Instructify

This is the first in a series of feature articles about online teaching. Keep checking Instructify every week for a new feature.

If you’re considering taking your teaching skills into the online classroom, you may be wondering what to expect.  How is online learning different from face-to-face learning?  What does it demand of learners and teachers? How will I get to know my students, build a rapport with them, and communicate effectively?

When I got started teaching online in 2001, online learning was not as widespread as it is now and there was very little research on effective teaching and learning strategies for the online environment.  Fortunately, today’s new online teachers can draw on the experiences of veteran educators, training programs like LEARN NC’s COLT program, and on a great deal of new research to help them acclimate to this new environment quickly and put best practices into action in their own online classrooms.  In this first of what I hope will be a series of Instructifeatures about online teaching, I’ll focus on the learners in your online course.

One of the keys to successful teaching in any environment is the ability to tailor your instruction to the needs of the students in your course.  So who are the people who take online courses, and what special challenges do they face?

Online learners come from all walks of life, as this article by Jennifer Williamson points out.  If you are teaching K-12 students, your students may be taking credit recovery courses, enrolling in advanced or specialized courses that are not available in their brick and mortar schools, homeschooling, or participating in alternative education programs.  If you are teaching professional development courses for adult learners, your students may tell you that they are interested in exploring a topic that isn’t offered in their school system’s professional development offerings or they may simply appreciate the flexibility and convenience of online learning.  Understanding students’ reasons for taking an online course can help you anticipate and meet their needs more effectively.

Whatever their reasons for enrolling in an online course, online learners will need to be motivated, organized and independent.  Without the face-to-face contact and regular schedule of an in-person class, online learners must take the initiative to login regularly, complete assignments on time, and make connections with their instructor and other learners in the course.  Online learners also have to have a certain degree of tech-savvy so that they can navigate the course and use online tools successfully.

There are a number of tools available for online learners to help them determine their own readiness for the challenges of online learning.  SORT, the Student Online Readiness Tool from the University of Georgia system, offers an online quiz with suggestions to help learners fill in any gaps in their preparations.  Building some sort of self-assessment of readiness for online learning into your course can help your students understand their level of preparedness, allowing them to plan ahead for a successful online learning experience and allowing the instructors to understand which students may need some additional support.

Online education can help fill many needs for K-12 and adult learners, allowing them to explore otherwise-unavailable topics, learn in a flexible and convenient environment, and step outside the boundaries of the traditional classroom which may, for a variety of reasons, not fully meet their needs.  The online environment presents its own special challenges for students, but if instructors are aware of those challenges and can help students prepare to meet them, online learners and their teachers can look forward to a fantastic experience. In my next Instructifeature on online teaching, I’ll share some ideas for communicating effectively with the learners in your online courses! -KATHRYN WALBERT

Dr. Kathryn Walbert has developed and taught several online courses in the fields of online teaching and U.S. history. She serves as a consultant on U.S. history, oral history, and academic skills to LEARN NC and other organizations throughout North Carolina. 

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