Online Instructing: Background Basics

Before getting into the specifics of "how to" teach online, we will first:

 Define what is meant by online instructing.

 Describe distinctive features of online instructing.
 Explain some of the key considerations in preparing to teach online.

Online Instructing: What is it?

Online instructing (or teaching) refers to any kind of instruction or coaching that takes place via a computer
network. It typically employs electronic tools that allow students and teachers to communicate with each
other, as well as conferencing software that lets participants conduct multi-person discussions either in real-
time (often called "chats"), or on a delayed basis (asynchronous--often called "threaded discussions").

Most often, online instructing occurs in the context of distance education, i.e., settings in which learners
and instructors or teachers are located in different places and all or most interaction takes place via the
network. However, it is increasingly being employed in "blended" courses that are at least partially on
campus (e.g. 50% online + 50% face-to-face).

How does Online Instructing differ from teaching in traditional environments?

Teaching in the online environment is constantly evolving. In many respects, it is similar to traditional
teaching. Nevertheless, as compared to most teaching in traditional contexts, it is different in the following
ways:

Time, Distance, and Device Independent. Learners can participate in online learning situations from any
place in the world (distance-independent), using any computer platform (device-independent), at any time
of the day or night (time-independent).

Interactive. Students can interact extensively with each other, with instructors, and with online resources.
Instructors and experts often act as presenters and facilitators. They can provide support, feedback, and
guidance via both synchronous and asynchronous communications. Asynchronous communication tools
(e.g. email, threaded discussion forums, etc.) allow for time- independent interaction, whereas synchronous
communication tools (e.g., chatrooms ) allow for live interaction.

Multi Medial. Online courses use varied text, graphics, media, animation, etc. Learners can browse
through libraries, museums, and archives, or consult experts from around the globe.

Open. Learners have the freedom to move outside their environment, as opposed to in closed systems (e.g.,
book, CD-ROM), where they are confined to areas pre-determined by the teacher or designer. This enables
information and resources from around the world to be accessed by anyone with an internet connection. It
also permits both teachers and learners to contribute immediate updates of course material with online
access to many new developments and discoveries.

Learner-Centered. The online situation appears to foster a democratic learning environment where the
learner can influence what is learned, how it is learned, and the order in which it is learned. The
instructor may choose to do some online presenting, though is often less of an orator and more of a
facilitator in the online environment.

What should you keep in mind in preparing to teach online?

  Things will be different.
 You will have more tools than expected.
 Your class composition will likely be different.
 Make sure to plan ahead.
 Anticipate a few snags.

 Click here to read more about what to expect.

For a quick overview of the eCollege interactive tools, take a look at this Communication Tools Chart.

Lastly, for some interesting views and to read more on emerging features of online teaching and learning,
see Judith V. Boettcher's article, The Turtle is Moving.
 Envisioning your Online Course
If you have already taught in the traditional classroom, you will have a great head start as you design your
online course. If you haven't taught before, you simply get the pleasure of learning how to teach directly
online, without having to make any transitions from the traditional classroom style of teaching.

Developing an online classroom may or may not require a shift in your teaching paradigm. Most
instructors, when they start teaching online, note a useful synergy in teaching strategies between their
online and offline class. In the process of building and teaching, you will naturally examine your
pedagogical style and pedagogical choices and think of new approaches.

Nevertheless, you can use many of the same on-ground teaching techniques in an online course; however,
the way those techniques manifest themselves online will, of course, be different.

You Can:

 Present lectures and slide shows.

 Conduct and monitor in-class discussions.
 Assess homework, quizzes, exams and class participation.
 Establish and oversee student groups.
 Hold office hours for student help and questions.
 Encourage reflective "journaling."
 Conduct guest lecture chat sessions.

Ultimately, it is important that you continue to make sure the "ah ha" moments you created in the on-
ground classroom are somehow present in your online course.

The Process

The following model shows the process that describes the development of an online course, from a more
traditional instructional design standpoint.

Just about any instructor goes through this process intuitively when planning to teach a course or
unit for the first time:

 Analysis--What are your objectives/purposes/vision? What are your audience/student needs?

What materials do you have already? What do you need to create? etc.
 Design--Creating a Syllabus or Course Outline and developing the course structure in the eCollege
platform.
 Development--Writing and editing material, and placing it in the eCollege platform.
 Implementation--Teaching the course.
 Evaluation--Soliciting student feedback for future revisions of the course.

Here are some commonly asked questions--and ideas to think about--to help get you started. Click on the
questions below.
 1. What are some effective ways for you to present course material to your students?
2. How will your students communicate to you their mastery of the course material?
3. What are some practical ways to keep in contact with your students?

eCollege Course Types

There are three eCollege course types available for our Educational Partners to use. The type of course you
have access to will depend on decisions made by your institution's administrators.

