This document provides an overview of topics and considerations for preparing to teach online, including pre-workshop preparation, instructor background, moving course content online, facilitating online discussions, online assessment options, and the differences between synchronous and asynchronous teaching. Key areas covered are managing student expectations in the online environment, communication policies, chunking content, creating an accessible online syllabus, recording microlectures, facilitating discussions, providing feedback, and using tools to enable interactive and collaborative learning experiences.

1. Preparing to Teach Online
July 29th, 2014
Marc Thompson & Jim Wentworth

2. Pre-workshop Preparation: (have necessary information displayed on screen as
people arrive, print out same info for late comers)?
All participants in Preparing to Teach Online space as students
All participants in work space (compass essentials) four per space max?
Send announcement email to all registered so they know how to access the course
Everyone should log in to Compass 2g and locate their work space
Everyone should find and open Notepad, Word and Acrobat Pro on their computer
Be prepared to open embedded screencast powerpoint within Compass
Be logged into the following:
Screencast, YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare

3. Jim’s background:
Online teaching / multimedia instructor
Administration of CU Boulder online program
Support of Compass 2g
Current focus at CITL

4. Questions to ask:
How many of you have taught online previously?
How many of you have taken an online course? Not just a MOOC
Of those who have taught online, how many have taught synchronously?
How many of you have designed an online course?
How many of you use social media of any kind regularly?
How many of you have twitter accounts?

5. Moving Your Course
Content Online

6. Managing student expectations
Think about the subtle interactions that take place within a f2f classroom setting
at the beginning of class
as you lecture
as students interact during class
as the class finishes and some students approach the instructor
after class as students talk

7. Instructor presence – change in role
student-centered approach, not about relaying information, about helping the student to
discover and connect new information
underscores the need for scaffolding, importance of providing assignments that build off
students prior knowledge
provide feedback in supportive environment
build a sense of community
reduce isolation and build rapport

8. Communication policies
What is your preferred method of contact?
Are there additional contact options (office phone during business hours)?
How quickly should the students expect a response?
What steps should the students take when they do not receive a response?
Do you hold virtual office hours?

9. Chunking content for online delivery
online instruction is not tied to specific time frames or blocks of time. No longer necessary
to prepare 50 minutes of course material and activities
benefits of modularization, more easily searched, used as a easy reference when needed,
allows students to determine how much and at what time they need to become familiar
with new content
microlectures – videos not longer than 10 minutes

10. Creating an Online Syllabus
Highlight importance of a comprehensive online syllabus that spells out everything a
student may need to know to succeed in your course.
Format options – HTML, pdf, other (review wysiwyg tool in compass)
Demonstrate good use of online syllabus (see online syllabus example within course )
Provide HTML syllabus examples (template)
Syllabus quiz (show example video with embedded quiz)

11. Key policy considerations
FERPA
Copyright
ADA compliance

12. Creating Online Lecture Materials
Importance of active and collaborative learning
improves engagement
increases retention
promotes higher-level learning

13. Backwards Design
Identify desired results - course objectives
Determine acceptable evidence - course assessment
Plan learning experiences – course activities

14. Interactive and Collaborative Assignments
How can you create engaging, authentic activities?
What does an authentic assignment look like within your discipline?

15. Authentic Assessment
Project-based
Case-based
Team-based
Client-driven
Other ideas?

16. Feedback and Self-Assessment
Students in an online course need a consistent feedback loop to evaluate their own
progress.
How will you provide opportunities for instructor feedback?
How can you incorporate self-assessment activities for your students?

