Life After Fertilization

1

• The Online Course After Conception
• - What Have We Learned So Far ? -

Online http//mooni.fccj.cc.fl.us/jwisner/powerp
oint/Life_After_Fertilization.ppt
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Life After Fertilization

• The Online Course After Conception
• - What Have We Learned So Far ? -

Thirteenth International Conference on College
Teaching and Learning Jacksonville, Florida April
9 13 2002 http//mooni.fccj.cc.fl.us/jwisner/po
werpoint/Life_After_Fertilization.ppt
John Mullins Jerry Wisner
3
Life After Fertilization

• Getting Started
• 1st week Assignments
• Interacting with students essential
• Threaded Discussions
• Grading students work

4
Getting Started

• 1st day and week often confusing
• Welcome e-mail ---
• Login info -- directions to get into course site
• Some will not check in until last of week
• When register required send an email
• replies can have info of log-in username and
  password ---
• URL of course site

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1st Week Assignments

• Kept to minimum
• Students logging in late will miss early
  assignments
• Brand new experience for many
• Use first week as orientation period to online
  learning and the course
• Have a few general requirements

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1st week Assignments

• Have a few general requirements
• Read syllabus carefully --- may want give
  specific directions as to how reach it
• Understand sending assignments via email
• Spend significant amount time learning how course
  delivery platform works and what tools the
  platform offers
• Get started with threaded discussions

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1st week Assignments

• Discussion forums icebreakers
• Post 8 nouns about self
• Introduce self
• Problem solving
• Technology competence
• Send/receive emails and attachments
• Save and open text files
• Cut and paste text
• Access/respond forums
• Login
• Navigate and use Internet

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Interacting With Students Is Essential

• Establish a presence (just as you do in the
  physical class)
• Threaded discussion/Chat
• Emails
• Feedback

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Threaded Discussions

• Monitor postings --- minimize own replies so not
  to overpower discussion
• Provide a general summary --- students will note
  you are paying attention
• Supply guidelines before first discussions begin
• Timing

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Grading Students Work

• Discussions such grading does not take a long
  time
• 2 excellent, completed assign
• 1 unsatisfactory, partially completed or late
• 0 do not reply
• Writing assignments
• Exams
• Automatic grading
• Use different question types
• Use conceptual questions
• Term Grades Portfolios

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Good Discussion Topics

• Open-ended problems, issues, and/or ideas
• Topics that are not easy to solve diversity of
  opinions stimulate discussions
• Current event topic

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Tools

• Threaded discussions
• Ask and answer questions
• General/specific discussion areas
• Encourages in-depth discussions
• Email
• Assignment submissions
• Personal questions
• Netiquette

• Chat
• Office hours
• Discuss events as they are taking place
• Holding scheduled events
• Areas for individual small groups

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Making Adjustments

• Be prepared to tinker we have always made
  adjustments
• Content
• Websites
• Check links sites do disappear
• Alternative assignments
• Assignments
• Student workload easy to under estimate amount
  time required
• Grading may take too much time

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References

• Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
  Faculty Handbook for Online Course Development
  and Online Teaching. Rev. September 2001.
  Developed by a faculty committee Sandy Jordan,
  John Mullins, Jerry Wisner, Arnold Wood. Edited
  by Jack Chambers
• From the Distance Learning Office at FCCJ
  Online Faculty Manual http//www.distancelearning
  .org/facman.htm
• Palloff, R. and Pratt, K. (1999) Building
  Learning Communities in Cyberspace. San
  Francisco Jossey-Bass Publishers
• Moore, G., Winograd, K, and Lange, D. (2001) You
  Can Teach Online. Building a Creative Learning
  Environment. NewYork McGraw-Hill URL
  http//www.mhhe.com/ucanteachonline
• Salmon, G. E-Moderating. The Key to Teaching and
  Learning Online. Kogan Page. ISBN0749431105 180
  Pages April 2000
• URL http//oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating/
  and http//sstweb.open.ac.uk8282/oubs/gilly/

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References

• Moderators Home Page. Resources for Moderators
  and Facilitators of Online Discussion
  http//www.emoderators.com/moderators.shtml
• The Net Users Guidelines and Netiquette
  http//wise.fau.edu/netiquette/net/index.html
• Muilenburg, L and Zane L. Berge, Z. A Framework
  for Designing Questions for Online Learning URL
  http//www.emoderators.com/moderators/muilenburg.h
  tml