The eCollege system offers the following three course types, or course management
products:
eCompanion: eCompanion helps instructors supplement their traditional classes
with online content and tools. eCompanion enhances classroom-based courses by
broadening the class experience and increasing the access of course materials to all
students. Through course tools, such as Threaded Discussions, Document Sharing
and Journaling, eCompanion provides many avenues to improve student
communication and collaboration in an asynchronous environment.
Hybrid: the Hybrid (or Blended) course product has all of the features of an eCourse
(see below) and is meant to be used with any course in which in-class “seat time” is
replaced in part by required online class time.
eCourse: eCourse is built specifically for complete online courses. eCollege designed
its eCourse product to support the way instructors teach and students learn. By
leveraging a unit-based design, instructors have the ability to chunk content,
activities and assessments. This design promotes a more intuitive navigation for both
instructors and students. Courses can be organized to suit personal teaching styles in
a fully online course. Through course tools, such as Threaded Discussions, Document
Sharing, Journaling, and a robust whiteboard, eCourse provides many avenues to
improve learning, communication, and content delivery through both synchronous
and asynchronous methods.

Your Course
When you log in at your institution, your Instructor homepage will list your courses
followed by a designation of course type, such as "eCourse."
Unit 2:  Using Course Tools  
 Help
   
JavaScript is required for your course. Please ensure JavaScript is enabled in your
browser preferences.
The eCollege system offers you a variety of tools to support and facilitate online teaching
and learning.
This unit provides you with a look at each of these system resources. After reviewing this
information, you should have a better understanding of the eCollege system and ideas
about how it can be used to achieve the goals of your online course.
Note that a for-fee service allows course tools tabs and other selected tabs (Exit and
Logout, Course and Author, and Help) to be changed to a language other than English for
an institution.
 Although it is not a separate course tool, the Course Homepage is an important
component of all courses delivered using the eCollege system. 

You can post Announcements for your course on the Course Homepage. Every time
students log in, they will be able to view all the announcements you have posted up
to that point. Announcements can be marked Read or Unread.

Using Announcements can reduce time spent responding to similar email messages
from many students, or to explain breaking situations that might otherwise get lost
in the email shuffle.

You can add, edit, and delete announcements at any time. You can also schedule
announcements to display or end at given dates. So, if you want a reminder about
an exam to display for only one week, you can schedule the annoucement to
disappear after a certain date.

One instructor stated that she receives many of the same questions via email every
week. Addressing those questions to the entire class via Announcements has cut her
email correspondence in half.

Announcements is also a place to convey welcome messages to students, refer to

current events, give specific instructions about a course/unit change, inform students
about changes in the schedule or office hours, update homework assignments,
remind students about important dates, pose questions for future threaded
discussions or chats, and praise the class for work well done or coax them to step up
the quality of their work

What's New
As an instructor, the What's New feature on the Course Homepage lets you monitor
student activity in your course. From What's New, you can see when individual
students contributed to a select area of the course.

What's New is a time-saving tool. It reduces clicks to other pages so that you can
focus on teaching, not on waiting around for pages to load. Use this feature to check
the activity in your learning community.

What's New allows you to quickly see a summary of which students have contributed
to a particular Content Item or Course Tool since you last entered the course--who
has taken an exam, who has participated in a Threaded Discussion, who has posted
a Webliography entry, who has posted a document in Document Sharing, who has
posted a journal entry, and when chats have taken place.

The Faculty View for What's New differs from the Student View. As an instructor, you
will see an alphabetical list of your students by last name. Click on an individual
student's name and you will see what her/his activity has been. Click on the blue
Course Item link and you will go directly to the particular Content Item in the specific
unit to view the student's work.

The link in the upper right allows you to change the way the items are sorted, either
by student last name, or by content area. In the lower right part of What's New,
there is a pull down menu to specify the date from which you would like to see new
work.

Students see a similar view, though they do not have access to the sort by 'name'
function. Students only see a list of Course Items and What's New since their last
login. For example, if a student logs in, s/he will see course items such as
Webliography, Document Sharing, and Threaded Discussions. Beside each item will
be a breakdown of a new activity since his/her last login.

Course Checklist
The Course Checklist, a list that is accessed via a link on the Course Homepage,
shows you and your students due dates for Content Items, provided you have
assigned a due date in the Edit Scheduler or Calendar tools.

If there is no date associated with a Content Item, it will simply be blank under the
Due Date column. The due date(s) will help keep students organized and help them
submit assignments and activities on time.

Under a unit title, students will see a check-box next to each Content Item. As a self-
check, they can check each item off after completion. This is merely a self-checklist
and may provide the student an opportunity for better organization.

