Due to the pandemic, many colleges have shifted their courses to the online environment. For professors who are not used to this format, adjusting their classrooms to this new medium can be daunting, and to add to the concern, online education is often perceived to be lower quality than campus courses. However, this view is inaccurate and usually stems from misunderstandings about the technology and teaching methods that are used in online courses.
Online education gives many people access to higher education who may not have the ability to attend traditional classes: parents without daycare can take classes while watching their kids, working adults can fit classes into their busy schedules, military personnel can take classes while overseas, individuals with disabilities and those without access to transportation can still get a college degree, and—as I have recently argued in the Chronicle of Higher Education—colleges can still offer the majority of their classes without firing faculty or making students return to campus during a pandemic.
I have been an adjunct instructor for eight years, five of which have been mostly online. Since I have worked full time throughout my entire college career, I have also taken a variety of online classes in combination with traditional ones to fit within my hectic schedule, so I have experienced the world of online education from the perspective of both a teacher and a student.
To clear up a few misconceptions up front:
The online courses I’m talking about here are NOT MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). MOOCs are courses open to anyone with internet and are intended for self-paced learning (not for college credit). The most common example is Coursera, but also some big research institutions offer these too. The courses we’re discussing here are the same courses you would teach in your regular classroom, just in a different format.
Online education and for-profit education are NOT the same thing. People often conflate the two because for-profit colleges were some of the first schools to use the technology. But online educational technology has been a part of traditional colleges for many years now.
As someone who has been an adjunct for a long time, I can speak firsthand about the adjunct problem. (That is a whole other blog post). However, teaching online classes should not be conflated with the larger problem of the neoliberalization of the university. The overreliance and exploitation of adjunct labor began well before online classes were even an option. The adjunctification of colleges is a problem no matter what format a course uses.
Because there has been a lot of panic regarding the switch to online classes, I decided to jot down some helpful guidelines to make the transition a bit easier and hopefully clear up some misconceptions about online education in the process.
Be humble and flexible. It’s no secret that academics can be a proud bunch. That partly stems from the fact that many of us feel that we pour our heart and soul into our lessons. While we are understandably passionate about the subjects we teach, I have seen a good deal of arrogance when it comes to professors having to move their courses online, as if the online environment somehow sullies the sacredness of their lectures. This attitude is the first hindrance in creating a quality online course. There is nothing intrinsically magical about the classroom environment—it’s simply what most people are used to. Much of this can be recreated for the online environment, and, in some ways, even improved upon. But that requires us to take a step back and remember why we became teachers in the first place: Is it because we wanted to elevate our egos? Or is it because we love sharing ideas? If the former, then frankly, we have no business being teachers. If the latter, then we need to learn to adapt our styles and methods for the present circumstances. What might have been tried-and-true lessons or assignments on campus might have to change for the online environment. Think about what your class looks like from the student’s perspective: What makes your course kick ass on campus? It’s probably not the fact that you’re standing a few feet in front of them, but rather, it’s most likely that you have great lessons, that you are available to them, that you can help them grasp difficult concepts. We can recreate these elements in the online environment, but it just requires some creativity. A good professor must be flexible in this regard if they truly care about their students’ learning first and foremost.
Learn the technology. Almost every college has their own learning management system already in place. Most already require professors to at least upload their course syllabus to it each term. A learning management system is a tool that allows professors to create online courses within a self-contained shell. Blackboard is the most common example, but others are Canvas, Moodle, Desire2Learn, or Sakai. While these all may seem different on the surface, they are usually the same structure at their core. They have many built-in features that allow instructors to upload recorded lectures or videos, upload reading materials, link to online textbooks or resources, create discussion forums and assignments (such as essays, quizzes, etc.), record grades, and even allow group work. These learning management systems all have their own guides that demonstrate their capabilities. Take a little time to learn how these work—they are quite navigable once one gets the basics, and when used properly, they can even make some tasks easier, such as grading or checking for plagiarism, for instance. To clear up a common misconception: professors do not lose the copyright to their own work when using these tools. If a professor specifically develops an online course for a particular college to use on a regular basis, they have likely been contracted to “sell” that course to the school. However, that is not what using a learning management system is. These are merely tools that teachers can use to house their courses.
Front-load the course. This is probably the biggest challenge to those new to online education, but it’s arguably the key thing that determines whether or not a course will run smoothly. In a traditional class, professors outline their course on the syllabus, but they typically prepare for class each week and develop assignments or exams as the course moves along. An online class, however, is best organized completely upfront. What that means is that not only the syllabus, but the tests, assignments, discussion forums, lectures, reading materials, and so on should be all organized and loaded into the course on day one. The amount of work one does is the same overall, but successful online instructors learn to front-load as much as possible so that they can focus more on discussion forums and grading during the week rather than preparing for each class. And there’s no reason to worry if things need to be changed—they definitely can be as needed. But front-loading the course makes each week consistent and prepared in advance, plus it benefits the students by setting class expectations from the start.
