4faculty logo
4faculty logo

Tips and Tricks for Online and Hybrid Courses

Tip &
Trick

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Tip # 5 – Develop a Clear Pathway for Learning:

  • Typical Face-to-Face Course
    • Entrance phase:  Typically, casual talk that helps individuals assess the nature of your relationship with them
    • Settling down phase:  Indicates that the class is moving to the materials and allows students to shift from personal to group tasks
    • Work phase:  This is where one covers the lesson for the day.
    • Clearing Up:  Students disengage from the group and begin to focus on questions like, "What was that about?" They begin the process of integrating the new knowledge into their world outside the classroom.
    • Exit:  Clarifies expectations for the future.
  • Skipping a phase can create anxiety and undermine learning.

Other common pathways include:

Organizational Type Structure Advantages Disadvantages

Deductive

woman giving lecture
  • Present the abstraction
  • Present illustrations
  • Create examples
  • Closure

This classic lecture format can quickly and easy transmit information

Most effective when used with highly motivated learners who have a familiarity with the subject matter

Can easily be boring or too complex

Rarely engages the learners

E D I C T

woman doing science experiment
  • Explain
  • Demonstrate
  • Involve
  • Coach
  • Test/Terminate/Transfer
Very effective for skill development May not encourage analysis

The Kolb Pattern

woman actively participating in class discussion

  • Concrete examples
  • Reflective observations
  • Abstract generalizations
  • Applied experimentation

Develops analytical abilities

Is often most effective with adult learners

 May not effectively train learners for specific skills quickly

S H O W e D

group celebrating, used to illustrate a situation that we can relate to

  • See
  • How come
  • Our lives
  • Why
  • Do

Develops concern, empathy and understanding

Very effective when building community or dealing with cultural differences

May evoke emotional responses

Emphasis on relevance to our lives may not encourage deep analysis

Online, create a simple pathway and stick to it.

Don't change the pathway from lesson to lesson, even if you add a step or delete one don't change the visual cues.  It is important that students focus on the material and not on learning how to navigate (at least not in the middle of the course).

  • Include in the pathway:
  • Introduction with Objectives
  • Content
  • Opportunities for Engagement (activities)
  • Opportunities to Share Learning
    •
  • Reminders to Reflect
  • Pre and Post Assessment.
    •


    Trick # 5     – Use active engagement throughout the pathway

    Examples of active engagement include:

    • Asking students to work alone with online databases, online journals, online libraries, or interactive programs illustrating a topic or verifying understanding (most common in skill related courses)
    • Engaging students in one-to-one activities such as e-mail discussions with another student or the teacher (this may take the place of an office visit)
    • Offering opportunities for one-to-many activities which may include online presentations by subject matter experts such as the instructor or guest lecturer. The material may be presented through audio, video or text. 
    • Encouraging or requiring many-to-many activities; include online threaded discussions which allow students (and faculty) to share thoughts and questions about the topic.
    • Webquests are one of the best methods found to engage students in active learning processes. A WebQuest is an activity based on the following events:
      • Students are provided with an engaging scenario that stimulates their interest in a topic relevant to their academic needs
      • They are provided a task to complete which requires them to engage in a real-world problem
      • Their task may ask them to analyze a situation, compare or contrast two related situations, evaluate a condition, construct support for a position, induce generalities or principles, deduce consequences or conditions, or analyze perspectives
      • Information resources that point students to valid, relevant sources on the web are provided
      • The task may be tackled by a team of students who divide the problem into manageable chunks, then reassemble their work in collaborative fashion
      • Require that students create an artifact (evidence) of their knowledge.

    See also http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html


    Go to Trick #6 

    Close this Window