You, the instructor, do not have the check-boxes, because you will not need to check
off the assignments you have created; you will see only the due dates, where
applicable, for each Content Item. In addition, each activity listed is a direct link to
that Content Item.

Because this area displays the Units' full titles, it's a nice touch to the course if each
Unit has a descriptive and interesting title.

(The Units are also displayed in the left-hand navigational tree, and users can access
individual Units from this area as well.)

For students, the Course Checklist area allows them to keep track of work they've
completed, by allowing them to 'check off' their assignments when they're done.
The Content Items that you add to the course will display for the students, with the
Checkbox option for them to mark when they feel they have completed each task...

  Syllabus
Your online course Syllabus will include many of the same elements you would include in a traditional
classroom-based Syllabus, such as Course Description, Course Objectives, General Course Policies and
Procedures, Grading Policies, Course Textbooks, and any other course specifics.

The Syllabus will contain important course information, instructor contact information, grading policies,
and perhaps a course schedule with assignments and due dates. Students can print out the Syllabus for a
handy reference to the course. Students cannot lose this course information; however, they may not take the
time to read it if you don't direct them to it.

The Syllabus holds an important dual purpose: to inform students about the process, procedures and
expectations of an online course and to alleviate the potential problems of online instruction, particularly
excessive and unnecessary email as well as the cyberspace phenomena of the “disappearing student.”  With
these considerations in mind, you need to be clear, thorough and firm with course information and
expectations that also cultivate an honest, respectful and relevant cyber-learning environment.  

Since your Syllabus is similar to a contract between you and your students, it should be complete and as
detailed as possible.

One of your first assignments for your students may be to read the Syllabus. Some instructors place a quiz
about important Syllabus policies and procedures in their first unit.

Other ideas for your online Syllabus:

 Add a picture of yourself and a friendly biographical statement.

 Include specifics on Email, namely, when will you be reading and responding to student email?
Will you get back to them within 24 hours? Or, will you only be online 3 days a week? Students
will accept whatever you decide, just as long as they know what to expect. Not knowing this
information can create some anxiety and frustration for students. 
 Likewise, it's a good idea to include specific expectations (both what you expect from students as
well as what they can expect from you) regarding Threaded Discussion participation.
 Include who students can get in touch with for technical help (i.e, the helpdesk). 
 Also include how students will be submitting the majority of their assignments (via the Dropbox,
the Journal, Document Sharing, etc.).  
 Including a brief note about online "Netiquette" is a good idea, too.

Note: The Syllabus appears as a default item in the eCollege system. If your institution chooses to do so, or
allow an instructor to do so, the Syllabus may be excluded. To exclude the Syllabus, click on the Course
Admin tab in the course management toolbar, click on the Preferences tab, and then "uncheck" the box for
Include Syllabus. Be sure to click the Save Changes tab.

Please see Unit 3 for more ideas and examples for the Syllabus.

Calendar
The integrated course Calendar lets you store dates, times, and other information for various types of
events: university events (sporting events, fund-raisers), course events (assignment due dates, exam dates),
and personal events (doctor appointments, birthdays).

Many online instructors and students find it challenging to keep academic and personal events organized.
Instructors can highlight key assignments and assessments and emphasize topic discussions for fostering
online communities.

You may also need to keep a record of personal events. Students need similar organizational tools, giving
them the ability to view multiple course events on one single calendar. In addition, by adding Course
Events to the Calendar, you may reduce redundant emails from students asking when, for example, an
assignment is due.

As an instructor, you can add course events (that will be seen by you and by the students) as well as
personal events (that will be seen only by you).

You can edit course events that are displayed on the course Calendar at any time. Any changes you make to
course events will appear on all your students' Calendars.

Additional Calendar features include the ability to:

 Add and edit Calendar events--course, campus and personal.

 Customize your Calendar views.
 Download Calendar events to a PDA (personal digital assistant) and MS Outlook.
 Customize Calendar views, categories, and display settings.

Note: The Calendar appears as a default item in the eCollege system. If your institution chooses to do so, or
allow an instructor to do so, the Calendar may be excluded. To exclude the Calendar, click on the Course
Admin tab in the course management toolbar, click on the Preferences tab, and then "uncheck" the box for
Include Calendar. Be sure to click the Save Changes tab.

Calendar Substitute

As a substitute for placing course events on the calendar, many instructors develop a course schedule in a
table format and place the schedule in the Syllabus and as either an Announcement on the Course
Homepage or as a content item under Course Home. This option is often easier for students to use and
allows all course assignments to be placed in one easy-to-access table.

