scholarly journals "Best Practices" and Collaborative Software In Online Teaching

Author(s):  
Remi Tremblay

In recent years, many distance educators and institutions have successfully adopted asynchronous text-based environments as the backbone of their online classrooms. Group email, electronic references, and course websites, coupled with online discussions, typically constitute the model of online course delivery. Although the structure and pacing of these asynchronous text-based environments provide both students and instructors with increased flexibility and convenience, the synchronicity and sometimes the freshness of the interaction of the traditional face-to-face classroom were often sacrificed.

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reba-Anna Lee ◽  
Brian Dashew

In transitioning to a hybrid delivery model, faculty are presented with an opportunity to engage in a systematic instructional design process which can bring coursework in line with pedagogical best practices that may not exist in traditional face-to-face classes. This paper presents a model whereby Marist College Academic Technology & eLearning staff focuses faculty attention on designing effective student interactions with content, the instructor, and other students. These interactions promote deeper levels of engagement in student learning.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate L. Morgan ◽  
Wei Chen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the changes made to course delivery, course materials and assessment approaches required in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many changes to occur in a very short time. Design/methodology/approach It is a case study of the changes made to content, teaching methods and assessment in a postgraduate introductory financial accounting course of approximately 350 students across two terms. Findings The key findings are that the sudden change from face-to-face to online teaching to address government regulations, social distancing expectations and students’ needs required immediate changes to how content was delivered, how to interact with students (many of who were studying outside of Australia), and how to adapt to online assessments. Many of the innovations the authors describe will continue to be used in the course going forward both in face-to-face and online formats. That is, the need to change resulted in innovations that can be implemented in a post-pandemic environment. Originality/value The key value of this paper is to provide instructors with insights into the innovations the authors made to address the changed circumstances, which can be incorporated into other accounting courses in the future.


Author(s):  
Albert L. Ingram ◽  
Lesley G. Hathorn

Collaboration and cooperation have become firmly established as teaching methods in face-to-face classes (e.g., Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). They are also rapidly becoming widespread in online teaching and learning in both hybrid (mixed traditional and online) course and distance courses. The methods are likely to be most effective if they are firmly grounded in how people actually work together. Some groups collaborate more successfully than others. Frequently, instructors may place students into groups in the expectation that they will collaborate without a clear idea of what collaboration is or how to recognize and encourage it. We must define what we mean by the terms, both so that we can use the techniques successfully and so that we can research them accurately.


Author(s):  
Albert L. Ingram ◽  
Lesley G. Hathorn

Collaboration and cooperation have become firmly established as teaching methods in face-to-face classes (e.g., Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1998). They are also rapidly becoming widespread in online teaching and learning in both hybrid (mixed traditional and online) course and distance courses. The methods are likely to be most effective if they are firmly grounded in how people actually work together. Some groups collaborate more successfully than others. Frequently, instructors may place students into groups in the expectation that they will collaborate without a clear idea of what collaboration is or how to recognize and encourage it. We must define what we mean by the terms, both so that we can use the techniques successfully and so that we can research them accurately. In addition, we must distinguish between groups in which people act independently from those who act collaboratively. As Surowiecki (2004) has pointed out, when all the results are aggregated, a large number of people acting independently may give a more accurate solution to a problem than an expert. Interdependent groups may often produce results inferior to the results obtained by their best-performing members or may be affected by a “groupthink” mentality.


Author(s):  
Joshua Elliott

As with any mode of course delivery, there are both positives and negatives to online learning. There are the commonly cited positive features of online learning like the removal of geographic restrictions and scheduling barriers. Limitations may include unfamiliarity for those new to online learning and misunderstandings resulting from the transition from primarily face-to-face interactions to only online interactions. One of the nice things about online learning environments is that many of the possible drawbacks can be countered turning them into strength. Building a strong social presence in an online course can help with this. This chapter discusses three categories of strategies for building a social presence; ice breakers, netiquette activities, and discussion activities.