17. Recording Microlectures
Phone video, screencast, vimeo and Youtube uploads (demonstration with vimeo and
direct upload?)
Podcasting, iTunes and audacity, other podcasting platforms? - still relevant, if you don’t
have visuals to create a microlecture video, then essentially you have an audio podcast
Demonstate screen recording with Apple, Windows and Camtasia
Student created video (Snodgras example)
Embedded quizzes with Camtasia – syllabus quiz example (within online syllabus section
of course)
play ‘video is an opportunity’ from within Compass space – Design for Interaction

18. Making existing powerpoints more interactive
Export to PDF
PowerPoint Show
Uploading to slideshare – example (upload preparing to teach powerpoint)
Search for metacognition in Slideshare

19. Break – moving to Armory room 428
(Put map and directions on screen, have handouts available)

20. Next Up – Design for Interaction

21. Video is an Opportunity
play video from within Compass space – Design for Interaction

22. Interactive content
Explore the variety of interactive tools
Twitter (#prepforonline)
Prezi (demo real-time collaborative editing)
GoogleDocs
SlideShare
Voicethread
Trello (demo real-time collaborative editing)
Poll Everywhere
Blogs, wikis, journals etc.

23. Use Poll Everywhere to ask for their favorite Web 2.0 tools – what
have you explored or used within your own course?
Display results
http://polleverywhere.com/prepforonline

24. Using embed codes
YouTube, Flickr and other embed tools (demo embed process from YouTube with
playlist?)
Compass and embed codes
using linked html files
Twitter feeds
Poll everywhere results
(examples within Building Online Community section of Compass)

25. Next Up – Making Your Course
Content Accessible

26. Facilitating Online Discussions

27. Take a minute to add a response to the
Workshop Discussion Forum

28. What are the goals of your online discussions, how do they relate to
the overall course objectives?
Knowledge acquisition
Writing improvement
Gauge understanding
Build analytical skills

29. Building Rapport
Icebreakers
short bio
small group
academic pursuit
research interests
five nouns

30. Discussion Prompts
• Discussion prompts should be relevant to course content, yet broad enough for personal and professional
experiences to apply. New learning occurs when students recognize the applicability of the concept to their
current job, organization, or future career aspirations.
• Discussion prompts should allow students to relate their own experiences and background.
• Discussion prompts should relate to current events, when possible.
• Discussion prompts should pique student interests and concerns within their field of study.
• Discussion prompts should ask students to perform authentic tasks similar to what they might expect within
the discipline.
• Discussion responses/posts should require critical thinking.
• Discussion responses/posts should be free from excessive requirements and restrictions.
• Discussion responses/posts from faculty should stimulate further discussion without additional requirements.
Discussion responses from faculty should facilitate, yet not dominate the discussion.

31. Feedback is important
How do you move the discussion forward?
Summarize
Moderate
Guide
Prompt or prod
Troubleshoot
Mediating a debate
Redirect

32. Develop a routine
How often will you participate in your online discussions?
How often do you expect students to participate?
Who will summarize the weekly postings?

33. Group projects and group management
Demonstrate group functions and available tools
Discuss collaborative online tools demonstrated earlier in the day
Consider project-based, team-based, problem-based and other forms of group
assignments - how can you decision authentic group activities – how do they relate to
course objectives?
Mention peer evaluation tools outside of Compass
http://info.catme.org
https://teammatesv4.appspot.com

34. Online Assessment Options
formative feedback opportunities
self-assessment options
grading rubrics
authentic assessment
online exams – ProctorU
open book exams
Important to test higher order skills – not just remembering and understanding

35. Grading Rubrics
Advantages
Standardization
Self-assessment
Provide individual feedback
Example for online discussions (linked to discussion example)
Example for other assignments (?? Include large rubric example file)
Creating and grading with rubrics (demonstration)

36. Synchronous – vs- Asynchronous
Active learning in synchronous sessions
Active learning is a technique that brings engagement, retention and high-level
learning
Examples:
online polling, use the Pointer tool, or multiple choice poll, display results
use the chat tool to collect input from participants
Use Googledocs for collaborative work
Drag and drop functionality within Collaborate
Sorting activity with Collaborate
Quiz activity – circle the correct answer
Likert scale – drop a pin on the scale in the appropriate location
Web tour – opens a tool in their browser, no browser tools available
Share your own screen
Breakout rooms – think, pair, share

37. Question & Answer
please complete the workshop evaluation
Show them where this is inside the compass space