Organize the course well, and trim the fat. The best online courses are ones that are organized in a way that not only makes instant sense to anyone who logs into them, but are not bogged down with unnecessary information. Learning management systems typically preload the kinds of functions and modules it thinks one might use in their course, however, most of these can and should be removed from one’s course shell. Additionally, keep fonts, spacing, colors, etc. consistent because it makes things easier to read. Over the years, I have taught a variety of course subjects, and most of them work well with just these core sections within a course:
Announcements: This should be the first thing a student sees when they log in. I used timed announcements in all my classes so that they are released to the students when needed. For example, if I know that the midterm exam is coming up in week 8, then I may have a midterm reminder preloaded to be released to the students in week 7. These can also be used as needed, too. For instance, if students seemed to have trouble with a concept discussed in class, I might use a brief announcement to clarify an idea. Essentially, announcements work best as quick reminders or updates that you want the students to note. Keep them short and to the point.
Start Here: Students who have not taken online classes before may feel intimidated by them. That’s why it’s best to have some kind of “Start Here” module. This section should be short and simple—essentially, guide the student through what each section houses. Tell them where they can find the necessary course information and give them instructions for how to approach each week. It’s best to keep most weeks as consistent as possible. For instance, each week, students should expect to listen to a lecture, complete their readings, participate in a discussion, and complete any assignments. Keeping the structure uniform each week helps the student feel comfortable in a new format.
Syllabus: We’re all familiar with the “students don’t read the syllabus” trope. But the students are only partly to blame as I have seen syllabi that are so unorganized, messy, and wordy that I wouldn’t want to read them myself. Keep the syllabus clear and focused. Every detail of every assignment does not need to be listed in the syllabus. Rather, a syllabus should be a general outline for the expectations of the course. Make it clear what students should do each week, what the course policies are, and when assignments are due.
Weekly Modules: This is where the students will begin every week. This section can be organized a couple of ways, but I prefer to have a folder for each week so that the students have everything they need in one spot. For each weekly folder, I include whatever readings they should read, videos they should watch, and/or lectures they should listen to. If an assignment is due for that week, it can be linked into the weekly folder as well. In essence, a student should be able to go to that week’s folder and have everything they need to complete inside it.
Discussion Forums: Each week that has a lecture should have an accompanying discussion forum for the professor and the students to discuss the ideas presented that week. More on these below.
Assignments: All the assignments in the course should be housed in one place. Any type of assignment can be created in these systems: written assignments, short essays, quizzes, timed exams, etc. They can be set to be available to the students during certain periods as needed with embedded due dates and linked to the gradebook.
Gradebook: Instructors can set up the gradebook in a variety of ways. I recommend using a simple point system, but assignments can be weighted if that’s what is preferred. There should be a tab for the students to access their gradebook easily.
Library Resources: Make it easy for students to complete their research by linking the college’s online library resources directly into the course.
Technical Help: Link the college’s IT help desk within the class so that students can access it without having to leave the course shell, if needed.
Make lectures asynchronous. Arguably the biggest hang-up I noticed professors were having when shifting their classes to the online environment was attempting to recreate their lectures in the same time and in the same way as a live classroom. I saw many teachers relying on outside tools like Zoom or other video conferencing software so that they could speak with their students live. This approach is bound to cause problems. If students are not on campus, we cannot expect them to all have access to internet and computer technology at the same time, nor can we expect them to be able to log into class at the same time as many might be living in other time zones during the pandemic. Further, live lectures are prone to glitches and thus frustration for both the teacher and the student. Therefore, online classes are better conducted asynchronously, where students do not have to physically be on their computer at a specific time of day. It is much better to write out a lecture, record it, and then upload the lecture as a video or audio file, and upload a transcript so students can read the lecture if that’s easier for them. While the professor’s voice is always preferred, a written lecture is just fine if a recording is not possible. Additionally, keep semester-specific information out of the lecture so that the lecture can be used again in future courses—another benefit of pre-recorded lectures versus live ones. Supplementary images, video links, or PowerPoint presentations can easily be embedded within the course shell as well. I highly recommend not using live video conferencing in the online environment. There is nothing about a quality lecture that is made better just because it’s live. I’ve often heard the fear from professors that the asynchronous environment allows students to not view or read the lectures, but that shouldn’t be a concern. First, there are settings that can be enabled where students cannot move forward without viewing the lecture first. Second, and more importantly, it’s not our job to babysit students. Whether a class is on campus or online, there will always be students who will slack off or not pay attention as they should. That’s simply the nature of college. But our job is to give them the best course we can offer—regardless of the format—and hope that they care about learning enough to take advantage of it.
