Algonquin College - Professor's Resource Site

Applying Technology to Teaching

The Power of E-learning	Tips for Designing and Evaluating Online Learning Environments	Facilitating Collaborative Learning Using Discussion Forums	Using PowerPoint Wisely
Copyright and Digital Content	Using Other Technology Tools at Algonquin	College Directive Supporting This Competency
The Professor of the 21st Century uses technology to enhance productivity and help students learn. Read Competency

Strategies to Create Consistency and Clarity
in Your Online Course

Strategies
Begin with an Online Orientation for your students to the skills needed for independent study. Does it include… An interactive component Attention to both technology skills and the soft skills needed for independent study Time management Self-motivation Writing Assertiveness Self-monitoring
Profile a one-page Syllabus/Planner in which you identify all readings, activities and assignments for your online course. Does it have a week-by-week or unit-by-unit framework? Does it include the SPECIFIC DUE DATES of all assignments? Have you included your course evaluation scheme? Do you want to think about making it interactive?
Create clear Guidelines for the requirements of online activities and assignments Clear instructions Worked out examples Checklists Scoring grids Rubrics for complex assignments Model papers
Be consistent with Deadlines and Lesson Pattern Have you set the same day each week as the deadline for the current learning activity to help students establish a routine for their online course? Have you created a pattern (learning path) that is consistent from lesson to lesson and is easy for the learner to visualize?

Strategies

Provide directions for Common Functions in Blackboard

Have you attached a set of directions with all of the early activities/exercises/
assignments that tell learners how to (as applies)

Strategies to Monitor Expectations
With Respect to Learner Workload

Strategies
Put yourself in your learner’s shoes Multiply the workload in your course X five to take into account a learner’s normal workload. Add in 20 hours of part-time work per week Add in 15 hours of classroom time Add in time for family/social activities
Check out other online general education courses Ask to be an observer in the Food, Wine and Culture general education course Ask to be an observer in the The Built Environment: Understanding Your House general education course
Avoid overlapping learning activities Be sure that one activity ends before assigning another activity
Allow reasonable timeframes for each discussion board activity Minimum length of time per discussion forum is one week (not including the prerequisite activities such as reading)
Focus on evaluating learner success through the learning activities rather than midterms and a final exam. Learners will probably want to focus their attention on the exams in their vocational courses in week 16, so end the general education course in week 15 with some kind of wrap-up activity.

Strategies to Create An Inviting and Interesting
Online Environment

Strategies
Create a student persona for yourself so that you can see your course through your learners’ eyes Contact bbhelp@algonquincollege.com to ask for a student persona in your development course
Develop a Plan for creating a social presence in your online environment Ice breaking activity A welcome message A time schedule that permits replies to emails every day, and perhaps more than once per day for the first week or two. An early Monday morning slot for answering emails that may have accumulated over the weekend. An inviting, friendly tone to email “conversations.”
Avoid pages of dense, flat screens of text and avoid using PowerPoint slides for first-time exposure to new material (too disjointed for easy comprehension) Lots of white space, variation in font size Short paragraphs (four or five lines) Hypertext format instead of long linear narratives Readability scores for text in the 10-11 range
Provide lots of opportunities for Interaction with the content in your online environment Links (internal and external) Online quizzes/tutorial loops Clickable Maps/diagrams Sound clips Video clips

Strategies
Provide lots of opportunities for interaction with other learners in your online environment and with the professor Whole class discussion forums Group activities where learners work in group discussion forums Chats (virtual classroom) Working with a BUDDY! Electronic office hours for professors
Provide interesting visuals to show learners how the pieces of your course/unit fit together - a good idea for lesson one to provide an overview of your course and for summaries. Concept maps Flow charts Gantt charts
Monitor learners at risk Send out “I’m here to help you” messages to all learners in the first week so that any learners experiencing difficulty with the first assignment will feel free to contact you about their problems Send out “How’s it going?” messages to all learners who didn’t meet the first deadline and subsequent deadlines.