Course Admin
Your online course may require a little administrative setup, just like a traditional course. You can change
or modify administrative information from the Course Admin tab in the Course Management Toolbar at
the top of your course page.
The Course Admin tool is not a teaching/communication tool per se. This is a Course Tool that students
don't see because it gives you the ability to:

 Edit General Course Info (including titling your "units" and adding a Course Description for
display in the campus catalogue). 
 Set Preferences:
o Customize the look and feel of your course with the Style Manager, if you have been
granted access by your institution's administrators. 
o Enable text wrapping for long content item names.
o Select to exclude either Syllabus or Calendar from a course.
o Enable or Disable the Chat and ClassLive tools for students.
o Lock Discussion content items and/or allow students to edit posts in all Discussions (see
Unit 4 for more information on Discussion options.)
 Have access to full student information through the Course Enrollment area. 
 Set up and manage Groups in Group Management.

 Gradebook
The online Gradebook is a place to record and keep track of letter and/or number grades. It is also a
powerful communication tool where you can provide students with comments and guidance on their work.

While your students may only view their individual grades and comments, the instructor's view is much
more comprehensive.

You have the ability to set up which assignments and activities will be counted toward a final course grade.
Once you set up "gradable" items and corresponding points, the Gradebook will automatically tally up
grades to date, as points are entered. You also have the ability to turn off the point system and enter letter
grades only, if you so desire. 

Gradebook Special Features allow you to "weight" graded items (when using points) and to distribute
weights, identify an item as "extra credit," and to "exclude an item" from the course grade--such as a
practice quiz or self-check quiz. 

The Gradebook is linked to the Dropbox, so any grades recorded through the Dropbox will automatically
be pulled--and noted by a small icon--to applicable areas in the Gradebook.

The Gradebook is also directly linked to the Exam Builder. Exams that are set up with point properties
will automatically be graded and pulled to the Gradebook, for you and your students to view. (Note:
students can only view graded exams after the Review Date you have designated.)

There are many other "quick grade" options, too, allowing for efficient grading--you can view and grade all
thread posts, for individual students, for instance.

To review how an Instructor sets up the Gradebook, click Gradebook Setup.

To review how an Instructor uses the Gradebook, click Gradebook Use.

Note: Use the "maximize" button in the top right of the screen to enlarge the presentation, or use the scroll
bars within the presentation to move on the screen. This is the type of instructive item you could develop
for students in your course (this demonstration was developed using a third-party software tool -
camtasia.)

To review how an Instructor selects the new Special Features mentioned above, click Special Features.

Note: This too is the type of instructive item you could develop for students in your course (this
demonstration was developed using a third-party software tool - captivate.)

You can export the information from the Gradebook in your online course into another program. In View
Gradebook, you will find an Export This View button.

When you click this button it saves a copy of the Gradebook to your computer as a .CSV file (Comma
Separated Values File), which can be read by most spreadsheet programs. Spreadsheet programs can
calculate your grades for you and perform other tasks such as calculating mean, median, and average.

Exporting the Gradebook also provides you with final grades that you can turn in to your administration,
and is a convenient way to backup your records.

Exam Statistics can be accessed via a link in the Gradebook. This point in time report can provide exam
level and question level statistics (see the Exam Builder item in Unit 4.) 

Also, in the Gradebook area, you'll have access to User Activity:

User Activity allows you to view your students' activity in the course, get an idea of attendance, or alert
students when they have not been active for a certain amount of time, measured in minutes.

It monitors if students are accessing their course, how long they've spent in a unit, and how long they've
spent in a particular Content Item.

You can click on students' names to see where they spent their time, down to the unit and content item
level. You can also click on a unit to see how much time was spent on the unit.

Likewise, there is also an option to search attendance through 'view by dates.'

Viewing by dates gives you a way to check how much activity occurred from a beginning date to an ending
date.

Finally, you can choose to Export User Activity, like Export Gradebook, to your hard drive and open it
with a spreadsheet program.

Note: You will want to use the User Activity feature with caution when it is related to your grading. Short
minute times may simply mean a student prints out course work for later review. Or, on the other hand, a
student may have the course open for long periods of time, but may not be spending that time in class. In
general, after a few weeks into the course, you will probably see a pattern emerge for each student, and for
the class as a whole. The time spent in the course is updated every night at midnight.
 Note: As grading scales and polices are unique to each instructor, your Gradebook will need to be
individualized to meet your needs. Be sure to go through the Help Pages in your course for step-
by-step instructions on setting up and managing your Gradebook.

   Email

The Email tool is a convenient and effective way for you and your students to
communicate with each other. When users are enrolled in an eCollege course, their
email addresses are uploaded into that course.

