The structured nature of our courses does make it somewhat hard to create learning objects but I do find that any additional learning materials that I do prepare and post are appreciated by students.
I create presentations for my chats and use them to facilitate the weekly chat sessions. I also post them to the course so that students can access them anytime to prepare for the chat or just to study for the assignments.
Sandra,
Current events and connecting content to to real life examples are excellent ways to engage the students in the learning process. Thanks!
I attempt to incorporate current events in the discussion board dialog. I provide links to current issues related to the discussion. I identify some positive environmental concepts from differing parts of the country. Students are familiar with some of the landmarks. This encourages discussion on the discussion board, as well as in the live chat.
I add some learning materials documents to assist students but find that too many may be counter-productive. We are required to add some information such as Academic Integrity, Unacceptable Websites, and Student Support documents.
Nizar,
What a shame, but I guess through your feedback the institution is changing thing for you, is that true? How do you make sure the rubrics you use are directly related to your assignments/projects?
Thanks!
Hi Dr. Crews,
Since courses are pre-built/pre-designed for us, we really can't modify the assignments or discussion questions. However, the school is always listening to the instructors' feedback. In the past, I have asked to replace assignments and discussion questions that were more aligned with the course objectives and learning outcomes. I follow this approach:
Provide current assignment, and explain why it's not suitable for this course.
Provide a replacement assignment, and explain why it's appropriate for this course.
Lisa,
Can you be more specific about what is included in these videos? And, how long are they? Do you know what software is used?
I use Jing and Adobe Connect. Thanks!
Hi - I share videos created for the assignments to help students succeed. These are created by the department and are fantastic! Lisa
Thomas,
Great. Many times instructors and institutions put too many learning objectives in a course and there's no way the students can learn them all. So, you're doing a good thing when concentrating on 4-5 objectives. Thanks!
Phyllis,
Bringing in current events and things students can relate to (such as movies) is a great learning tool. The students become engaged and learn how the content relates to the real world. Nice.
I focus on creating 4-5 major learning objectives for each course, then I design the content around them. This enables both students and myself to keep focused on what is important and produces the outcomes desired.
I teach an online literature course and to create interest and student participation actively on the discussion board, I pose questions about movies and current events that have similar themes that relate to the literary works that we are discussing each week. This allow student to provide a real world connection to the literature; and it also creates discussions as student realized they have seen the same movie. They engage in comparison about themes and character development in the literary work to the movie or current events. When students can see the literary work beyond the textbook and relate it to current events in their lives, it provides motivation for students to complete assignments and stay on task to complete the assignments. This serves as a workload management strategy for me in my role as faculty and the students. Students are interested in posting their responses early in order to engage in the conversation; hence this allow them to stay on schedule, and it allows me to begin grading earlier in observing participation on the discussion board.
Eugenia,
By post session review, do you mean end of course evaluation? We do that on all courses.
Hi Theran, Tena and Class,
I also wish that instructors had more power to communicate what adjustments would help students since we experience the day to day complaints and see the incidences of confusion that arise. I have been seeing some changes recently to the curriculum that seem to help make things such as the written requirement on a discussion board assignment easier to identify.
Do your departments require a post session review? This seems to be something that is being implemented at a school I teach and I hope that it may help catalyze revisions.
Eugenia
Theran,
Oh how I wish those teaching the course would have more input. This input should be based on their experience and feedback from students. All of our goals are to help students improve and reach the learning outcomes. Thanks!
As indicated by another teacher most of the programs I am familiar with are created, maintained, and updated by the department(s) within the institution. We adjunct faculty may be asked for input, and we may make suggestions, however, these may or may not be accepted or included.
I have created what some may call responses to frequently asked question, or ancillary information related to the subject material. This information may include suggestions, recommendations, and what I consider to be critical information for course material being covered, and as such I include this information as needed.
In courses there may be topics included in a syllabus such as Course Goals, and Course Objectives. I have attempted to be sure to touch on each of these as part of my instructional duty. In this regard, I have found the use of personal experience and knowledge to be very helpful.
Kara,
What do you mean you are not "available" to do any revisions? Does you institution not allow you as an instructor to make changes to your course? Is it a "canned" course?
I am really not available to do any revisions in my courses. I do provide different links and information in the discussion forums. I feel that this greatly helps me to get some of the objectives covered.
Vivian ,
Love your first statement. We do have to become stronger as we progress through our teaching and learning career. It is also essential to understand our own weaknesses so we can improve upon them. Thanks!
I believe participating in professional development courses serve as a workload management strategy can only help an instructor become stronger in his/her teaching skills. This course in particular is enlightening. Many of the topics I have been exposed to in other personal development courses. However, there is information I have not incorporated when teaching online or on land. I was weak in creating PowerPoint presentations, so I did a tutorial online via the Microsoft website. Another weakness I struggle with is providing effective feedback to students. I tend to use short to-the-point comments. My school offered each instructor an opportunity to learn how to provide effective assignment feedback. Afterwards, my scores increase tremendously. I was happy and my students replied how much they appreciated my comments.
