Обзор

This guide explains essential teaching methods using video-based learning in a fully-online asynchronous course. You can modify this teaching guide to include synchronous sessions, such as when teaching a Дистанционное обучение course.

Please read the rationale and information on how to manage your course.

Rationale

Research shows that students need much more support and feedback in an online course than in a face-to-face course. In a traditional course, you give the students learning materials, provide commentary to teach the materials, and answer questions. You wouldn't just give them a textbook, assignments, and syllabus and expect them to do everything themselves. Similarly, you can't just send the online course materials to them without using online teaching methods and then hope they will know how to study the course materials.

Directing Your Learners

Your goal is to guide the learners through the course and provide the support they need to be successful. You direct them by creating a structured learning environment and communicating with them clearly. You support them by being available, communicating with them effectively and frequently, and providing them with pertinent feedback on their submitted assignments.

Structure - Your course structure is already set up in a logical manner using topics or weeks. You then need to set the pacing of the course, which could be self-paced, according to the topic or weekly schedule, or a combination of both. Your goal is to control when they access the content to prevent them from accessing content ahead of schedule. The most common approach is using an instructor-paced course with specific boundaries for self-pacing.

Self-pace: Students must complete specific activities before viewing the following topics. Using prerequisites ensures that all students proceed through the course entirely before accessing the final exam. The instructor can set the course's start and end date but lets the students study freely during that time.
Instructor-paced: The instructor opens topics according to the course schedule, such as opening topic 3 during week 3. Please note that they can still access the content without completing previous weeks or topics. This method works well if previous topics are not prerequisites for the following content.
Instructor-paced with self-pacing: The instructor opens topics according to the course schedule, such as opening topic 3 during week 3. Students still must complete the previous topics to access the new content.

Communication - We cannot underestimate the importance of communicating with your students throughout the course. Communication needs to happen frequently to keep them engaged and let them know you are there to help them. Also, they need to know where to obtain help if they are stuck or have questions. Also, it is essential for you to clearly communicate the course expectations at the start of the course so that there is no confusion as to what you expect from the students.

Assessment - Assessment is an essential tool that paints a picture of how the students are doing. Assessments, whether formative or summative, are different in online learning than it is in the classroom. You can no longer evaluate what the students know because a simple Google search provides them with the answer. Instead, you must evaluate what they can do by applying the information you give them. See the section called "Preparing for Independent Student Work" to help you change your projects to minimize plagiarism. In addition, you should prepare self-assessment questions for your students so they can determine if they understand the materials.

Feedback - You provide feedback when you meet with your students in person, but you lack the same opportunities to provide feedback online. However, it is vital that you provide feedback to your students online so that they know if they are learning the material and how they can improve. Giving them a single score on an assignment is not enough to help them. They need to hear from their instructor how they can improve or what they did well. Use The Formative Assessment Feedback Loop as a mechanism to provide meaningful feedback to let your students know how they are doing with the expectation of resubmission to hone their skills.