The Email tool is an outgoing email only feature. You do not receive course email
within the course. When you or your students send an email using this tool, it goes
to the addressee's own email address (such as an aol or Yahoo account.) You may
email individual students, the entire class, or groups of students. Your students can
email you through this feature and you will receive these emails at your own email
address. Any time an email message is sent, the sender is automatically sent a copy
of the message.

Email is one of the key ways you may communicate with your students and through which your
students may communicate with each other. The advantage of email is that it can be personal, one-to-one
communication. There is little doubt that you will find email a useful communication tool for your online
class.

However, as you teach your online class, it will probably be a goal for you to reduce your email load by
using other Course Tools. As you know, responding to email takes time. Nevertheless, with the ability to
email groups of students or the entire class, you can save yourself time by not having to respond to each
student individually.

It's important to remember that without body language and tone of voice online, in email (and in Chats and
Threaded Discussions) unintended communication can happen. Humor and irony can be taken seriously.

Consider using "emoticons" -- :) :-? :-o -- to soften language that sometimes can be misinterpreted when,
for the sake of speed, emails are written too quickly. For example, "Read assignment again!" can feel
disparaging compared to "Read Assignment again :)."

Emoticons can take the edge off communication when you don't have time to craft a more careful
comment.

One of the most effective uses of email is to assign team projects in which students email each other
discussing a question, exercise, or assignment. This not only helps to create learning communities and
support systems, it encourages student-directed learning. It also reduces your email load. If you create
groups for team activities, the group designation appears in the Email tool automatically.
Email attachments can often be read only with the program used to create them. In
most Word processing programs, it is possible to save files in other word processing
formats, using a "save as" function. But, these do not always preserve exact
formatting and documents may still be unreadable to some users.

Email Attachments

For best results in reading email attachments, all class members should use the same word processing
programs that you use, especially if formatting is an important part of your assignments. However, this will
not be possible for many classes, and there are several ways to get around compatibility problems in email
attachments.

 In the first week of class send an introductory email message to all students
with an attachment to see if they can read it. You may also want to ask them
to send you an attachment to see if you can read theirs. If there are
problems, you can at least try to resolve them before the first assignments
are due.
 Ask students to send attachments in Rich Text Format (.rtf).  RTF files will be
readable by all (or most) systems. Some formatting may be lost, but
documents will generally be readable.
 Instead of asking for attachments, ask that students highlight the text of their
entire document, copy it, and then paste it directly into their email text box.
 Consider requiring students to use only programs you are using (check your
school's policies first).

Email has the potential to get overwhelming, depending on how many online classes you may be teaching,
number of students in the course(s), and how you decide to handle assignments.

Read on for Ideas on Effectively Managing Email...

Ideas for Effectively Managing Email

 Ask students to email each other before they email you with course
questions.
 Create distribution lists for your classes on your personal email program. This
is useful when you want to respond to the student email you receive without
having to go into your course. Be sure to periodically update student email
addresses in your personal mailbox.
 Create mailboxes and folders on your personal email for each student and
filter and/or organize (automatically if your email software has the capability)
incoming assignments.
  Create automatic reply functions such as, "Your assignment has been
received," if your email program has this feature. In some email programs,
you can filter a student's assignments into the appropriate mailbox and have
an automatic reply message sent to your student. Create "Form" emails for
messages that you send often, such as late work notices, questions about
absences, and grades. Require that students place their name, assignment
titles and course numbers (if you are teaching more than one class) in the
subject line of their emails. For example, "Betty Boop ENG 213 Assignment
One."
 Consider signing up for a separate email account for your course if students'
questions and submissions will interfere with your own primary email account.

Chat and ClassLive

The eCollege system offers two Synchronous (real-time) communication tools: Chat and ClassLive (both of
these can be found within the tab in the Course Management Toolbar.

Chat

The Chat tool is a basic, synchronous communication tool. There is a default main
Chatroom when you first enter Chat. However, you may create as many chatrooms
as you like. If you create groups for team activities, the group designation appears in
the Chat tool automatically. Each chat that takes place is automatically archived,
though you may turn off the archive feature if you don't want conversations made
public.

In a Chat, each participant's name will be listed alongside his/her comments.

Participants may send each other private messages as the chat proceeds. You can
choose to ignore a user who is not acting appropriately. Chat participants may also
enter URL's or web addresses for websites. Then the users can click on the URL
posted in the chat. This will open a new browser window, and the entire group can
view the website and discuss it.

To summarize, you can:

 View chat logs, which are archived chats from the course. Students may also
view chat logs.
 Create separate Chatrooms for different purposes or groups. The rooms can
be made private, non-archived rooms.
 Send private messages to an individual participant.
 "Follow" one another to Web sites related to the course discussion.

Read on for more ideas on using the Chatroom...

