Good Practices for Online Education in the College of Arts and Sciences     

Online Learning Oversight Committee Bethel University Fall 2014

Online teaching shares in common most if not all of the same good practices of good teaching in the face-to-face classroom.  Most of the good practices for both of these modes of teaching and learning have their center in the “Seven Principles of Good Practice” (Chickering and Gamson 1987 and 1999). Multiple approaches can be used to design and teach effective online courses and the specifics may vary by field of study and by teaching styles of the faculty involved. Some practices in common have been shown to increase the effectiveness of online learning.

1. Communication: Communication with students often and consistently throughout the course on both the course and individual levels from pre- to post- course is essential.  Tools like the news forum or quickmail in Moodle are effective in assisting with communication. 20*

2. Organization: Online courses need a clear and consistent design that enables rather than impedes learning. Effective use of the modular structure of Moodle, appropriate headings,  and use of brief teasers all help to diminish a Moodle maze list of links with low information value. 3,5,6,

3. Explanation: Everything in online learning needs detailed explanation.  Why are we doing this, what should be done and how, where should it be done and submitted, and when is it due are all equally critical components for every aspect of the course.

4. Presence: The learners need to perceive the presence and “voice” of the instructor through the duration of the course. The voice of the online instructor can be “heard” by students in pre-course communication, in a welcome email, announcement, or video, by content delivery in various modes, by participation in class discussions, as well as in frequent feedback. 1, 10, 13

5. Diversity: Design for optimal learning through diversity and options. Providing learners with different options in the flow of the course and providing options for even individual assignments minimize both learner fade-out and marginalizing one or more learning styles. 9, 14, 15, 19

6. Active: Since students are not in class, designing for active learning has a higher priority. 2,Assignments that engage the learners with the content, with each other, with their local communities or families, with research, and more enable and engage learners. 2,9, 11, 14, 16, 18

7. Expectations: Communicate clear value to student work. Ways to do this are clear connections to course outcomes, student publishing, real world problems, use of rubrics, and sharing examples of both good and less good work. 3,4,7, 8, 11, 14, 15, 16

8. Feedback: Provide consistent, prompt, and meaningful feedback to learners as much as is possible.  Moodle is designed for good feedback via comments, rubrics, pdf markup, or Turnitin originality and Grademark tools. Learn how and use them effectively. 7, 17, 19

9. Time: Minimize technological and organizational time loss to maximize learning and time on task.  Learners online can waste more time on trying to figure out what the instructor wants them to do and how or where to complete a technologically sophisticated task, like a narrated presentation, and this detracts from their engagement with and enjoyment of the learning. 3

10. Assessment: Assessment should be outcome centered, clearly explained (rubrics), timely, frequent, and ongoing, diverse, reflective, designed for maximum integrity, and use effective online tools. 12

11. Facilitative: Presents and explains content in diverse ways that engage the learners. Content based learning 13

*Numbers refer to IDEA Diagnostic Survey Form questions 1-20.

Resources on good practices and online learning

Boettcher, J.V. 2011. Designing for Learning: Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online Quick Guide for New Online faculty. http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/ecoach/tenbest.html

Brown University, Best Practices for Teaching Online, http://www.brown.edu/ce/faculty/online/best-practices.php

Chickering, A. W., and Z. F. Gamson. 1987. Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin 39 (7)):3-7.

Chickering, A. W. and Z. F. Gamson 1999. Development and Adaptations of the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning 80:75-81

Chickering, A. W., and S. C. Ehrmann. 1996. Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever. AAHE Bulletin 49(2):3-6. Available from http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html

Quality Matters (Maryland Online) project proposes to develop a replicable pathway for inter-institutional quality assurance and course improvements in online learning http://www.qmprogram.org/, https://www.qualitymatters.org/rubric

Penn State, Faculty Development, Best Practices and Expectations for Online Teaching, http://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/teach/bestpractices

Prineas, M. and M. Cini 2011. Assessing Learning in Online Education: The Role of Technology in Improving Student Outcomes. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment.

Rochester Institute of Technology, Assessing Student Learning outcomes in an Online Environment: Best Practices, Tips, and Resources for Faculty.

Schaffhauser, D. 2015. 8 Best Practices for Moving Courses Online. Campus Technology 2/11/15. http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2015/02/11/8-Best-Practices-for-Moving-Courses-Online.aspx?

The Hanover Research Council, 2009. Best Practices in Online Teaching Strategies. http://www.uwec.edu/AcadAff/resources/edtech/upload/Best-Practices-in-Online-Teaching-Strategies-Membership.pdf

Vaughan, N. D., M. Cleveland-Innes, and D. R. Garrison 2013. Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry, AU Press, Athabasca University. http://www.aupress.ca/books/120229/ebook/99Z_Vaughan_et_al_2013-Teaching_in_Blended_Learning_Environments.pdf .  Written by the group of scholars who have been most influential in developing the Theory of Community of Inquiry, which is probably the dominant educational theory in distance education today.

Zawacki-Richter, O and T. Anderson 2014. Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda. AU Press, Athabasca University. http://www.aupress.ca/books/120233/ebook/99Z_Zawacki-Richter_Anderson_2014-Online_Distance_Education.pdf  Paper from a Delphi study where top distance education researchers considered essential areas of distance education research today. The papers have enough breadth and variety to find application in virtually every academic and administrative corner of the University