Like a fine wine, online courses improve over time. With each new run of the course, an instructor is informed by what went well (and what maybe didn’t go so well) the term before. This creates efficiencies for the instructor (i.e. maybe adding in a frequently asked question into the syllabus or course start documentation… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Online Teaching Resources
Online Education: Areas of and for Research
Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. A friend of mine and I recently completed a book chapter on anxiety and vulnerability in online students and how, as online instructors, it is part and parcel of our job to help ease (vs. exacerbate or contribute to) this anxiety. Digging into the current distance education research for this… Read more »
Creating a Quality Online Teaching Self-/Course Introduction Video
The start of this quarter found me recording a new set of introduction videos for my online classes. I wish I would have read this web article out of Kent State University before doing so! I could have saved myself a take or two (there were a few!). There may be a redo in my… Read more »
The Role of Multiple Choice Tests in the Online Classroom
This week, my online abnormal psychology summer class is finishing up their mid-term exams. It is a 50-question, multiple-choice, open book test that they have had a week to complete. It is worth 5% of their final grade. That’s right – the big “mid-term exam” is only worth 5% of their final grade. Why? I myself… Read more »
A “Book Club” Approach to Online Course Delivery
There are myriad ways to effectively deliver one’s course online. So many technologies, options, platforms, and methods exist that give instructors options for engaging and assessing their students virtually. With time and experience, we eventually figure out which one works best for us, our subject area, our school, and our students. Today, I thought I’d share… Read more »
The Four Questions Approach: Another Tip for Writing Strong Discussion Questions for the Online Classroom
A couple of weeks ago, our weekend email featured an article on how to craft strong discussion questions and focused on creating “Questions Without Answers.” Given that so many folks are transitioning their courses online in the wake of COVID-19 social distancing efforts and may be considering the asynchronous classroom option, I wanted to follow… Read more »
New Year, New Semester!
Hello AdjunctWorld community! And happy New Year! The year 2020 is bringing with it a new look to our AdjunctWorld weekly newsletter and, for many of us, a brand spanking new semester. Starting the semester off on the right foot is something we all aim to do, but how exactly do we do it? I found… Read more »
Tips for Grading Essays More Efficiently
Woowee, y’all! This online instructor did NOT plan her semester out well! Last Sunday three of my online classes turned in 5-10 pages essays. One of those classes has 50 students in it, one has 30, and the other 12. A grand total of 92 essays. And since my own policy (as well as the… Read more »
Tips for How to Handle Thanksgiving Week in the Online Classroom
Hello all! This may be a nuanced topic, but I figured I would go ahead and discuss it in case any of you all are finding yourself in this particular situation. Fall Quarter starts tomorrow for a lot of colleges and universities, including one I am teaching online for. I was putting some finishing touches… Read more »
4 Misconceptions about Online Teaching
While I am enjoying some more time indoors on this hot August day in Kentucky, I’ve been perusing the web, looking for some good information to share with you. I happened across this article out of The Chronicle of Higher Education by Flower Darby. The entire article is a good read, but I’ll highlight the section that stood… Read more »