I feel it is very important to keep students involved even when they are at risk of failing. This is where I like to come in and congratulate them on a job well done on an assignment and tell them to hang in there. I've noticed when students are failing few of them will reach out to instructors for help. This again is when I feel it is so important to get the student involved.

I feel emailing is the best way for me to communicate with my students. Not only am I certain the message was sent, it is also documented. I find with phone calls to students often times I just end up leaving a voice mail and the students rarely get back to me.

I really like the Announcement feature because I find it is a great way to communicate to all my students at once.

Since assessment focuses on improvement it looks at the quality of performance for future development without established criteria (McArdle, 2007). The process of assessments looks at improving the level of quality but not creating or evaluating quality. Assessments find areas of strengths and weaknesses so that the strengths can continue and the weaknesses can be highlighted and tackled for improvement. The process of assessments is for the learner but it focuses on the performance of the student not the actual student themselves because that would suggest individual improvement plans not the knowledge that needs to be gained. Assessment can be the most effective if the learner actually seeks out the help because it shows interest for improvement and will most likely actually use it. Assessment literature cautions that assessment should only be used when there is a significant possibility for improvement and when the feedback comes from a respected source otherwise feedback will continue to be used as a crutch or it will disregarded completely if the source is untrustworthy (Rossett & Sheldon, 2001). Instructional design assessment determines if learning has occurred and can happen during or after a segment of teaching and even during or after an entire course. At the end of an assessment there should be findings or a report. Student assessments are generally not graded or do not have a large impact of the students grade. The purpose of an assessment is to guide improvement (Rossett & Sheldon, 2001). Since assessments are not judgments the report should include statements that describe strengths and weaknesses in a non-judgmental fashion by offering suggestions on specific ways to improve. Evaluation Evaluation is distinctly different as its focus in on judgment and success after specific criteria has been laid out. During an evaluation the learner must know exactly what and how they will be evaluated. Evaluations focus mainly on the quality of the end result so having established criteria that does not change allows the student or training changes to be fairly judged (McArdle, 2007). Evaluations are set up to determine if the instructional designer was successful in the intervention of a unit lesson or course. It is a process of identifying the value of training and sets up the means to improve it. Evaluations are used to find out what is and isn’t working and give insight as to why deficiencies are occurring (Rossett & Sheldon, 2001). Evaluations also need to be evaluated themselves for improvement to make sure they meet the needs of the evaluator and are also fair to those being evaluated. Evaluations can be either direct or indirect. A direct evaluation looks at the quality of a learner’s performance using whatever was produced such as a report, test, or skill. An indirect evaluation would involve two groups in which the performance of one group is graded on the performance of the other (Rossett & Sheldon, 2001). This type of evaluation could be seen when an instructor’s performance is evaluated in relation to how well their students perform. When producing or conducting an evaluation certain elements need to be taken into account which affect the evaluation results. Factors affecting results could include the setting or circumstances in which the evaluation is conducted. Norms and standards should be established as well as what would be considered successful. Evaluations can only be successful if the evaluator is committed to the standards and time and costs are budgeted properly. McArdle, G. E., (2007) Training, Design, and Delivery, ASTD, VA Rossett, A. & Sheldon, K. (2001). Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer

It is my responsibility to keep the student engaged in the classroom. By providing videos and thought provoking discussions, we should be able to draw the student into the class so they can want to learn more and engage with their classmates with thought provoking comments.

In regards to feedback it is imperative that we provide timely and quick feedback. You need to be detailed in your response. You need to do the sandwich method. Start with something positive and then focus on improvements and then close with positive feedback. Be honest and detailed so they can learn from it and improve on their next assignment.

The course content needs to be adjusted for the online environment simply because the students are learning in a different format. The classroom should be easy to navigate with the different areas easy to access. Online students become easily frustrated if they struggle with finding assignment directions, where to submit assignments and how to access important information. Jean Morrison

I have been teaching in the online environment for 11 years and thoroughly enjoy being the "Guide" through the students educational journey. I have found that communication is key as well as creating a warm, comfortable environment for them to be a part of. I have also found the students enjoy seeing pictures of me as well as their classmates. It helps build a positive community. Jean Morrison

I have been teaching online for 11 years with several different institutions and this is the first experience I have had with Live Chat sessions. I have to admit, I am very disappointed with the involvement of students. I have yet to have more than 2 students attend the Live Session even though I have tried various ways to get them to join me. I would love to hear some ways that others have encouraged students to attend the event. Jean Morrison

I have not had the opportunity to use Wiki in the online classroom and unfortunately am not to familiar with it as a tech tool. I have a colleague who is very tech savvy and I am going to meet with her so she can give me a hands-on learning experience with it. I think it would be a great tool to utilize if done properly. Jean Morrison

I think it is imperative that we respond to the students request within 24 hours. I think timely turn around and quality feedback is essential to the success of the student progress. The instructor sets the tone for the course and if they are not present then the students may feel that they should not be.

