Scott Warnock, director of the Freshman Writing Program at Drexel University, wrote about his experience developing an online writing program in 2004. He emphasizes placing pedagogy before technology by developing tasks that facilitate the intersection of student-centered learning and technology. Warnock provides advice for new online teachers such as developing an approachable online persona, using a learning management system like Blackboard effectively, and providing redundancy to communicate due dates and instructions clearly to students.

1. Teaching
Writing Online:
How &Why
By Scott Warnock
Professor at Drexel University

2.  The Author, Scott Warnock
PhD from Temple University
 Director of the Freshman Writing Program
at Drexel University
 Hired in 2004 to create an online writing
program.

3.  In the introduction,
Warnock quotes
Nietzsche: “If you
have your why for
life, then you can
get along with
almost any how.”
 This quote refers to
the subtitle for the
book because the
author often
repeats that the
“why” of your
teaching should
proceed the
“how” of your
teaching.

4.  For me, this
means placing
pedagogy
before
technology.
 Warnock notes,
“find points
where
pedagogy and
Discussion Boards are a good
technology example of how technology
meet and serves the writing teacher at
develop tasks the intersection of student
centered learning and
that facilitate technology.
such a union.”

5. Developing Your Online Personality
 Warnock says that much like
your f2f persona, you also
develop an online teaching
persona. He encourages all
new online teachers to think
about what “type” of
teacher they would like to be
online.
 Some personas to avoid:
unapproachable sage,
apathetic drone, chum, fool,
harsh critic.

6. Have an icebreaker
Much like we did in this class, Warnock encourages the online
writing teacher to welcome the students to class and have
them introduce themselves.
He includes his sample welcome to the students, so the reader
can see his teaching persona and what topics he is asking the
student to refer to when introducing themselves.
In the text, Warnock is having students submit their
introductions in discussion boards on a CMS (course
management system) such as Blackboard.

7. Online or Hybrid?
 The author is a fan of HYBRID courses, especially for
teachers new to online teaching. He argues that the
move to online teaching is best done gradually.
 Also, Warnock notes that freshman are also better
served by a hybrid class as an introduction to a fully
online class. He made this decision after comparing
the 8% drop rate of his onsite class to the 44% drop
rate for his online freshman composition class.

8. The Importance of Communication
 Teaching online requires
a rethinking of your
communication style.
 If you are a teacher with
a big personality, some
of your affect maybe
lost in an online class.
 If you are a teacher
who pulls students aside
for added help, this type
of communication
requires more foresight
in a online environment.

9. Tech Tools & Strategies: Use Only
What You Need
 Warnock says, “Don’t be any more
complicated technologically than you
have to be. The foundation of your
class, even in the most high tech
environment, is still your own personal
teaching ability and imagination.”
 Some relief from
the high tech for
newbies like me!

10. Avoid technology overload
Warnock recommends
what could be
paraphrased as “Keep
it simple, Stupid.” He
tells the new online
teacher to use the
predesigned tools,
such as Blackboard as
much as possible and
adapt the
management system
to the course
outcomes.

11. More practical
advice for the
teacher:
Know your CMS, course
management system; for
most of us, this would be
Blackboard. The author
stresses that once the
semester beings, the
teacher does not have
time to learn how to use
Blackboard.

12. Writing Course Design
 Message Boards-A perfect place for
students to do informal writing
 Writing journals kept on student’s page,
similar to our blogs on Ning.
 Peer-review of drafts
 Three writing projects—graded holistically
in a writing portfolio

13. Teaching
online
Warnock shows the pros
and cons of whether to
writing with
use a real book or to use
online resources, such as a RL book.
an e-book. He does
point out that if students
do not have access to a
bookstore, they need to
know about the text
ahead of time.

14. Redundancy is crucial
 Warnock recommends providing
information to our students through
multiple means.
 For example:
 Put due date on syllabus
 Put due date in specific instructions
 Provide weekly plan each week list all
activities and (you guessed it!) DUE DATES.

15. Much like a RL classroom
 Interestingly, Warnock sounds like a mentor
teacher working with a new teacher in a real
life classroom. His advice, like repeat the
same information over and over is practiced
most teachers in a RL classroom.
 Which makes me wonder, do students display
similar behaviors online as they do in real
time? What is the online equal of texting in
class?