1 Principles of effective online teaching
In Week 1, we introduced some of the ways in which online learning can create new opportunities and benefits for teachers and learners. However, in order to realise those benefits, certain principles need to be followed to optimise the online experience for learners.
Activity 1 Challenging preconceptions about online teaching
Watch the video ‘What are some benefits to teaching online?’ [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] and make a note of any concerns expressed that you had not already thought of regarding your own teaching context.
Transcript
Dr. Donald Opitz, Assistant Professor, School of New Learning, DePaul University, Chicago:
So one of my fears of starting to teach online was: would I get the same kind of thrill on teaching as I would in the classroom? I was a little sceptical that students would actually have the same-quality learning experience in an online environment as they would in the classroom, and that I, as an instructor, would have the same kind of role – and not simply a facilitator or a discussion manager.
And actually, I was really impressed by how much I benefited from teaching online, in the sense that I could see how students were developing in their thinking about the course topics. There’s a certain kind of dialogue that happens textually that you don’t get face-to-face. Even if it’s not synchronous, students spend more time reflecting upon what the course subject is and coming up with responses and the reactions, and how they’re processing the material.
And it’s really rewarding to see that happen. You do enter into relationships with students: it’s a little different because you don’t see the students, but you do have really meaningful discussions with them that are very intellectually engaging. So I was a sceptic and now I would say I’m a fan of online instruction.
Discussion
Often teachers have preconceptions about teaching online and what they or their learners may ‘lose’ if they take their teaching online.
This week’s material and activities are designed to help you to separate perceived advantages and disadvantages of teaching online from the real ones, as applied to you in your own context.
Rather than being a simple binary choice, there are lots of options and ways of tailoring online teaching to any context. So it is important to be aware of key concepts and types of tools, consider what is known about these, and to have an approach that allows you to trial ways of teaching online and to understand the results. The course will help you to develop in each of these areas.
Searching the web for ‘principles of effective online teaching’ brings up many different takes on the topic, each slightly different. On the following pages you will find a summary of some of the key principles that almost always feature in these lists. They have been gathered from a range of sources but have been inspired in particular by Cooper (2016) and Hill (2009).
Introduction