Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Certificates
Community Scholar
Course Directory
Degrees
Distance/Online Education
Executive Development
Perosnal Enrichment
Post-Bac Premedical Program
Professional Development
Programs for K-12 Educators
Travel and Learn
Workforce Academy
Register for a Course
Contact Us
Student Information
Faculty Information
About SCPS
Support SCPS
Maps and Directions
Statewide Conference Center
Calendar of Events
Site Search
People Search
FAQs
Course Search
UVA Home
 

Getting Started:  Your First Online Course

Excerpted from A.M. Pickett, Assistant Director, SUNY Learning Network,  A Series of Unfortunate Online Events and How to Avoid Them

Getting off to a good start in any online course happens by design, not by accident.

Online students won’t know what you want or how to behave, unless you clearly tell them. The more students know about what you expect, the easier it will be for you and your students.  Your work designing the course ahead of time pays off in the long run.

Consider a welcome note that introduces you and the course to the students. Your welcome note sets the tone, gives you a “voice” and is the students’ first “glimpse” of you.  Let students know what you expect in terms of participation in the class, cheating, and netiquette. Providing instructional documents on what they are to do first and next is especially important in the beginning of an online course to get things off to a good start.

In general, you want to go for consistency across modules in structure and length.

  • Create consistent and complete course “chunks” or module structures.
  • Design a detailed orientation to each course module/section/area.
  • Use meaningful and consistent course section and document titles to organize and convey information about activities, content, assignments, and structure of your course.  Use the outline structure of the course as an advanced organizer for the course for your students.
  • Create complete well-explained online and off line learning activities.
  • Provide detailed instructions for each learning activity including expectations, timeframes, navigation, method of evaluation, etc. Provide explicit instructions, directions, and signposts for students.
  • Model your expectations with your own presence in the course.
  • Provide models as illustrations for your students and rubrics for references on how you will evaluate their work.
  • Get students actively engaged, thinking, applying, defending, refuting, reporting, and self-assessing.
  • Current research shows that online collaborations between the instructor and students, and between students themselves, positively and significantly influence student satisfaction and perceived learning. Building opportunities for such interactions into the design of your course will be your challenge- the fun part, and the key to success.
  • Remember:  You are NOT recreating your classroom online.  You are converting the materials, content, and learning objectives to a new learning environment. 

           

 

SCPS Web Development