How I survived teaching my first online course (and actually enjoyed it!)

How I survived teaching my first online course
(and actually enjoyed it!)

Susanne A. Sherba
Department of Computer Science

My top ten tips . . .
for preparing and teaching your first online course.

A bit of history …
  For the past several years, the University has been
encouraging us to offer summer courses.
  Analytical Inquiry (COMP 1101)
  Meets general education (common curriculum) requirement
  Online version of this course first offered in Summer 2012
  Offered as a condensed (5-week) course
  Delivered via Blackboard
  13 University of Denver students
  6 sophomores, 3 juniors, 4 seniors
  Students logged on from various geographical locations:
  Denver area (9), out-of-state (2), out of the country (2)

1. Gather your technical resources.
  Where will you host your course?
  What tools will you use?
  Don’t forget about FERPA.
  Who (if anyone) will provide technical support for you and
your students?

  Recommended book: Ko, Susan, and Steven Rossen. Teaching
Online: A Practical Guide,Third Edition. New York: Routledge,
2010.

Technical Requirements and Technical Support
To be successful in the course, you will need reliable access to a
computer and the Internet and the ability to send email. The
University of Denver currently has the following requirements
for laptops: http://www.du.edu/uts/laptops/specs.html.
Information about support is available at: http://www.du.edu/
uts/helpdesk/student.html.

You will also need to become familiar with Blackboard. The
website http://portfolio.du.edu/blackboard contains how-to
movies, handouts, and quick start guides.

2. Take an online course yourself.

  It helps to experience online
learning from the student’s
perspective.

3. Reflect on your teaching style.

“You will fashion tasks and exercises that emphasize student
collaboration and de-emphasize the traditional role of the instructor
as the central figure in the pedagogical play.”
[Ko and Rossen, 2010]

Course Learning Objectives
  By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  Explain basic computing constructs.
  Apply these computing constructs to the creation of various
projects, including animations, drawings, stories, and games.
  Reflect on ideas and solutions and be able to propose
alternatives.

The Scratch Interface and Scratch Blocks

Blocks to Try

DancePartyBlocks.pdf

Strategies Discussion - Example 1
  When I'm stuck, sometimes I'll try picking a new sprite at
random to see what comes up. I'll do it a couple times until I
find one that sparks my imagination. I'll also try playing what
I have so far a couple times and imagine that I'm seeing it for
the first time. What would I want to see next? What's
missing? It can help!
  I really wish that I had this great of an imagination when it
comes to this kind of stuff. I think much more "black &
white" (if that even makes any sense). I might have to try that
out and see if something jumps out at me! Keep it up.

Strategies Discussion – Example 2
  when I get a stuck on designing, usually I would like to
check the use guide at first. if I still cannot find out the
answer, then I would google it. Sometimes people will make
a video on YouTube to describe step by step, and then I can
follow the video to finish my design.
  Videos are really helpful. I like all the ones we've been assigned
to watch because it's so easy to follow them exactly. Sometimes
when it's written on paper it's much more confusing than when
it's being shown to you.
  Thanks for sharing that , I just replayed the video and solve
some problems.

Strategies Discussion – Example 3a
  I've really had some problems when it comes to certain problems,
so I have been getting stuck often. I have moved from my strategy
of hitting my head against the computer to actually re-reading
what it is I don't understand. A lot of times it was just something
that didn't process the first time around. However, once I've re-
read the directions and I still don't seem to get it I look at the
reference guide. The reference guide will not tell you the answer
but will help you to find a way to piece things together to make it
more understandable. After that if I still am not understanding I
try to walk away from it for a while for a few minutes try to see if
maybe the answer would make sense if I take my eyes off of it. IF
all of that fails, I post on Blackboard to see if maybe anyone else
has some better ways to help me out. Overall its all about the
directions and reading and even re-reading.

Strategies Discussion – Example 3b
  I think you make a great point about just stepping away from
the computer sometimes to clear your head when you're
stuck. This is a strategy that I use all the time on research
papers, and I certainly think it applies to scratch projects as
well. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and refocus
your thoughts to help uncover where your mistakes are

Project Feedback – Example 1
  The biggest issue that I see with your project is that there are a lot
of commands associated with pressing a key, but I'm not sure what
keys to press when I play the game. Maybe consider changing your
key commands to [broadcast] blocks instead.You can use the
broadcast and receive blocks to connect each piece of the story
without having to press a specific key. Hope this helps.....
  Hi XXXXX,
This was a really great project! It had some awesome concepts! I
think this will turn out really well.
When I played the game, after I clicked "yes" to continue it didn't
continue, the game just stopped. I think that you might want to
look back at lab 10, to continue the loop of the game. I really
enjoyed playing this!
Hope this helps!
Best of luck

•  After looking at your project again, I did see a couple areas
where you might consider a few modifications. During the
part where the guide tells how to apply the wax, you might
want to find a way to show the bottom of the skis, instead of
the top. A beginner might be confused and put wax on top of
their skis. Also, it would be nice to be able to start the guide
over again at the end (in case the user makes a mistake
inputting info).

