Thinking About Best Practices
What strikes me about many of the best practices mentioned in the book and in the article “Keeping Students Engaged in the Online Classroom,” is how many of the recommendations are about trying to build community or make connections with students, to keep in contact—or, in other words, trying to overcome what is lost by not being in a physical classroom. Of course, just because you are in a classroom with other students and a teacher doesn’t mean a community “happens” automatically; connections and communication may or may not happen in a classroom—they have to be worked at through the design of activities which establish a sense of trust and develop a culture of openness and support in the classroom. These things may be easier to do in a face-to-face education, but they are also possible in online classes.
Given the above, for me to think about best practices in an online class I might teach, I think, first, to best practices in my writing workshops where I can see and hear the students and they can see and hear each other.
1. Creating a sense of community and shared work is especially important in a writing workshop, so that students feel safe reading their work aloud and speaking up about what they see in other students’ work. Creating a sense of community in my classes is about more than introductions—though that is where they begin; community building begins with every one taking a little risk by reading something out loud to the group—even if it is just a line or few words from what they have written to a prompt. In an online class, such as this one on Blackboard reading aloud to the group might be modified to sharing something personal, but safe, with the group—so that the students get to know each other, I get to know them, and they get to know me. I might direct their first written responses to these bits of sharing—or ask them to respond to a set of questions which are a little off the wall or goofy—humor is a good way to get younger students attention.
2. An emphasis on communication: in a classroom, we can have and hold on to the illusion of clear communication, since we are present to each other. Often though, students think they have heard correctly, but haven’t; or students think they have understood a concept or tasks, but realize they haven’t when they sit down to do them. Teachers can ask if there are questions, but often times students don’t yet know what they don’t understand and cannot formulate questions. These things may all happen in an online class, but because the communication happens differently; these problems of communication can be both easier and more problematic to deal with. Because we aren’t in a classroom, and cannot rely on visual cues of understanding or confusion, we need to take the stance of not assuming anything about what is going to be understood about assignments, tasks, problems, etc. For the instructor, this might mean asking for written “say- back” on a discussion board about the assignment: sayback can seem like a waste of time to students but on a discussion board, where everyone is adding their understanding of what is required of the assignment, the power of say back can be evident: not everyone understand assignments in the same way, and this provides for a place for the teacher to elucidate, correct, clarify what s/he is asking the students to do—especially at the beginning of a course when the students are learning the instructors short hand and what might be called “connotative milieu.” Along with this would be the use of several ways of communication: discussion boards, blogs, email, public and private and establishing early on what sorts of communications belong in each: a private request for explanation of a grade? Email or phone call. To ask a question everyone else might be harboring or which may have bearing on the class as a whole or the current assignment? A discussion board post. Reading response and thinking through rough drafts? A class blog. I think there are many permutations to these formats, and I know there are many OI still have to learn.
3. Instructor/Student Responsibilities: The instructor needs to make clear at the get go, when s/he is going to be available for immediate response: similar to holding office hours—there need to be times during the week, when students know they will be able to text, email, or message an instructor and that they will get e response within the hour. The instructor will also need to have a clear and consistent turn around time on other kinds of communications: emails, comments, grades, etc., as well as stated times when the instructor won’t be available for response (weekends, one or two days a week, etc.). Students also need to be responsible for responding to the work of their peers within a specified period of time, and need to let the instructor know if there are issues or problems with their work, so both the instructor and student can solve problems before they become insurmountable.
4. A variety of assignments and tasks. Just as in a classroom, there needs to be a variety of things for students to be working on and learning from—I think this may be more important for a writing class than for others, since writing is a high intensity and often challenging activity even for those who enjoy it. In an online class, the dose of writing and reading is doubled, since everything to do with the class has to be read or written—from a simple question to discussion boards, from written feedback and to major revisions. So, a variety of the kinds of writing and the audiences for that writing will be important: as well as, a mix of low and high stakes writing assignments, and a mix of longer, continuous writing (journaling) and shorter, timed writings.
5. Metacognitive Writing. The use of metacognitive writing, though often difficult and tedious from students’ perspectives, is a best practice in any learning environment—it is a way to engage students with not only what they are learning but how they are learning it. Metacognitive writing helps students recognize how they learn best, to identify where they struggle with things, and gives instructors a glimpse inside the minds of their students as they make sense of their own learning.
