Best Practices for the First Two Weeks of Class

"When an individual enters the presence of others, they commonly seek to acquire information about him or to bring into play information about him already possessed.  Information about the individual helps to define the situation, enabling others to know in advance what he will expect of them and what they may expect of him.  Informed in these ways, the others will know how best to act in order to call forth a desired response from him"
(Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 1959, p. 1)

 

Introduction

We all understand the importance of getting our classes off to a good start each semester but doing that successfully in an on-line environment presents special challenges and opportunities that many instructors don't fully realize or take full advantage of.  Unfortunately, a new and often disconcerting realization about those missed time-specific opportunities hits both instructor and student when due dates for assignments appear hand-in-hand with problems that, often for the remainder of the semester, undermine the instructor's and student's effectiveness and satisfaction with the on-line teaching method.  This "best practices" presentation is organized around the goal of preventing such problems and offers multi-functional strategies that, when implemented during the first two weeks of the class, will put the instructor and student on a stable course for success.

Initial and Sustained Presentation

As our first "best practice", on-line classes must immediately present to students a uniform platform that is predictable and intuitive.  If you’re the first or last in your academic program to develop an on-line class and you realize there is no visual theme or, worst, several themes being presented to students, then you’re on the cusp of initiating a beneficial change.

No one visual theme is best but one needs to be developed and uniformly applied through discussion with the teaching faculty and perhaps a focus group of students since it, across several semesters, will become the common stable starting point.  Blackboard (Bb) offers several iconic themes as well as a location for the menu.  A theme and menu location should be found and applied so it becomes a common reference point for students.  As shown below, across departmental instructors, the icons used for the syllabus, organizer, assignment and dropbox, discussion boards, tests and FAQ should be identical.

Complementing the visual theme on the home page, instructors should always prepare an opening/welcoming statement highlighting the title of the course (after all, students often register for the wrong courses), what the course is about, and, most importantly what the first week’s tasks are and how they can be accessed.  The statements should be updated throughout the semester (you may have noted that my header is geared toward the very last part of the semester) but students must grow accustomed to reviewing the home page for important updates early in the semester.  These can be expressed also via an e-mail that, with minor editing, can be copied/pasted into the home page as a header.

For selected course elements (e.g., the syllabus), Bb allows instructors to create icons on the home page as well as rely on selectable features from the course menu.  A recommended best practice is to build redundancy into your course presentation by using course menu items in tandem with linked content icons on the Bb homepage.  This way, students are more likely to find what is most important for the first two weeks and beyond.

Initial as well as sustained presence are also realized through your “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page.  The questions asked in the FAQ should again be uniform across the on-line teaching faculty though the answers may be instructor and course specific.  A “best practice” is for all instructors to have an FAQ containing, at a minimum, answers to the following questions:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many courses and how much time should I devote to a distance/Internet-based learning course?

This is not an easy question to answer since students differ so much in terms of how busy their lives are and their own study habits.  However, it is safe to say that a distance/Internet-based learning course still covers the content and material and still requires the same amount of work that a professor would expect from students in a traditional in-class setting.  Therefore, I would want you to spend approximately 8-10 hours each week reading, reviewing your notes, working on assignments, and participating in discussions.  With this as a standard, you can decide how many courses your schedule will allow.

Is a distance/Internet-based learning course the right course for me?

This is also not an easy question to answer since students differ so much in terms of how they learn best.  I can confidently say that if you ARE NOT a self-starter, have difficulty getting things done without someone reminding or encouraging you along the way, and if you can't seem to stay on a schedule, then you DO NOT need to take a distance/Internet-based learning course.  Recognizing that the distance/Internet-based learning environment is not for you does not mean that there is something wrong with you.  On the contrary, there is something very much RIGHT WITH YOU to recognize your strengths and weaknesses and then play to your strengths.  That, simply put, is smart!

Profile of a Successful Online Learner

Learners tend to be more successful in the online environment when they are:

Involved and active in their courses
Highly motivated
Independent*
Organized*
Disciplined*
Industrious
Creative
Flexible*

While having each of these characteristics helps students in any environment be successful, these four are of particular importance in the online environment (Bradford, UNA On-line Nursing Program 2006).

How often should I log-in to check Blackboard (Bb)?

This is an easy question.  You need to log-in to Bb at least once every weekday.  I would recommend doing this during the evening hours as I make a habit of checking my e-mail in the mornings.