Create quality online discussions. Since professors should make their classrooms asynchronous, discussions should be asynchronous as well. One of the key concerns that professors have with online teaching is that it can be difficult to reproduce organic discussions outside of a physical classroom. But this doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, online discussions—when done well—can actually yield much more thorough responses from students and more engagement with their peers. It has been well-documented that those quiet students who rarely participate in classroom discussions actually tend to come out of their shell in online discussion forums. However, a teacher cannot simply throw up a question with no direction and expect quality discussions: the professor must facilitate them. Here are the best tips for creating quality discussions in an online environment:
Create standard discussion guidelines: Each weekly discussion should clearly instruct the students how to complete the discussions. They may look something like this: “Write an initial response of about 150–200 words that answers the question using information from this week’s course materials or lectures. Then, reply to at least two of your peers with a substantive response.” I typically have more detailed guidelines somewhere within my course shell that discusses using appropriate language and being respectful of others’ views. Keep in mind that online discussion forums are NOT like social media comment threads. When done right, they should represent a thorough engagement with the lessons and ideas. Be clear to students that one-liner responses like “nice post!” will not count towards their discussion grade. If the guidelines are clear from the start, there will not be any issues of misconduct.
Make discussions a significant grade item: If discussions are not worth much in the final grades, then students will not engage with them. It’s important to make discussions a significant part of their grade for the course. Think of them more in terms of a weekly assignment. They will do what’s needed if it’s a key piece of their grade.
Have clear deadlines: Just as lectures should be asynchronous, discussions should also take place throughout the whole week, not just on one day. If a week runs from Monday through Sunday, then I typically instruct students to complete their initial post by mid-week, and then to complete their responses to their peers by Sunday night. I set the forums to close by the end of the week so that students cannot retroactively participate in them.
Create more than one discussion prompt each week: This is key: If 30 students are all answering the same prompt, the discussion can get stale. To prevent this, I usually have three or four discussion prompts for the students to choose from and they must answer one. This allows for some variety in the threads. Additionally, discussion questions should not simply be questions of facts (such as who said what or when did something happen). Rather, ask questions that allow the students to engage at a higher level with the ideas presented in that week’s lesson (such as why did something occur or what factors caused this change and so forth). When in doubt, avoid who, what, when, where questions and stick to why and how questions.
Be present, and ask probing questions: Students can tell when the professor is not involved in the course, so be present. That doesn't mean that teachers have to respond to every post, as that’s excessive and can get repetitive. Instead, I log into my discussion forums daily and engage with students as I naturally would if the class was live. Sometimes it’s good to clarify an idea if a student is on the right track but perhaps a bit off. Other times it’s best to ask a question to get a student to think about the topic at a deeper level or from another perspective. Spend more time asking questions than giving answers. Forums are best used to help the students bridge concepts from the lectures and readings into clear ideas. Let them come to the ideas on their own, but be there to guide them. Additionally, consider how written words sound compared to spoken words. Be friendly in your tone when addressing students—we want students to feel welcome in the forums. I typically respond to students by addressing them by name, acknowledging their response in some way, and then offering some clarification or asking more questions. Avoid sarcasm or “text” language (like “lol” or emojis). Speak clearly, professionally, and kindly. In other words, all the ways that professors engage with students in the classroom can be duplicated in an online discussion forum as well, and often, because everyone can take time to gather their thoughts, discussion forums become a truly valuable piece of the online learning experience.
Grade promptly: I complete all my grading on the same day every week. Consistency is important for online students because it reduces stress and sets expectations. One positive aspect to online discussion forums is that they are linked to the gradebook, making the grading process easy—it provides a much clearer record on who participates versus who doesn’t.
Stay organized outside the class. This may seem obvious, but it’s still important. As an adjunct, I teach different classes for different schools at different times. This requires I keep a strict schedule. Further, there are a lot of materials (files, recordings, images, etc.) we’re dealing with that go into these courses, and mixing them up can cause a big headache. For each course I teach, I have a folder on my own computer (and backed up on a cloud drive) that contains the recorded lectures, syllabi, assignments, discussion questions, tests, readings, etc. for that course. Each file is labeled with the course prefix for easy searching and uploading (for example, a file might be named “HIST100 - Syllabus” or “PHIL200 - Midterm Exam”). Keep a subfolder with editable documents and another one for semester-specific ones. Most importantly, set a personal routine for logging into discussions, checking emails (respond to all student emails within 48 hours), and completing grades. I use my Google calendar to keep a daily schedule for all the tasks that need to be completed for each course each day. This all may seem tedious at first, but if it becomes a habit, it will make life easier when it comes time to set up future online classes.
Some of this advice may be obvious, some may be new. Regardless, these are guidelines that have proven successful in my experience as an online instructor. My hope is that they will help reduce the stress of transitioning to an online environment during this global crisis. With a little bit of organization and planning, we can create quality learning experiences for our students while they stay safely at home.
By Shalon van Tine