Corona Virus Information for Students, Faculty, and Staff: Resources for Instructors

Humanities and ESL

Social Sciences

Science and Technology

The following advice is is copied from Tips on First Time Online Teaching, by Yasuko Kanno and Rebecca Alpert, of Temple University. Visit their site for more great advice.

Principles of good teaching (online or traditional)

• *Make sure that you create a community of learners through opening activities that create an environment conducive to learning
• Provide ground rules for civil engagement
• Return student work in a timely fashion
• Provide clear directions for student activities
• Make a comprehensive, well organized, accessible syllabus
• Ask yourself what you would like students to take away from your course and retain one year later
• Provide various types of activities to support different students’ learning styles and abilities
• Get (and give) feedback early and often
• Make sure students know how to access help from library and tech support staff
• Do clear, exciting, focused activities at the beginning and end of every course and every class session
• *Provide opportunities for faculty free learning space

NOTE: Those items marked with asterisk are extra important online.

Principles of good teaching that are unique to online teaching

• Provide ground rules of netiquette
• Use digital content only
• Make sure equipment students need is accessible and working properly
• Make sure students know how to access help from the Office of Distance Learning
• Provide extremely clear guidelines on course participation expectations and assignments (and their due dates). Because you are not meeting with your students face-to-face, you cannot gauge their understanding as readily. You therefore need to spell out everything, in order to preempt confusion and unnecessary strings or email inquiries.
• Package course materials in units according to the structure you set for the course. For instance, if you are organizing your course in modules instead of the traditional weekly calendar, all materials for each module should be bundled together and placed on Blackboard in one folder. If your syllabus is assignment driven, all materials associated with each assignment should be bundled together.
• Be clear about when you will be present, and be present for at least a brief amount of time each day the course meets (virtual office hours). Lay clear ground rules for how you will respond to students’ questions. This is important because if you do not, you will have frustrated students who will find you rude for not returning their email within a few hours, and you will have difficulty managing the volume of your email:
• Tell students that you will return email within a specified time, usually between 24 and hours.
• Encourage students to post questions on the discussion board rather than emailing them to you. Encourage students to answer each other’s questions. Tell them that you will check discussion board questions within 48 hours.
• Tell students that if you receive a question from a student and you think your answer will be useful to everyone, you will post your answer on Announcements rather than responding individually to the student.
• Do not introduce a new technology or a new tool at the same time as high-stakes assignment. If an assignment involves the use of new technology for students (e.g., creating a wiki), have students practice the skill first, and then give them the assignment.
• Encourage students to look for and share new materials online that would be relevant for the course. Students often find materials online that you are not aware of, having them contribute relevant materials to the course will keep your course current and students enjoy contributing materials and seeing them used in class.

Online Technical Support:

http://www.atlantic.edu/academics/online/technical-support.php

Online Technical Support is available 7 days a week; Instructional Technology staff will respond to each inquiry as soon as possible in the order in which they come.