When can I expect to contact my professor either in person or by phone?

My office hours for the course as well as contact information are posted on the course syllabus.

When can I expect to contact my professor via e-mail and when can I expect a return e-mail?

You may e-mail me at any time but always be sure to use the e-mail link within our Bb course since it is important for me to keep e-mails from one class separated from those received from students in other classes.  I tend to get confused quite easily.  When you e-mail, you can anticipate a reply from me within 36 "workday" hours of your e-mail.  Please understand that by "workday" hours I mean that if you e-mail me on Monday, you can expect a reply within 36 hours.  If you e-mail me on Friday, the 36 hour reply period does not include weekends.

How do I evaluate my professor and my distance/Internet-based learning experience?

Distance learning classes are evaluated to assess the view of students regarding both the quality of instruction and the quality of the distance learning program as a whole.  Student input is solicited using a course evaluation form posted online.  Through your Pipeline e-mail account, you will be sent a notification which explains the process more thoroughly when evaluations are due.  The coordinator of distance learning, BJ Wilson, is responsible for collecting the data—and all evaluations are completely anonymous. For more information on the evaluation process, e-mail Ms. Wilson at bhwilson@una.edu or telephone (local) 765-4651, (toll free) 1-877-765-6110.

I make it a practice to link my students to the course evaluation before they take the final exam.  Although I do this, please understand that I in no way can ever find out how any student individually evaluated the course and me.  Your anonymity is absolutely protected.

I printed out my notes but certain graphs, tables or pictures will not print.  What should I do?

Printing out your professor's notes is an educational advantage unique to this generation of college students.  If printing notes is a problem you might want to check your browser settings and match those settings with the advice in Bb under "Check Browser".  "Check Browser" is located on the top right of your screen when you're in Bb.  Please call the UNA Computer Center at 256-765-7272 if your printing problems persist.

How do I know when my assignments are due or when my tests will be given?

I will be using the calendar feature in Bb extensively so it will be up to you to use this feature (i.e., check it every time you log on to the course).

How will I be tested?

Students will take tests by clicking on the defined icon in Bb.  The icon will be clearly identifiable by title (e.g., Exam 1).  Any short answer/essay questions that I give will involve you typing your response directly into the space provided in the on-line test during the testing period.  I submit your grade through Bb's "My Grades" feature.

Where my examinations involve multiple choice or true/false questions, students will be able to access one question at a time and will not be able to revisit questions or change answers once a question is read, answered, saved or otherwise submitted.  These types of examinations are also timed.  Students must submit their examination before time expires.  I generally give students about 1 minute to answer and submit their answer to multiple choice and true/false questions.  Students usually have about 60-70 minutes to complete an exam.

How do I submit my work?

You will submit much of your work through the Bb "Assignments" feature.  Your assignments may involve you preparing a PowerPoint presentation or a traditional word-processing document.  The latter documents must be sent to me as rtf files (many word-processor programs allow you to save work in these formats using their "Save as" feature).

What do I need to succeed?

Be serious as distance learning classes are not an "easy A!"

Be self-disciplined as it is up to you to budget your time and keep up with assignments. You should create—and stick to—a schedule.

Be self-reliant!  You should be able to solve problems and to research information but this does not mean that you have to go through an on-line course alone.  E-mail, call, come to the on-line office hour regularly or, if possible, visit with me!  Let me help you.  I can only help if you ask.

Be a careful reader.  Because classroom lectures are being replaced written words, you will need to be a careful and thoughtful reader.

Be computer savvy!  Students must be comfortable using computers and the Internet, including e-mail, attaching files to e-mails, chat rooms, web browsing, downloading, word processing, and saving files in rtf format.

Be willing to interact with your peers as well as me.

(revised:  12/15/2007)

Humanize the Impersonal

Goffman (1959, p. 190), in his classic book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life  noted "that when individuals come together for the purpose of interaction, each adheres to the part that has been cast for him within his team's routine, and each joins with his teammates in maintaining the appropriate mixture of formality and informality, of distance and intimacy, toward the members of the other team".  Formality of interaction between the instructor and student "teams" is often the prevailing norm at the beginning of each semester and one the instructor seeks to change by engaging the students and personalizing their in-class experience.  The traditional classroom offers many more opportunities for the instructor seeking to construct an open and dialogic academic environment than the on-line classroom but the on-line instructor does still have some tools.  Two "best practices" include development of an "About Me" page and use of the discussion board via an ice-breaker technique commonly called a "netwalk".

