In the face-to-face classroom, nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, body posture, eye contact, gestures, and attendance are often used to gauge students’ engagement and understanding. Instructors can use these cues to know when to provide additional support and instruction before proceeding to the next
It’s important for instructors to know their students learning preferences and needs early in an online course in order to provide the best possible learning environment. One way to get to know your students is to conduct a survey at the beginning of the course,
Most online faculty know that discussion is one of the biggest advantages of online education. The increased think-time afforded by the asynchronous environment, coupled with the absence of public speaking fears, produces far deeper discussion than is usually found in face-to-face courses. But many faculty
The most important lesson we can teach our students is that college is just part of their lifelong learning journey, and most of their intellectual growth will happen after college. This means forming a “personal learning environment” (PLE) that will preserve, organize, and harness the
Tests and quizzes are often the primary means of assessing online learner performance; however, as Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt, online instructors and coauthors of numerous online learning books, including Lessons from the Virtual Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching (2013), point out, there are
One of the challenges of preventing student plagiarism is that students often are not entirely clear on what constitutes plagiarism, so educating them about plagiarism is an important step.
The dynamics involved in each online student group working toward its goal of an A-worthy project are complex. So many components must mesh smoothly, and because of this each group is ripe for any number of problems. If the instructor does not address these problems
There are three types of interaction in online courses: learner-to-content, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-learner. Each contributes to student retention and motivation. This article elaborates on these types of interaction and suggests which technologies can facilitate each type of interaction.
Despite the ever-growing body of evidence that unequivocally supports the need for clear, detailed, timely feedback in response to students’ work, the practical demands of the online classroom leave me struggling to translate pedagogical knowledge into practice. Let’s face it: there is a LOT of
Christy Hawkins, director of continuing and professional education at Thomas Nelson Community College, offers the following recommendations to help retain online learners:
Magna Publications © 2024 All rights reserved