ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #21 - Informing Students How To Use Blackboard's Digital Dropbox

This post is specific to using Blackboard - but the concept can be generalized to any online learning system. Be explicit in your directions on how students should submit assignments. Remember, you might have first-time-online students in your class. Additionally, students who are unsure of how to post assignments will (1) ask you to confirm receipt of every item that they post or (2) email you each assignment in addition to submitting it - just to "make sure" that you received it. I have posted a screenshot of the "How to Use the Digital Dropbox" guidelines that I post in the ANNOUNCEMENTS section of the class a week prior to the due date of the first assignment. I've found this approach to work very well!

ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #20 - Notifying students when you will and won't be checking the online classroom

Hour for hour, I put more time for an online course than for any other format. I'm also "on call" much more in the online environment than in other teaching environments. Anyone who thinks he/she will begin teaching online and simply monitor the class a few times a week is in for a rude awakening. Yet, regular, brief check-ins work well - and don't need to take up much time. I try to respond daily (in the evening) to at least 2 discussion thread replies - and ALL posts under the ??? COURSE QUESTIONS ??? thread. I also limit myself to 45 minutes in the classroom. Teaching online can be addictive - and not unlike surfing the Internet. Without parameters, one could easily click away 2-3 hours per night in the virtual classroom. Remember, you don't need to respond to every post - or comment on every issue. Be visible, but don't be omnipresent.

ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #19 - Making Sure You Can Contact a Student

If you've taught online, you've probably had this happen to you. (A) A student submits an assignment the last day of class - and you are unable to open it with your software, (B) the student assumed they posted their assignment electronically, but due to some technical glitch - it didn't post, or (C) you need the student to revise part of the assignment as the student misread the syllabus. Hey, how about the university email crashing - that's happen to me - more than once!

Some will argue that none of these things should add to the burden of the instructor. Hey, if a student messed up posting the assignment - too bad, so sad. That's not my approach - and I would encourage you to also have a higher level of tolerance for the online learner. Let me clearly state that it's rare that either A, B or C happens -

So, what's your point, David?? My point is to always make it an option for students to provide you with an alternate way to contact them (beyond their student email account) - be it a different email address or cell phone number. I've never had a student balk at this request. I also remind students to check their university email daily during the course - and daily for a week following the course.

ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #18 - Making the weekly syllabus page

If you're a student, there are few things more frustrating, and confidence-draining, than a confusing syllabus. As an instructor, be fully aware that students will get creative (and angry) when they don't understand the classwork expectations. Of course, that's if they don't email you relentlessly seeking clarification on your syllabus. I believe that the syllabus is the crux to successful teaching. In the online environment, a poorly constructed syllabus will doom a course and reveal the instructor as incompetent. NEVER MIND THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN! For this reason, I devote much time to crafting, and refining, my syllabus. In this post, I have included the typical "Weekly Page" from my standard syllabus. The "Weekly Page" provides a synopsis and road map for that week of the course. The student doesn't need to hunt through the syllabus for information - all he needs to do is have that single page in front of his eyes. By the way, note that I've included a "paper not to exceed 6 pages" statement at the bottom of the page. I've found it necessary to define acceptable length parameters for assignments. First, I believe it is important to teach students to be concise - that's the real world, right? The second part is that you always will have a few students who believe a paper's grade is determined by its length - and just because they have time to write 25 pages doesn't mean I have the time to grade 25 pages - especially when the student with the 6-page paper did an awesome job.

ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #17 - Determining the appropriate number of discussion questions

What's the appropriate number of weekly discussion questions to post in an online course? My experiences suggest a minimal of 2 questions and a maximum of 4 questions. I also require the student to post a response to each discussion question that is posted by the instructor. The student is also required to respond to at least 6 other student discussion question responses per week. I have posted a screen shot of a typical discussion question.

ONLINE ADJUNCT FACULTY TIP #16 - Using a quiz

Not all online instructional mediums allow for the instructor to create a quiz. However, if you are instructing in Blackboard, you will be able to develop a quiz for your students - and their performance will automatically be recorded in the course gradebook. Included in this post is a screenshot from a quiz I incorporated into a fall course I instructed on Blackboard. What are my thoughts on using a quiz? -- First, I think a quiz can be a tool that encourages students to navigate the various aspects of Blackboard - so for that, it's a good "initiation" device. It also builds success and confidence in the new online learner. Yet, I think one's course shouldn't contain a weekly quiz as to me, there's just not a natural "feel" for using a quiz at the post-secondary level. So, while I endorse the use of a quiz, I also caution the instructor on building what might appear to be an automated classroom. One word of advice - when you create a quiz, be sure to view it from a "student" view screen. When I created my first quiz, it appeared fine in Instructor mode, but it wasn't viewable to my students!