learning environment. Recorded content, especially video, should be between 4-5 minutes. Consider what you might record for a lengthy lecture and break it up into smaller parts based on concepts or themes your lecturing about. You can do this by breaking up a preexisting video into smaller parts or with new recordings. Furthermore, consider enhancing these smaller multimedia pieces with graphics and/or animations; especially for concepts (i.e. processes, complex ideas, equations, etc.) that can be more effectively explained with visuals.
This is a small list of common mistake that immediately come to my mind. I will share further mistakes and suggestions in upcoming posts.
What online course design and development mistakes have you encountered or observed in your experience? Share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions in the comments section below.
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