Teaching Strategies and Techniques

Students are often more comfortable doing course-related research online than in a library. Online research is convenient, and they’re used to it. But it’s not always the most reliable. One way to motivate students to do at least some of their work in physical libraries

Whenever Barbara Polnick teaches online, she pays special attention to fostering a community of learners, focusing both on the design of the course and the way she facilitates it. Polnick, associate professor in the educational leadership program at Sam Houston State University, bases her approach

Screencasting is an ideal way for instructors to add a visual component to voice feedback, and make the experience similar to the student sitting next to them in the office. The instructor records his or her comments while highlighting passages in the student’s work where

Susan Nix, program chair and associate professor of educational leadership at West Texas A&M University, uses Malcolm Knowles’ adult learning concepts when teaching adult online learners. This article describes ways she adapts her online courses to align with these principles.

In spring 2012 Angela Starrett, a mathematics instructor at the University of South Carolina Upstate, was teaching calculus, business calculus, and several other higher-level math courses. To provide students with extra support, she invited them to text her when they had questions. They took her

In a recent Magna Online Seminar, Ollie Dreon, associate professor in the School of Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, recommended varying assessment techniques in the online learning environment to motivate students and provide opportunities for multiple means of expression (a key principle of universal

Brian Udermann, director of Online Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, thinks that proponents of distance education might not know all that they think they do about the subject. In a recent conference presentation, “Twenty Things You Should Know about Online Education but Might

The University of South Carolina’s College of Nursing offers several upper-division undergraduate online courses to accommodate on-campus students’ busy schedules. Between 230 and 250 students typically enroll in each of these courses, and despite these relatively large sections, the courses are engaging and effective.

Motivation and engagement play a central role in student success and satisfaction. However, the online learning environment poses special challenges. Without proper course design and facilitation it’s all too easy for online learners to feel isolated, bored, and unengaged with the materials. The following are