•  I love the song! And this is a classical game! But could you tell
us how to play it first? When I played it first, I pressed up
arrow and down arrow. I did not know I should press W and
S.

  I like your project although I do not like quiz. But could you
display the right answer if my choice is wrong?

4. Start early!
  Preparation took more time than my face-to-face course
  Rethinking my approach
  Learning about and choosing online teaching tools and
techniques
  Designing and setting up the course (and revising the course!)
  Discovering and creating material that is useful for online
learning

5. Create a detailed syllabus.
. . . and find a way to make sure the students actually read the
syllabus.
  Parts I added to my face-to-face syllabus
  Explanation of online format
  My expectations for the time required to complete this course
  Instructor availability
  Classroom etiquette
  Technical Requirements and technical support

Description of Online Format
This course is being offered in an online format. It will cover
the same information as the on-campus course. Students who
sign up for this course should be self-motivated and self-
directed.You will need to take the responsibility to stay current
with the course and complete assignments on time. This is not a
self-paced course.You will have weekly assignments and
deadlines.

My Expectations
This course is a condensed course. The course will be five
weeks in duration. That means that every week of this course
contains twice as much material as a normal 10-week course.
You should plan to spend a minimum of 20 to 25 hours per
week on this course. It is your responsibility to plan your week
so that you can complete all assignments on time. The first four
weeks of this course will begin on Tuesday morning and end on
Monday at 11:59 PM Mountain Time Zone. The final week of
this course will end on Friday (July 20) at 11:59 PM Mountain
Time Zone. All due dates are listed in Mountain Time. I will
post the material for the following week on Friday afternoon.

Instructor Availability
Please post all course related questions to the appropriate forum of
the Blackboard discussion board so that all class members can benefit
from the questions and responses. I will try to answer any question
posted on a discussion board within 24 hours during normal business
hours (M-F, 8:00 A.M – 5:00 PM). Questions posted over the
weekend will be answered on Monday. Please keep this in mind
when submitting questions and planning for assignment deadlines. If
you email me a course related question, I will ask you to post it in
the discussion forum.
For personal matters, please contact me via email. I will try to
respond to your email within 24 hours during normal business
hours. If you do not hear from me within this time frame, please
email me again. Emails send over the weekend will be answered on
Monday. Please keep this in mind when submitting questions and
planning for assignment deadlines.

Classroom Etiquette
Students enrolled in this course are expected to be respectful of
each other and the instructor at all times regardless of the type
of communication (e.g., discussion boards, email) being used.

6. Engage your students early and often.
  Decide how you want them to participate.
  Reward them for their participation!
  Maria H. Andersen. “Can Math and Discussions Boards
Compute?” (http://www.maa.org/columns/tech/dec2011-
jan2012.html)
  Help them to get acquainted.
  Communicate with them frequently, both as a group and
individually.
  Add a “social” aspect to the course.
  Solicit feedback.

The way you award points may vary …

  Maria H. Andersen. “Can Math and Discussions Boards
Compute?” (http://www.maa.org/columns/tech/dec2011-
jan2012.html)

Q & A Discussions in my course
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Number of
10 12 20 19
Topics
Total Posts
26 44 51 73

Average
Posts per 2.6 3.7 2.6 3.8
Topic
Median
Posts per 2.5 3 2 3
Topic
Minimum
Posts per 1 1 1 2
Topic
Maximum
Posts per 4 7 7 8
Topic

My “rubric” for questions and answers

Individual Communication
XXXXX,
I wanted to check in with you because it appears you are falling
behind in the course. Lab 3 and programming Project 2 were not
uploaded before the deadline. Also Quiz 1 was not completed before
the deadline. Remember that all deadlines are in Mountain Time.

Please contact me as soon as possible to let me know what is up.

Thanks.