As an online instructor I make it my duty to contact each student before the class starts in order to introduce myself and to see if they have any questions, concerns or issues. I also watch participation and scores and if I see someone is lost or lack of attendance/participation. I then decide to contact them for one on one counseling. It is easy to lose a student due to being online so you have to take that extra steps to pull them back and get the actively engaging.

The discussion board is a great place for leveraging knowledge, it can also be a gateway for disruption. Monitor the discussion board daily, try to read between the lines and connect with each student and their style of learning. If you encounter a disruptive student, address them head on and create firm requirements going forward. Engage those quite learners by guiding their thoughts and conversation to pull them into the full cycle of the discussion.

Online learning fosters unique types of learners, instructors need to appeal to each type of learner and engage each respectively. Perhaps, a good method is creating thinking, posing a question that is inline with the unit content and review/ share the responses. Some students are natural writers whereas others maybe thinkers and work best in groups. Find out what appeals and work toward that direction.

An instructors presence can be created by introductory powerpoints, weekly adding images of self and relating those images to the course content. Sharing real life experiences inline with assignments and weekly lectures. Incorporate real life scenarios with course content and student activity.

Prior to class commencement, send online learners a list of expectations, methods of success for online learning. Remove negative thoughts and center the focus on success of completing expectatons for common goal.

HI Folks, this concept terms scaffolding within this content I most closely associate with Constructivist learning theory. The concept of course is that new learning is built upon previous knowledge and learning.

Hi all, One thing that I encountered at one school where I taught was a student with what seemed to be a mental illness. I say this because she disclosed - publicly, in the discussion area! - that she had urges to kill people. She even mentioned that her psychologist had told her to talk about it because it was better to talk about it. She would also attack students (in writing) if they mentioned being gay. When I tried to talk to her about it (privately/email), she got upset and told me that she had done nothing wrong. What was worse was that when I attempted to contact the school, they said there was nothing wrong. It wasn't until the class was over that they sent a message to her (copied to me) saying that her postings were inappropriate. I no longer teach at that school, but I was wondering if anyone else had run into similar issues with online students and how they handled it? Thanks, Kate

Hi all, At my college, they have begun using "blogs" for student introductions/welcomes. In the past, this was done through the discussion boards. I have found that students (and instructors, too!) seem to ignore the blogs. Where I used to get multiple responses and be able to build a bit of a community, there have been classes where no one has responded to my attempts to build a dialogue/introduction blog. Does anyone else use the blog feature for this? Any success stories/ideas? Thanks, Kate

We should also consider the various learning styles of students and how this might influence choices in presenting course content online. It's important to be aware of the different learning styles and recognize opportunities to present information in a different way to help a student understand. Learning Styles Visual (spatial) meaning that your students may prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding in which case you might want to incorporate images or graphics in some of your content – this can be done via PowerPoint presentations Aural (auditory-musical) meaning that your students may prefer using sound and music in which case you might want to include some short audio clips. Verbal (linguistic) meaning that your students may prefer using words, both in speech and writing which is easily presented in this venue since most content defaults to a text-based format Physical (kinesthetic) which means your students may prefer using their body, hands and sense of touch. Unfortunately unless you have some hands-on assignments or activities you can develop and then ask your students to report their experiences, may prove difficult to accommodate in this style Logical (mathematical) meaning that your students may prefer using logic, reasoning and systems in which case you would engage them in dialogue in the threaded discussions using a variety of questioning techniques such as “Have you thought of this possibility? Or “What are your thoughts about…?”. Social or interpersonal preferences meaning that your students may prefer to learn in groups or with other people. The eCollege platform allows us to assign group work to accommodate this learning style. Then there’s the threaded discussion where, if you successfully foster a sense of community through the use of something like a peer review requirement, your students will actively add that value-added component to the educational experience for all. Solitary (intrapersonal) meaning your students prefer to work alone or prefer self-study. This is accomplished via individual assignments such as homework, research assignment, journal entries, or individual projects.