Author(s):  
Khamis M Bilbeisi ◽  
Barbara Minsky

This paper deals with the question: How is hybrid teaching different from online and conventional teaching? In this paper we compare hybrid, face-to-face class-room and online teaching. We found that the numbers of students enrolled in online courses are significantly higher than the number of students enrolled in face-to-face courses. Furthermore, online degrees now offer the same exact course work as hybrid and traditional classroom courses. So the choice of mode of learning comes down to students’ personal preferences. Some students often try out an online course only to find that they like hybrid or traditional classroom instruction better. We believe hybrid courses better meet the needs of most students: they provide a learning style that requires students participate in classroom instruction where they can visually and verbally interact with the instructor and their peers, but yet has the convenience of reducing the need for driving, which saves gas, and also serve to develop students’ Internet, technology and virtual team skills by participating in online discussions, tests and other virtual learning activities.


Author(s):  
Michael G. McVey

Student learning style differences have been widely researched in both traditional face-to-face and online learning environments (Irani, Scherler & Harrington, 2003;Steinbronn, 2007; Williamson & Watson, 2007; Ugur, Akkoyunlu & Kurbanoglu, 2001). After conducting a literature review of adult student learning styles and teaching method analysis, it became apparent that there was not a significant difference in academic performance for students with differing learning styles whether they attended face-to-face or online classroom environments. What was not clearly indicated though, from the review of the literature, was what were the perceived best practices for online teaching from the perspective of experienced distance educators and whether the instructors' perceived learning style was incorporated in training programs to assist faculty to teach online. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative pilot study is to determine the perceived best practices to train faculty to teach in an online environment and how individual instructors' perceived learning style can be incorporated within best practices to foster competence on an individual instructor level. This study also analyzes faculty resistance to distance education and how transformative learning theory may play a role in overcoming this resistance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheri Conklin ◽  
Amy Garrett Dikkers

During the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, instructors at a southeastern university had one week to convert their current face-to-face courses to an online format, under a time frame that did not allow for a “well-designed” online course. The current study investigates how some instructors were able to maintain social presence in the transition to the online environment, and the instructional practices they used to support those continued connections. In a cross-sectional survey of undergraduate and graduate students (N = 432 ) conducted during the last week of the Spring 2020 semester, we asked students to focus on a class that was successful in keeping them in touch with their instructor, content, and peers. Analyses of the data revealed four major themes: connectedness, instructor responsiveness and coaching, online learning best practices such as chunking materials, and empathic facilitation. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 148-156
Author(s):  
Christine Fruin

When supporting instructors in the development of online course materials, librarians frequently encounter questions regarding fair use and other copyright and licensing issues surrounding the delivery of course content in an online classroom or through course management systems that support traditional face-to-face teaching. The fair use statute is the primary law by which use of course materials online is evaluated. However, considerations of contract or license agreements must also be made when using digital or streaming materials. Special considerations exist as well depending on the material type.


Author(s):  
Chaitanya Ravi ◽  
Ying-Ying Kuo

Most educators are interested in whether online teaching is at least as good as classroom-based courses in terms of students' learning outcomes, including academic achievement and learning satisfaction. This research study compared two sections of an upper-level, undergraduate, writing-intensive environmental policy course, which were taught in spring 2014 by the same instructor. The f2f session had a blended format with in class-lectures complemented by substantial online resources, while the 100% online course included documentaries, pre-recorded lecture videos, various readings, discussions, and online environmental games.A total of 39 students from both sections voluntarily participated in this research study by taking a course survey online. Both qualitative and quantitative data and students' final grades were collected. The findings revealed no significant statistical difference in students' final grades and learning satisfaction. However, students' overall satisfaction level in the f2f class was higher than the online course. Also, their satisfaction level was associated with (1) receiving valuable feedback from instructor and (2) students' motivation to learn in the course.Our research indicates that the quality of an online course can be equivalent to a f2f course if instructors can support students with regular feedback and keep motivating them to learn.


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