8 Tips to enhance Online Teaching and Learning

Figure 1 - Online Learning

In my career as an instructional designer, adjunct online faculty, and academic technology leader, I have had many experiences with online teaching.  However, my best experiences in how to teach online comes from my experiences as an online learner.  Taking online courses from multiple institutions (George Washington University, University of Texas Telecampus and others) I have found a few great strategies to share with fellow students and educators.

1. Everyone (faculty and students) appreciates appropriate and timely feedback.
2. Create everything you will submit or upload in Word and run spell check before posting or uploading.
3. Save a copy of every file you submit and make sure you add a header/footer that includes the date it was submitted.

Figure 2 - Save File

4. Double check to ensure that files posted or submitted are visible afterward.
5. Keep your files organized on your computer or on your external drive if using multiple machines.  Top Level folder: Semester/year with folders within that of each course.  Staying organized is critical.
6. Set and meet all deadlines.  Do not get behind and do not allow students to fall behind.

Figure 3 - Deadline

7. Solicit feedback and give feedback on what is working and what can be improved.  Accept all feedback as positive and ways to enhance the course and student experience.
8. Don't reinvent the wheel but don't plagiarize.  Academic honesty is critical.  Searching for ideas online is okay.  Copying and pasting in pages of content is not.  Link to important educational content rather than copying.  Give full credit to your sources.