5.3 Enhancing online instruction in higher education: professional  (Page 4/5)

Promote a learner-centered online environment. Ongoing discussions can take place about the value of learning from each other, the unique expertise each student brings to the course, and how students can collaborate effectively on project development and problem solving.

Help students immerse and reflect. Students can be provided with authentic, challenging situations as part of various experiences in the course such as journal and discussion board activities. These activities require dialogue along with individual and group problem-solving, analysis, and reflection.

Make learning a community activity. Students can be required to complete an authentic project as part of a collaborative team. Every member of the team has a role and all are required to work together using technology to successfully complete the project.

Show how educators and learners both lead and learn. Authentic project teams are encouraged to identify an overall team leader. However, leadership for various project responsibilities can be delegated to individual team members who have the skills or interest.

Maintain VIP communication: Visible, instant, and permanent. All presentations, assignments, reading, deliberations and work completed online, including formal and informal discussions, should be maintained in permanent, available-on-demand formats. This creates significant learning opportunities allowing students to have 24/7 and ongoing access to all course information.

Interpret and respond to signs of change. Discussions can take place about the pedagogical changes that are occurring based on the use of technology and the change of venue from face-to-face to online. Students can be asked to provide ongoing feedback about their perceptions of change and ways that it could be enhanced to make it an even more meaningful process.

Lead by example and create a model experience. An online course should be planned in great detail to avoid any types of problems that might reflect poorly upon the use of the technology. Also, it is important to model the use of technology and demonstrate its potential benefits for the course and the students’ work environments. Students should be reminded that technology has its flaws and that the inevitable mishaps are an opportunity for learning.

Build, manage, and revise the online learning environment. Discussions should occur with students about how online learning technologies are at the beginning stages of implementation and that there will be challenges that need to be worked out. Student feedback is highly encouraged, providing them with ongoing opportunities to have input into their learning. All student suggestions should be used as a resource for revising and improving courses.

Motivate and prepare students. Establishing a climate of support, respect, risk-taking, collaboration, and ongoing nurturing is integral to establishing trust and building the students’ enthusiasm to embrace technology — both in the course itself and in their work environments.

Another area that is significantly emphasized as part of effective online course design is the importance of creating a learning community that is respectful, supportive, and encourages risk-taking. There are a number of ways to create a learning community in a course. However, when teaching online, this becomes even more important because face-to-face contact among the students is limited. Therefore, a top priority is to establish quality relationships as quickly as possible so the students can focus on the critical aspects of learning. Five strategies found to be effective for building a cohesive community of learners are: (a) focus on the person; (b) establish norms; (c) begin relationship building; (d) develop rigor; and (e) continue to build the total community. Each of these areas is highlighted below with brief descriptions of how they can be implemented into a course.