| Teaching an online course requires many of
the same skills and techniques necessary in traditional face-to-face classes, but
there are some obvious and some not so obvious differences. All of ISI's Web-based
courses depend on core material resident on our server for the didactic or
"lecture" portion of the class. Just as with a typical classroom lecture, where
the amount of information transmitted by the instructor at the front of the room is less
important than the highlighting of concepts and connections, in a virtual classroom
drawing "the big picture" is crucial to setting all the available information in
context. In an online section, therefore, students access the course's "connective
tissue" over the Web at any time of day or night. Naturally the bulk of the
information students acquire in the course comes from the class textbook (if one is
assigned) and other readings, along with what they get from library research, surfing the
Net, CD-ROMs, and the rest of today's standard resources. Most importantly, students in an online section depend on
conferencing software, email, voicemail, and other asynchronous modes of
communication for the true core of the course, the interaction they have with each
other and with the instructor. Of course, students cannot simply raise a hand
to ask a question as they would in a classroom. Email and conferencing software more
than make up for this lack, since having to type out a question forces
more reflection before posting it. In addition, thanks to the 24x7x365
availability of the Web, a student need never miss a vital discussion.
Finally, the potential for collaborative work and small-group discussions among
students who may never meet face-to-face is what makes Web-based courses so exciting and
so powerful an educational format.
How does this all come together in practice? Here's a step by step
example of what happens once the instructor and her institution have decided to use a
course from ISI, accompanied by a figure to illustrate the concepts being discussed:
1) School licenses courseware from ISI.
2) School promotes availability of Web-based
Distance Learning courses to potential students (Course Marketing packets available
from ISI to spark your own efforts).
3) Students enroll in ISI course(s) via the school's
registration procedures.
4) In the first week of class, students register
with their instructor via email and receive their usernames and
passwords allowing them access to the course materials on the ISI server. They also
purchase the textbook (if required) and other materials from the college bookstore or
other source. Most college bookstores will willingly ship books to the students'
homes if they can't come to campus.
5) Each week thereafter, for the duration of the
course, the instructor assigns units and materials from the course Web site, readings
from the textbook and other print materials, paper topics, group projects,
and other activities. Students work on their own time, going over the online course
material from any personal computer with Web access, whether it's at school, at home,
at work, or in the library. They submit completed assignments via email, fax, or the
post office.
6) Students and the instructor communicate with each
other electronically at least once a week. ISI provides an online
discussion room for each class section if the school does not operate its own
conferencing service. Of course, email, voicemail, fax, and, yes, even the post office
are also viable means of communication. In many ways the heart of an
asynchronous Web-based course will take place in the online discussion room. See our
Web site for suggestions on ways of ensuring student participation and achieving maximum
effectiveness with the threaded discussions.
7) At appropriate times the instructor tests student
retention of the material. Many of ISI's Web-based courses have short online
Self-Tests for each unit that students use to evaluate their own progress. Usually an
instructor will give mid-term and final exams. Depending on the school's examination
policies the instructor and the Distance Education office will need to make suitable
arrangements for issuing and proctoring these tests. Frequently it is possible to have a
respected member of the community proctor the exam. A Distance Learner's employer,
the local librarian, a Justice of the Peace, and others are among the many potential
proctors – just not a member of the student's family!
8) Students are graded on a combination of factors
– test scores, paper grades, project grades, participation in class
discussions, etc., exactly the way they would be in a traditional face-to-face version of
the course.
Points to Consider
Time Allocation
Teaching an online course does save the instructor
the time otherwise spent in a classroom lecturing. It also requires time online
devoted to conferencing with the class and emailing individual students. The asynchronous
nature of ISI courses offers far more flexibility in just when the class is
"taught." It's a tradeoff.
"Easy Entry" – "Easy
Exit"
Online courses allow "Easy Entry" and
"Easy Exit" in terms of when the class begins and when it ends. No longer
do instructors and students have to comply with the ancient academic (agricultural?)
schedule. However, ISI's Web-based courses do depend on a real-live instructor and
interaction with fellow students to create valid educational experiences. Our courses are
not canned, self-paced tutorials that deliberately eliminate contact with other human
beings.
We therefore advocate running online courses over a
full academic term (whenever it starts). This allows students time to cover and
assimilate the material, collaborate with fellow students learning the same
topics at the same time, and work on projects and papers at a reasonable
rate. Spreading a course out over ten to fifteen weeks also suits the many
adult learners carrying many other responsibilities with only a limited
amount of time to devote to their studies.
Laboratories
Web-based courses with required labs (in the natural
sciences, say, or Allied Health fields) are often taken by traditional on-campus
students who have chosen to take an online course for the sake of its convenient
asynchronicity. These students then simply take their lab courses on campus in the usual
way. Students who are truly Distance Learners must make other arrangements to fulfill
their lab requirements. They may spend one or two Saturdays on campus in specially
scheduled all-day lab sessions, do their lab work at a local high school or other nearby
facility, or run experiments in the home kitchen using a lab kit provided by the college.
The challenge of running lab sessions for off-campus students is one that all forms of
Distance Education, whether correspondence, ITV, video, radio, etc., must face. Creativity
and flexibility are the keys to serving the needs of a geographically dispersed student
population.
New Courses
ISI is very interested in adding new online courses to those we
currently make available. If you are developing or teaching a Web-based course, and would
like to discuss the option of having ISI market it across North America and around the
globe, please call or write John Meyer, Director of Higher Education, at the address
below. ISI has deep technical and developmental experience in various forms of
computer-aided instruction. We would be happy to evaluate your course for possible
inclusion in our Partnership program.
The
Wellspring
The Wellspring is a Web-based resource in Distance Learning online
ISI makes available to all interested parties at www.wellspring.isinj.com. The Wellspring
features lively ongoing threaded discussions devoted to teaching tips and instructional
best practices that our faculty partners are using right now with the courses we offer.
The Wellspring also contains a wealth of online materials and articles devoted to key
aspects of Web-based instruction and Distance Education. Visit The Wellspring often for
fresh insights into teaching online.
ISI
Courses
To review the current list of ISI courses and request permission to
examine any you might like to teach, visit our Web site at
www.isinj.com/partners.html
Partnerships in Distance Learning, Instructional Systems Inc., 411
Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601, (800) 314-8991 toll-free, (201) 343-8883 fax, partners@isinj.com email |
