The “Good Things List”_欧洲杯决赛竞猜app_欧洲杯足球网-投注|官网

Ann Cary
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 18:00:41 +0000
Best practices, Distance Education, Faculty, best practices, faculty mentor, math

Faculty mentor Ann Cary shares some great practices she's observed in online classes over the years that she intends to incorporate in her classes.

As an online faculty mentor, I come across a lot of great course designs. I see things that make me laugh—like a faculty member’s daily email availability framed as “2-80 times per day.” I see things that make me utterly impressed in their simplistic novelty, like instructor-created videos that literally walk a student through the course. I see many things I wish I’d thought of myself (and soon implement!) like the use of Google docs/spreadsheets to make rote tasks more efficient. I see all these things, and many more, that make me excited to think about the learning experience students will have in these courses.

But you know what I can’t really see? And always wonder about? What’s it really like to be in this class? What particular magic does this specific instructor’s facilitation skill add to make this course come alive?

You can sometimes catch a glimpse of these particular facilitation skills in a course’s design, but unless you’re an actual student, it’s hard to really see them. If you ask your colleagues, or catch a webinar or recent article, and listen closely though, you can slowly piece them together. If you try to incorporate every good idea though, you’ll likely end up with something that’s hard to sustain, or just doesn’t work well. So it’s key to pick and choose the ones that work best for you.

For a while, my own list of “best facilitation practices” was just something I kept in my head. These were all things I’d tried, implemented, and found effective, but that weren’t necessarily natural or habituated yet. And I realized that some terms the timing of other commitments (SAC meetings on a specific Friday, holidays, sick kids, etc.) were making these fall off my radar. So I wrote them down, and named them my “Good Things List.” Writing them down was critical—as it helped me identify and commit to the most important ones that I needed to remember to do. So without anything further, I give you my current (yet ever-evolving) “Good Things List”:

Open the course one week before the term starts. Email students a welcome email, with information on the textbook and a statement about the drop deadline.

Email during the first couple of days reminding students that the prerequisite quiz is a guide for review, not something to scare them away.

Email a reminder about the drop without penalty deadline the Thursday/Friday before that deadline.

Email anyone who doesn’t submit the first worksheet, asking if there’s anything you can do to help them stay on track. Offer an (already-input) two-day extension.

Email anyone who gets below passing on the first worksheet (within a day of grading it), asking to start a conversation about how you can support them.

Repeat this after the second worksheet.

Scan and email exams back to students within one week.

Over time, I know that some of these things will become habits, others will simply change, and new things (but not too many!) will be added to the list.

Do you have facilitation secrets to share—your own version of a “Good Things List?” Add them below and continue the conversation.