4 tips for teaching an online class

Faculty Focus (http://www.facultyfocus.com/ or @facultyfocus) sent this nice newsletter to my inbox this morning. The article is a quick and easy read and focuses on "best practices in online classrooms", specifically four things you should never assume about your students in an online classroom. Here are the four main points with my added thoughts about them (and a few helpful tidbits of info/links):

1. Don't assume students understand the workings of an online course: in a traditional classroom, students know what their desk, pencils, chalk/white board are for. These things have been part and parcel with learning for a looong time. However, even if a student has taken many online courses, a new online course environment can present hurdles to a smooth and easy learning environment. Layouts and tools differ between platforms and even classrooms on the same system. So when you start out your online course be sure students are comfortable with the system before jumping into the first activities. For your reference, here's our GlobalClassroom student guide to Moodle (which very much mirrors the basic activities and actions in a course on our system): http://www.globalclassroom.us/moodle/course/view.php?id=134 and just in case here's the teacher's guide: http://www.globalclassroom.us/moodle/course/view.php?id=131
2. Don't assume students have the minimum equipment and/or skill requirements needed to be successful in an online course: this goes for #1 as well (be sure they know how to navigate your system) but beyond that, make sure the computers students are using to access your course, and the software on those computers will render/display all of the resources and activities included in your online course. Flash, Java, PDFs, and even Microsoft Office products can turn great resources into links that don't open or even crash browsers. Make sure that your students understand what computer capabilities your online classroom requires. On GlobalClassroom, we suggest that students and teachers meet these technical requirements.
3. Don't assume students know how to behave in a web course: whether it's typing in all CAPS, starting off topic discussions, responding with one word answers in discussion forums or missing automatic deadlines; be sure that your students understand the rules and behavioral expectations that they should adhere to online. Like in face to face settings rules sometimes have to be outlined and acknowledged by students. Be clear, be upfront, be proactive.
4. Don't assume students know the more important rules and regulations in the syllabus: links in online classrooms can be easily ignored, so if there are important rules and regulations in your syllabus (which is posted to your online classroom) be sure to call attention to it, or even build a quick assignment check around it to ensure that students have reviewed it entirely.

Here's a direct link to the article: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/best-practices-in-online-teaching-dont-assume/. If you're interested, sign up for the daily newsletter via email, I often find their articles instructive and valuable.

What's the easiest way to enroll students into courses on the GlobalClasssroom?

Q. What's the easiest way to enroll students into my Moodle classroom?

This is one of the most frequent questions I've been asked recently (which is a good thing as more and more teachers are getting up and running with Moodle on GlobalClassroom.us. Here's a run down of the two most efficient ways to enroll students into your classroom. Note that the first way is the fastest way for students to enroll themselves into your course. The second is how you can easily enroll students so that they are already linked to your course the first time logging into GlobalClassroom.

Answer, 1: Student enroll themselves. If you do not have an eSchool with administration rights, the easiest way to enroll students it to have them register manually and sign up for your course by searching.

Once a student has registered at Http://globalclassroom.us, they can login and search for your course using the persistent search located at the top right of their profile page:

Before asking your students to search, be sure you've searched for your course itself. Often a unique set of characters (such as your name, or a course number) will help refine the search and display the right course higher in the results. For example, what if we search for a course called "Mr. Thibault's Course".

Searching just "Thibault" should bring up the right information. Here are our results:

Clicking on the course name will bring us to the course enrollment/purchase page (depending on whether or not you have a course price listed). The course enrollment page looks like this;

Students should be advised to click "Course Enrollment". If you course is listed with a price, the next few screens will take users through the Paypal payment process (which we are not covering here). If your course settings include an Course Password the next screen will ask students to enter it:

If the correct password is entered, students will next see an enrollment confirmation.

That's it.

Answer, 2: Enrollment through Bulk upload. If you have your own eSchool setup through GlobalClassroom, you can assign students to courses before they ever login to the site. Here are the steps. Note that you must have access to your eSchool dashboard, or you eSchool administrator will have already completed the bulk upload to be able to add the students in this manner.

First access your eSchool Administration Dashboard (highlighted in yellow);

The next page, choose "Dashboard" for the eSchool you'd like to add students to.

From the Dashboard screen, choose "Bulk User Uploads"

This is where you'll upload your students/teachers in bulk. The instructions on the screen will outline the process in much more detail, but essentially the system calls for students to be uploaded in a .txt file, pipe (or vertical bar, '|' delimited). If you need assistance configuring this document please email support@globalclassroom.us.

Locate and then upload your .txt file to initiate the user creation.

A successful upload will acknowledge that your users were successfully added. In order to add them to an existing course, simply navigate into any classroom where you have editing rights and and use "Assign Roles" to add students.

Click "Manage students" to assign users to the student role in your course.

As long as your course is part of the same eSchool where you uploaded users in bulk you'll see them available as potential students.

Simply highlight them from the "potential users" side (the right);

and click the left facing arrow to assign them to the course.

If you have any questions about this process please contact us. We will work to create video tutorials and post them shortly.

The VTVLC is going BETA!

The Vermont Virtual Learning Coop is a state-based venture (and our partner) seeking to bring virtual classroom education to students across Vermont. We're very excited for this opportunity to provide high quality hosted classrooms (via Moodle) and look forward to advancing online education in the state!

From the VTVLC site:

VTVLC is very excited about the opportunities we will be offering students throughout Vermont. Beginning next fall (2010), online courses will be offered throughout Vermont by our partner schools. Right now, teachers, guidance, and administrators are hard at work preparing courses and learning best practices to enable students to meet the challenges of online learning head-on. We are creating one of the most student friendly online learning environments in the country so that our students will be able to concentrate on what they want to learn, not how to use the technology. VTVLC gives each of its students a voice. A voice that we listen to and build upon to make your learning experience one of the best in the world.

For more information please visit: http://www.vtvlc.org/

The site has tons of opportunities coming down the pike, including professional development for teachers, courses for students (enroll in Digital Audio and Video Electronics, Technology Essentials, Hospitality management and Medical Terminology) and online hosting infrastructure for your schools. Check it out!