ClassLive

ClassLive, powered by Elluminate, is a robust synchronous learning tool that contains a whiteboard,

graphing capability and much more.

Enter ClassLive from the Chat tab, and from there, you can Lead a session or Join a session (students only
have the ability to Join a session).

Note: to use this feature you will need to click the link to the Configuration Room to get set up.

ClassLive offers many instructional options...

Here are just a few ideas on using it in your online class:

 You can conduct tutoring and/or office hour sessions online and archive them.
 With the advanced ClassLive Pro version you have the ability to speak directly to your students
and also grant them permission to speak as well. Note that students would need a headset with
microphone.
 You can share applications and desktops.

Note: For an introduction to ClassLive click on the link to the internal ClassLive Tutorial in the tool.

Whiteboard Tool and Features

 You have full control over the chat and whiteboard rights of all users in a session.
 Your students have the ability to "raise your hand" to signify you have a question or need
assistance.
 You may upload multiple files (like PowerPoints) to the session and share them with the class.
 ClassLive is equipped with a graphing calculator, allowing you and your students to work on
equations and then share them with the rest of the class.

Note: Remember, too, that in addition to the ClassLive Tutorial the Help Pages have instructions
for using ClassLive. Within the Help Pages you will also find links to the Elluminate site and its
tutorials and detailed technical help pages.

Document Sharing

There are two basic functions in Document Sharing: uploading a file and
downloading a file. The Document Sharing tool allows you to upload files--
documents, images, spreadsheets, slide-shows, HTML pages, etc.--into your course
from your computer. Or, you may download a file, which already has been uploaded
into Document Sharing, to your computer. Note: a list of accepted file extensions
may be found in Doc Sharing.

Students have the same functionality. Both you and your students have access to
shared files, but only instructors can delete files. Students can choose to share
documents with the entire class or only with you. To see how a student interacts with
the tool, select Doc Sharing presentation.

Troubleshooting Tip: Document Sharing files have compatibility issues just like
email attachments. Document Sharing files are only viewable if you have a program
that reads the uploaded file. For example, if you upload a PowerPoint slide-show,
your students must have PowerPoint (or a PPT reader) to view it. Make sure you can
view your students' file formats, and they yours, at the beginning of the course. You
can also ask your students to save their files in .rtf (rich text format) to circumvent
some compatibility problems. Rich Text Format is readable by nearly all word
processing programs. However, some formatting in original documents may be lost,
so it's best if everyone in the course is using the same kinds of programs when using
Document Sharing.

The Document Sharing tool is usually a public place to share work, though students
can submit work for only you to view. In the student-centered online environment,
Document Sharing can be used as a place for sharing data sets or solutions for
students, workshopping essays for peer critique, and sharing final group papers or
presentations. To this extent, you can create categories within Document Sharing--
you can set up Groupwork areas this way.

Some instructors have placed writing samples in Document Sharing and have asked
students to revise the piece or critique it. In addition, Document Sharing is a good
place to post reference documents such as style sheets or case studies.

Note: If a document is shared only with the instructor but later is adequate to share
with the entire class, the authoring student or the instructor always has the option to
switch between sharing with the class or sharing only with the instructor. Instructors
will know if a document is private because text in the Share column is bolded and
capitalized.

   Dropbox and Journal

The Dropbox and the Journal can both be found within the  tab in
the Course Management Toolbar.
Dropbox

The purpose of the Dropbox is to provide a central location where your students can submit
and retrieve assignments. Once you've graded and returned the activities, the grade appears in
the Gradebook. One of the largest benefits of the Dropbox is that it can reduce the amount of
course-related email significantly. Think of the Dropbox as a virtual "Inbox" and "Outbox" for
course assignments:

 You pick up or retrieve submitted assignments from your students in your Inbox
 You return or send graded assignments back to your students through your Outbox

Your Dropbox, as noted above, is also linked directly to the Gradebook, which makes it easy
to open an assignment, grade it, and then record the student's grade directly into the
Gradebook--all from one place.

Students can open a graded item from either the Dropbox or from the Gradebook and see their
grade for that item. You can also attach files and documents to assignments when you return
them to students.

Read on by clicking for highlights of the Dropbox...

To review how an Instructor interacts with the Dropbox, click Dropbox Interactions.
Note: Use the "maximize" button in the top right of the screen to enlarge the presentation, or
use the scroll bars within the presentation to move on the screen. This is the type of instructive
item you could develop for students in your course (this demonstration was developed using a
third-party software tool - camtasia.)

Note: Setting up and using your Dropbox may take a little time and practice, initially--
be sure to go through the Help Pages in your course for step-by-step instructions.