6. Portfolios and student self-assessment. Portfolios show and tell the story of each student’s work over the semester and are fuller ways to assess what a student has learned over the course of the class than a high stakes mid-term or final which become problematical in an online classroom anyway. Having students put together a portfolio and tell it’s story is the first step in assessment. Reading and responding to each others portfolios is the second step;
Given the above, for me to think about best practices in an online class I might teach, I think, first, to best practices in my writing workshops where I can see and hear the students and they can see and hear each other.
1. Creating a sense of community and shared work is especially important in a writing workshop, so that students feel safe reading their work aloud and speaking up about what they see in other students’ work. Creating a sense of community in my classes is about more than introductions—though that is where they begin; community building begins with every one taking a little risk by reading something out loud to the group—even if it is just a line or few words from what they have written to a prompt. In an online class, such as this one on Blackboard reading aloud to the group might be modified to sharing something personal, but safe, with the group—so that the students get to know each other, I get to know them, and they get to know me. I might direct their first written responses to these bits of sharing—or ask them to respond to a set of questions which are a little off the wall or goofy—humor is a good way to get younger students attention.
2. An emphasis on communication: in a classroom, we can have and hold on to the illusion of clear communication, since we are present to each other. Often though, students think they have heard correctly, but haven’t; or students think they have understood a concept or tasks, but realize they haven’t when they sit down to do them. Teachers can ask if there are questions, but often times students don’t yet know what they don’t understand and cannot formulate questions. These things may all happen in an online class, but because the communication happens differently; these problems of communication can be both easier and more problematic to deal with. Because we aren’t in a classroom, and cannot rely on visual cues of understanding or confusion, we need to take the stance of not assuming anything about what is going to be understood about assignments, tasks, problems, etc. For the instructor, this might mean asking for written “say- back” on a discussion board about the assignment: sayback can seem like a waste of time to students but on a discussion board, where everyone is adding their understanding of what is required of the assignment, the power of say back can be evident: not everyone understand assignments in the same way, and this provides for a place for the teacher to elucidate, correct, clarify what s/he is asking the students to do—especially at the beginning of a course when the students are learning the instructors short hand and what might be called “connotative milieu.” Along with this would be the use of several ways of communication: discussion boards, blogs, email, public and private and establishing early on what sorts of communications belong in each: a private request for explanation of a grade? Email or phone call. To ask a question everyone else might be harboring or which may have bearing on the class as a whole or the current assignment? A discussion board post. Reading response and thinking through rough drafts? A class blog. I think there are many permutations to these formats, and I know there are many OI still have to learn.
3. Instructor/Student Responsibilities: The instructor needs to make clear at the get go, when s/he is going to be available for immediate response: similar to holding office hours—there need to be times during the week, when students know they will be able to text, email, or message an instructor and that they will get e response within the hour. The instructor will also need to have a clear and consistent turn around time on other kinds of communications: emails, comments, grades, etc., as well as stated times when the instructor won’t be available for response (weekends, one or two days a week, etc.). Students also need to be responsible for responding to the work of their peers within a specified period of time, and need to let the instructor know if there are issues or problems with their work, so both the instructor and student can solve problems before they become insurmountable.
4. A variety of assignments and tasks. Just as in a classroom, there needs to be a variety of things for students to be working on and learning from—I think this may be more important for a writing class than for others, since writing is a high intensity and often challenging activity even for those who enjoy it. In an online class, the dose of writing and reading is doubled, since everything to do with the class has to be read or written—from a simple question to discussion boards, from written feedback and to major revisions. So, a variety of the kinds of writing and the audiences for that writing will be important: as well as, a mix of low and high stakes writing assignments, and a mix of longer, continuous writing (journaling) and shorter, timed writings.
5. Metacognitive Writing. The use of metacognitive writing, though often difficult and tedious from students’ perspectives, is a best practice in any learning environment—it is a way to engage students with not only what they are learning but how they are learning it. Metacognitive writing helps students recognize how they learn best, to identify where they struggle with things, and gives instructors a glimpse inside the minds of their students as they make sense of their own learning.
6. Portfolios and student self-assessment. Portfolios show and tell the story of each student’s work over the semester and are fuller ways to assess what a student has learned over the course of the class than a high stakes mid-term or final which become problematical in an online classroom anyway. Having students put together a portfolio and tell it’s story is the first step in assessment. Reading and responding to each others portfolios is the second step;