When the Internet was first available…about 23 years ago….many would never have thought it a tool for a course. Yet the concept of a “virtual learning environment” is not a new idea. In 1728, the Boston Gazette contained an ad regarding learning shorthand by postal lessons. A quick search results in information such as the formation of the International Correspondence Schools (ICS) launched in 1890 by newspaperman Thomas J. Foster in Scranton, Pennsylvania; it became the world’s largest study-at-home school. More recently, there were courses delivered by TV or PLATO developed in the 1960s.
The Sloan Consortium Report in 2012 stated that, “the number of students taking at least one online course has now surpassed 6.7 million.” You can read more about that research here. There are other studies, too. In June 2013, in Campus Technology, Joshua Bolkan wrote in Report: Students Taking Online Courses Jumps 96 Percent over 5 Years that, “the number of college students taking an online course doubled from 23 percent to 45 percent” over the course of a five year study.
If you are thinking about wanting to offer a course online (or are being directed to offer a course online) there are different groups of standards available to use as a guideline. Quality Matters (QM) is the one our school used. What’s nice is that there is a detailed rubric to follow and great training available. Regardless of whether you use QM or your school has a particular set of requirements of its own, there are key things to consider in designing and delivering a course.
Some things are probably common sense to us. It helps to have first delivered the course in a traditional format, then perhaps as a hybrid as you begin to document work outside of the classroom and design effective assignments in lieu of classroom activities. It helps to be a responsive person via email. Communication is key in an online course. Your responsiveness can be vital in helping a student ‘stick with it,’ and research shows that the level of engagement is even more critical in course completion for online students than in face-to-face settings.
How can MyMathLab or MyStatLab help you design and deliver an online course? Here are some things to consider as you work on the process. Keep in mind that Pearson provides a variety of training options, and if you haven’t yet completed the self-paced certification courses in MyMathLab, you should probably do so prior to working on an online course. That way you have mastered the resources you need to work on the following:
- Preparing for the online course. Make sure you are familiar with using settings in the Gradebook and assignments as well as what communication tools are available. Think about assignment lengths, study plan settings, course layout, pacing, and media usage. Consider your grading scale.
- Getting Started in the Online Course. Consider student registration information. It helps to post documents on the college LMS or email students information on how to register, use temporary access, orient around your course, etc. Always provide links to the student support resources for MyMathLab.
- Orientation-What Should it Contain? Cover things like finding announcements,homework and quizzes/tests settings, gradebook views, accessing the e-book, using media, the study plan, the calendar, discussion board, and the importance of reading your email for students! You can use Class Live to run an orientation if students have at least completed logging into the course. You can save the session for students who cannot attend or log in later.
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- Maintaining a Successful Online Course: Consider time management, both yours and the students’ schedules. Assign due dates, use “Email by criteria,” and be sure to keep your calendar updated. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on email. Keep track of questions. I find it helpful to keep an FAQ link on my home menu and post answers to general course questions there. Content questions might be answered by a class email or more often now, posted directly on the discussion board for that chapter. Be sure to set your tests to allow learning aids when students review their tests, so they can see what they got incorrect and how to do the problem correctly. Be sure to encourage collaboration on the discussion boards. Post articles for discussion, problems for solving, a simulation to complete, a thought-provoking application question, etc. Provide those opportunities for active learning. Be sure to use the communication tools such as chat, Class Live, and the discussion board.
- Learning Support Pearson developers pay close attention to ADA guidelines, so videos are close-captioned, JAWS readers are supported for visually impaired learners, various learning modalities are reached by the use of different tools and resources from animations to videos to flow charts and graphs.
- Plan. Plan. Plan. And then plan some more! Every semester I teach online, I “tweak” my course settings. Perhaps it’s new MyMathLab settings such as now requiring the Study Plan prior to a test (which resulted in a statistically higher average on the first exam).Whatever it is, the only thing constant in teaching in an online course is change! Having MyMathLab as a resource to help with the process will make the experience a much richer one. Enjoy!