Journal

The Journal, located inside the Dropbox tab, is a one-on-one, student-

teacher communication tool. It also is a place for confidential student
writing and reflection, as students have the option to make a Journal entry
private.
 The online Journal can be used like a traditional journal, requiring students to make regular
entries reflecting on issues germane to a course. It may also be a place to ask students
to submit informal assignments or weekly self-assessments. To see how a student interacts
with the tool, select Journal presentation.

The Journal tool allows you to comment on each Journal entry. In order for your students to
distinguish your comments from their writing, it's a good idea to separate your writing in some
fashion, whether by use brackets, dashes, etc. If your comments are extensive and more global
in nature, you may add a separate entry to the student's Journal.

In your Syllabus, you may want to suggest that your students compose Journal entries while
offline, in their word processing programs probably, and then save their work to disk. They
can then copy and paste their text into the Journal.  Although this may seem like an extra step,
your students will benefit in two ways:

1. They will have a record of their work after the course ends.

2. Writing offline will save them possible frustration from losing work if they get timed-
out of the course as they are writing. (The system doesn't recognize typing as activity
in the course. Only clicks on links register as activity, and if a student takes more than
45 minutes composing, s/he will be timed-out and will lose all the work composed
during that time period.)

 Webliography

The Webliography course tool allows you and your students to work together to
create an actively linked, annotated bibliography of World Wide Web sites that are
relevant to your course.

Both you and your students can submit sites to the Webliography. You can organize
the Webliography into categories. And, you can sort Webliography entries by the
date they were submitted, by category, or by the person who submitted the entry.
To see how a student interacts with the tool, select Webliography presentation.

The Webliography is useful for the instructor to post Internet sites that will be references during the course.
You can post articles from online journals, magazines, and e-zines. There are sites that can give students
incredible primary information: Yeats reading his own poetry, President Kennedy delivering a speech in
Berlin, etc. This tool gives you something not readily available in the face-to-face classroom and can make
learning more dynamic than the face-to-face classroom.

An even greater use of the Webliography is to ask your students to post Web sites. Students can greatly
increase the knowledge capital of the course by submitting Web sites they have found and reviewed. But
more importantly, this empowers them to contribute to the learning community of their course.
Webliography assignments encourage students to customize their own learning by following directions that
particularly interest them. 

By writing annotations to the sites that they submit, students begin to develop media
literacy. Many instructors ask their students to address issues of a site's credibility in
the annotations of Webliography entries. If students are asked to post sources they
have used in their papers, possibilities of plagiarism are reduced. Some instructors
will make Webliography entries a significant part of the final course grade. The
Gradebook automatically lists Webliography as a gradable item.

Unit 3:  Designing Your Online

   Help
Course
   
JavaScript is required for your course. Please ensure JavaScript is enabled in your
browser preferences.
Now it's time to start making your course
concrete!
 
Designing and building an online course is
closely related to, but different than, teaching
it. That is, developing "content" and teaching it
are two different issues. 
 
This unit is about designing your course in the
eCollege system and developing your course
content.
 
In Unit 4, we will explain the eCollege
authoring features and creating Units and
Content Items that you can use to build content
into your course.
 
In Unit 5, we will discuss teaching strategies in
more detail and offer some tips and ideas.

Again, for the most up-to-date, specific "how-tos," please refer to the Help button in your own
course (remember that your course with "instructor viewing rights" will give you different, more
comprehensive information than you see when you click Help from this tutorial.)
 

The Plan
Getting a course ready, for perhaps the first time, is a
project that will take some significant time to complete,
and relies on three main roles you may see yourself
taking on while developing your course.

 
 

Three Main Roles

As an online course designer/instructor, you will take on three main roles:

 Instructor--course planner/instructor: Creating lectures and learning activities (group or individual

discussions and evaluations).
 Writer/subject matter expert: Writing materials, revising handouts and slideshows to fit the online
platform, finding websites.
 Course Designer/editor: Designing a user-friendly course. Making the course easy to use. Making
sure students know where to go, what to do, how to turn in work, and repeating this information,
even though you may have already stated it in the Syllabus.

In the online environment, you may also see yourself taking on roles such as: a producer, sound engineer,
actor, project manager, and team member.

In addition, the time it takes to develop a course depends on:

 Your familiarity with the Internet and working with computers.

 The speed of your Internet connection.
 The duration of the course.
 The amount information you feel you should present online to your students.
 How much you already have developed as handouts and/or slideshows.
 How much you need to edit and revise previously developed content for the online environment.
 How many new assignments you need to write and explain.
 How much you are going to use a textbook as the main content provider.
 How much you are going to rely on objective testing.
 How much you are going to rely on subjective evaluation.
 How long it takes to search for websites and images.
 Your involvement as an active member of the course, overall, when it runs.