Susanne

Virtual Student Lounge (1)
  Hi All!
If anyone reads the threads I would greatly appreciate if someone could
give me some tips or tricks about how to organize getting work for this
course done. I tend to split up the work throughout the week, but some
of the Scratch labs take me hours at a time (I'm learning slowly but
surely). This is my first online class, does anyone have an effective study
and work method? How do you guys like to split up the work load for
this class?
THANKS!
  Hey!
This is my first online course as well so we will see how we both fare. I
think the checklist that has been put in place is very helpful! Just giving
a quick glance at everything to determine which takes top priority is
what I tend to do before I dive in to everything. However, if I find
something that really helps, I will post it and I hope you do the same!

Virtual Student Lounge (2)
  Thanks XXXXX!
I am glad I'm not flying solo over here! I will be sure to send
anything your way!
Thank you!!!
  I work all day so I split the class into nightly sections. For
example, last night I watched some of the tutorials and did
Lab 4, and tonight I am doing some discussion and Lab 5.
Hope this helps, it works for me just to make sure I have a
manageable portion at a time without trying to do too much
in one sitting or fall behind.

Weekly Feedback Survey
1. Do you like the online learning environment so far? Why or
why not?
2. Did you have any problems with any of the items in this
week’s modules? If so, what were they?
3. How many hours did you spend learning the material and
completing this week’s assignments?
•  Less than 15
•  15 - 20
•  20 - 25
•  More than 25
4. Are there any other comments that you would like to share?

Responses Week 4 – Question 1
Do you like the online learning environment so far? Why
or why not?
  I have enjoyed it so far, making a game this week was especially fun.
  This week was really difficult learning the lists and the variables. So, I
didn't really like the online learning environment this week.
  There are pros and cons. I like being able to work at my own pace when
I feel like it, and receiving feedback online. Sometimes I wish questions
could be answered immediately though, which is impossible in the
online setting.
  Yes, I love the flexibility that online learning offers.
  For sure! I like the online discussions and working from home has been
easy for this class.
  I like the online learning environment because of the time I can set
aside.


  Yes it has been going well.
  Yes, online learning give you time to think by yourself and if it happened
in classroom students will just ask the professor for assistant
  I already adapted the online learning environment. Because I can manage
my time flexible.
  I am going to keep putting in the same answer because I love learning
online. I love going at my own pace and being able to do what I need to
do whenever I want to do it. It is perfect for my learning style!
  My only problem is that other students do not often post in the
discussion section, which makes it difficult to participate there.


How many hours did you spend learning the material and
completing this week’s assignments?

Less than 15 1

15-20 4

20-25 6

More than 25 1

7. Think about the layout of your course.

  Strive for a simple, intuitive design.
  Consider how you group elements of your course.
  Think about navigation.
  Provide prompts that guide students through the course.

Module 1-3: Dance Party
  Introduction to this Module
  Discussion Assignment – Giving Directions
  Algorithms
  Using Multiple Costumes
  Lab 3 (link)
  Programming Project 2 (link)
  Example Projects
  Blocks to Try

8. Assess your course . . .
and, if possible, receive feedback from colleagues.

  California State University, Chico’s Rubric for Online
Instruction (http://www.csuchico.edu/roi/)
  Quality Matters Rubric (http://www.qmprogram.org/
rubric)
  Assessing Online Facilitation (http://humboldt.edu/aof/
aof.htm)

Final Project Discussion
  (Student) Is there any way to delete what is stored for the
answer to a question? I have a question repeating over and
over again until the answer is correct, then it goes to another
repeated question with similar answer choices. When I run
the script, it keeps the answer in memory for the second
question and moves on. Here is a screen shot that will make
more sense.
< screen shot not shown>
Is there a way to insert something between the repeats to
clear the stored answer before it asks the second question?

  (Student) I think I figured out a workaround using an [if/else]
block that accomplishes the same thing, but I'm still curious if
there is a way to to delete the stored answer. Here's my
workaround:
<screen shot not shown>
  (Instructor) Yes, this looks like it will work. Nice work
around! (I did post another suggestion as well.)

  (Instructor) Good question. As far as I know, the only time
the blue answer variable changes is when the user replies to a
question. However, you could create your own variable and
"copy" the answer into it. Something like this should work:
<screen shot not shown>
I created the variable called "my answer" and then set it to a
space. Does this make sense?

  (Student) This definitely makes sense. I love that there's so
many different ways to write similar working scripts!

How I survived teaching my first online course (and actually enjoyed it!)

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