LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Teaching Online Courses: Online course syllabus

Syllabus for the online class "Teaching online courses" which examines online pedagogy and practical strategies for the online teaching and learning environment.

Learn more

Legal

Welcome! Over the next five weeks, we will be together online, learning and growing. My goal is to facilitate your learning and to help you succeed in reaching your goals. I look forward our working together as you experience online collaborative learning.

General course description

This course examines online pedagogy and practical strategies for the online teaching/learning environment. The course includes information about preparing to teach online and managing an online course including teaching techniques for promoting critical thinking, group interaction and collaboration, and good online communication. Participants are expected to actively engage in a variety of activities and readings to facilitate learning how to be a successful online instructor.

Note: While there are many types of online courses including tutorials and independent studies, this course focuses on discussion-based online learning and collaboration. To facilitate interaction between learners and facilitators, we believe that it is essential to create a strong learning community. We will discover strategies to create an environment that supports communication, cooperation, and collaboration. We will read, discuss, and engage in activities throughout the course that will help to demonstrate strategies to build a learning community.

Our activities throughout the course will include:

  • Individual activities: Self-assessment, research, reading, exercises for practice and application
  • Small group activities: Collaboration, cooperation, and practical application
  • Whole group activities: Supportive discussion forums either to encourage students to get to know, communicate, and quickly bond with each other or to analyze and synthesize information and experiences
  • Whole group or individual: Reflective activities

Overarching course goal

To prepare participants to become effective online instructors by discussing, experiencing, and practicing skills needed to teach and learn in an online environment and by applying effective practices and strategies for teaching in an online environment

Course goals

  • Identify tasks needed to prepare to teach a course
  • Articulate an instructor’s role in an online learning environment
  • Develop appropriate strategies for promoting active and interactive learning
  • Learn how to manage your time, workload, and administrative issues related to teaching effectively online
  • Articulate the pedagogy of online courses

Course materials

All course materials will be supplied.

Optional Suggested reading: Discussion-Based Online Teaching To Enhance Student Learning by Tisha Bender and published by Stylus Publishing, 2003

Course schedule

TOC runs for five weeks. Our weeks begin midnight on Wednesday and end on midnight Tuesday.

Time Commitment

Each week, you will be expected to spend approximately five-six hours on the actual course work. This does not include time you spend to acquaint yourself with the technology.

Course set-up

This course divided into five sections that correspond to five weeks:

  • Week one: Getting started - Focuses on preparing yourself and learners for a constructive learning community
  • Week two: Online pedagogy and learning community - Focuses on the strategies for facilitating online learning by helping to prepare students for online learning, creating a learning community, and addressing learning style differences
  • Week three: Online communication - Presents strategies and best practices for online communication
  • Week four: Online teaching strategies - Explores techniques and methods to create an active, interactive, and motivating learning environment for learners
  • Week five: Criteria for online courses - Looks at the role of the online instructor, established standards for online courses, and a summary of helpful tips

Class procedures and policies

Attendance and participation requirements

Don’t allow yourself to get behind! With each new week, a new set of tasks is assigned, each building on lessons from the previous week. Feedback will not be provided on work posted late.

To be considered in attendance during an online week, you must post to the assigned discussions and meet your group posting commitments. You must be in attendance for all five weeks.

Full participation is very important online and is required for this course. You will be expected to meet the required postings each week.

Quantity and quality are both important considerations when it comes to participation. Quantity is discussed above. Quality means adding something of substance to the discussion — your perspectives and ideas, examples from your work or life experience, questions, etc. A message that says simply, “I agree,” for example, would not constitute participation since it does not add anything of substance to the discussion. You will find it much easier to keep up with an online class and of greater value to you, if you are logging in and participating daily.

Learning groups

You will be working in learning groups and discovering what it takes to function well in a group setting. This first-hand experience will help you understand the positives and negatives of group activities. You will be encouraged to reflect on strategies to create collaborative online group activities. While I will not actively participate in the group activities, I will monitor each group.

Learning group project

You will engage in a small group activity in weeks three and four. I will set up these groups prior to week three and post them on the announcement board and in the assignment. You will be required to complete a learning group agreement to determine how your group will function in week three. The actual assignment will take place and be completed in week four.

Assessment for the group project

Please refer to the rubric(s) provided in the lesson.

Communication among learning team members will take place exclusively in the group discussion forums, wikis, or chats.

Late assignments

In general, no late assignments will be accepted. Exceptions may be made if extenuating circumstances arise, you are current on all assignments, and you request permission via messages. Extenuating circumstances do not include your workload at home or at work, vacations, and lack of access to the Internet. If needed, Internet access is available at your public library.

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty is highly valued at LEARN NC. If any words or ideas are used that do not represent the student’s original words or ideas, please indicate the relevant source.

Confidentiality and proprietary information

You are encouraged to share your personal and professional experiences as a means to integrate the knowledge through reflecting on its application. However, it is important to note that we all are bound by confidentiality in this class. In order to assure that we can have a free and open discussion in which you may elect to discuss your work and personal experiences as they apply to the course material, I expect each person to respect the confidentiality of what your classmates are willing to share.

Grading and feedback

Each week, I will provide feedback on participation and assignments within three to five days. You will receive feedback via eMail. Notification of feedback will be placed in Announcements. If you do not receive your feedback, please contact me right away via email.

  • Discussion participation feedback will be based on the discussion rubric located in the “rubrics” folder under “course information.”
  • Rubrics may be not be used for all assignments
  • Grades: All assignments are incomplete/complete. To help you and me keep track, I will manually post a incomplete/complete grade for each assignment in “grades” within three to five days of the end of the week. An announcement will be posted when grades are posted.

Requirements for earning CEU’s

  • Full participation and completion of all small-group assignments
  • Participation in the reading assignment discussions
  • Completion of individual assignments