In practical terms, a typical 16 week college or university course will normally take 80-400 hours to develop
and build, depending on how involved you want to get.

As the ADDIE model in Unit 1 suggests, your online course is a work in progress. You will revise your
course over time, as you learn more and receive feedback from your students.

To give you an idea of many of the possible elements you may need to create, please click on the links
below to estimate the time you may need to allocate and to help envision what you want to do. Please feel
free to print out for future reference.

Click Here for Pedagogical Design Checklist

Click here for a Course Design Outline

Course Homepage & Course Home Considerations
As mentioned in the previous unit, the Course Homepage is an important part of your course; it can be
viewed as the "door" through which participants enter your course.

Course Homepage Model

The Course Homepage contains the:

Main Viewing Window--Contains Announcements, Course Title, Welcome/Introductory text, relevant

graphic, What's New, link to Course Checklist.

The Course Home area contains the:

Left Navigation Area--Contains Syllabus and Calendar (Default Content Items). Additional Contents Items
may be added to this area. This Model (above) provides a Class Lounge and Office Threaded Discussion
areas.

 The Class Lounge is for students to communicate with each other about general course issues--
works like an on-ground student lounge.
 The Office is for students to ask the instructor questions about assignments and course works--
works like a classroom when one student asks a question, all class members benefit from the
 instructor's answers. Helps to reduce individual emails.

Click here for Sample Course Homepage Welcome Text

Syllabus Model
The Syllabus is a key element of the Course Home area (it is set up as a Content Item under the Course
Homepage, in the left-hand navigation tree).

Even if your course is a self-paced tutorial, the Syllabus is an integral component of the course, itself. It
should be the main area for contact information, course policies, and a detailed outline of the weekly
assignments and due dates.

It is your contract with your students and it should be specific in addressing issues particular to the online
environment.

Below are links to a sample generic online syllabus with policy statements. Please feel free to copy the text,
revise, and modify to fit your own course.

Click here for Sample Syllabus

Or, here is a Syllabus Checklist

Syllabus Checklist

The following may be components of your Syllabus. Information is

presented here for you to consider as you create your Syllabus.

Instructor Information

Including contact information (phone, email, fax). Instructor photo.

Course Description
Include here a fairly brief description of the course, like the one that
might appear in a course catalog. Try to include in this statement an
introduction to the subject matter of the course. It should include
some information about the field of study generally, and how this
course fits in with students’ other studies and professional
experiences.
Course Goals
This should be a concise list in bullet or numbered list form.
Course Outline
Information about each week of the course, including at least titles
and dates, and very briefly what topic/chapter/issue is covered in each
Week.
Course Navigation and Communications Instructions
Expected Learning Outcomes/Objectives for Course
Instructional Materials
Include here a list of books or other resources required for the course.
Information should also be included on how students are expected to
acquire these materials and whether there are software programs they
will need but might not have.
Teaching Strategies
Included in this section should be information about the primary
methods you plan to use for course content delivery and student
interaction and assignment completion and submission. An example
statement follows: "The course will be conducted primarily with
lectures and discussions based on the text and outside materials. Role
playing, small group analyses, student presentations, films and videos
may be used as appropriate to facilitate student learning."
Course Requirements
This section should include a reminder to students that they are
required to take the Student Orientation course before starting this
course. It also should briefly describe the kinds of assigned work in the
class, why it is included, and how it will be turned in. Your course
requirements section may include all or some of the following, in
addition to other items: · Mid-term Exam · Final Exam · Completion of
all Class Assignments · Term Paper · Discussions · Regular class
attendance/participation
Evaluation Methods
This section should tell students how their different kinds of
assignments will be evaluated, and should include a grading scale and
how each grade will be weighted in the final grade. Effective online
courses generally make the class discussion or class participation
portion of student work a very significant portion of the final grade for
the class (at least 20%).
It is likely that you will include a formal exam and midterm in your
course, or even more exams and scored quizzes. This is obviously up
to you, however, in most cases, the work that students do in threads
should count at least as significantly towards their final grade as
exams. Given the limited effectiveness of a few high stakes exams as
learning tools, exams should ideally not combine to account for more
than 40% of the total grade for a course.
Bibliography
Include a bibliography for your class in this section.
Getting Help Information*
All technical questions--like problems getting into the course, unable
to view material, slow loading issues--should be directed to the
helpdesk by email at: [email protected]. Most technical inquiries
sent to the instructor should, as a matter of course, be forwarded to
the Helpdesk. The helpdesk is available 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, 365 days a year for instructors and students with Tier 1
Helpdesk support.

*Please note : Different schools have different levels of Helpdesk

support. Be sure to check with your administration to see what level of
support is available to you and to your students. (You can email the
helpdesk, too, if you are unsure.)