The "About Dr. -----" page is not constructed around your complete vitae, your latest grant or rant, and should not be specifically geared to any one class.  Think about your page as an opportunity to create a managed first impression of self.  Inserting a few hyperlinks around your presentation of self will inform the student a little more while also letting them know that they can visit sites on the Web while in Bb and, without panic, return to Bb.

By creating an ice-breaker "Netwalk" through use of the Bb discussion board feature you can quickly get everyone in the class to introduce themselves, interact with each other and you, and, most importantly, learn how to use an important course feature that may be a staple part of your set of semester assignments.  A "Netwalk" begins with you defining the goal which may be course specific (e.g., in my social problems course, I might want students to scan through the text and find a domestic or global social problem, describe it a little to the class, tell why they are interested in it and provide a few active hyperlinks to websites [govt., non-profits, think-tanks, academic programs] that describe or otherwise address the problem).  Again, I use my "Netwalk" to humanize the classroom environment.

With the "Netwalk", I always post first so as to give the students an example of what I'm looking for and to break that ice.  An example of my first posting is reproduced below.  You may be pleasantly surprised with how quickly the "Netwalk" brings the class together as many students will realize they're from the same town, graduated from the same high school, have the same major, equally despise the same college football team, or work within the same general occupation.  It is truly an effective strategy and important "best practice" for the first two weeks of the semester.

Create a Sample Test

A sample test represents another "best practice" that should find a place in your course during the first two weeks of the semester.  It can be organized around a number of very different goals:

• an opportunity to expose students to the Bb "Assessment" platform (e.g., how they access and start a test, save answers, submit and check their results in the gradebook)
   

• an opportunity to expose students to your own test-specific rules (e.g., do you present all the questions at once or allow students to skip questions and return to them later?)
   

• an opportunity to expose students to your type of test (e.g., matching, essay, true/false, multiple choice)
   

• an extra-credit quiz testing student's reading of the syllabus or FAQ page.
   

• a pre-test assessment of course-specific knowledge.

Creating a "low-stress" opportunity to expose students to a "high stress" course element reaps enormous benefits for the students, you and the course.

E-Mail

Another "best practice" for the first two weeks of class (actually, the first week), is to have students receive and send e-mails with attachments.  Without a doubt, students are becoming more comfortable with technology (perhaps more comfortable than their professors) but don't assume too much.  Within the first day or two of class, send every student an e-mail and require that they send one back with an attachment within a day or two.  The purpose here is four-fold:

• have the student check their e-mail and open an attached file.
   

• have the student reply to their e-mail and attach their own file.
   

• ensure that the student's attached file meets your requirements for submitted file types.
   

• develop and implement your strategy for efficiently organizing incoming and outgoing e-mails.

E-mail is an important tool in teaching the on-line course and all communications need to be stored in an organized manner for quick retrieval.  Mail incoming from your first outgoing message will enter your course e-mail system stamped with the student's name.  Immediately, create a folder for each student as those e-mails reach you and start saving student-specific e-mails (outgoing as well as incoming) into their respective folder.  E-mails sent to all students should go into your sent box so that if you want to view your history of general/mass e-mails you know where to go.  If you need to find a specific e-mail from or to a specific student, you'll know exactly what folder to visit.

This is a relatively simple, perhaps common-sense, strategy but we often overlook the common-sense until it is too late (e.g., should I have named my e-mail folder by the student's last name?).  So, begin the semester on a truly organized note and adopt this "best practice" or some other reasonable strategy.

Course Organization

What could be more frustrating than looking to acquire knowledge and finding a maze full of obstacles looking back at you?  A "best practice" for the first two weeks of class is to have already designed and implemented a course organizational strategy which leaves the instructor with the easier task of explaining it to students when the class begins.  A wonderful feature in Bb is the ability to create succinct descriptors for content by the homepage icons.  Hiding those icons until needed (later in the semester) is another good way to reduce visual clutter during the first few weeks of the semester and direct students to what is most important.

The view below illustrates the contents and their organization within one "Course Materials" folder.  There is no deviation in the expression or look of my "Course Materials" folders within a course and across courses.  This organized presentation becomes a predictable certainty for students and helps to draw them into the course.

Concluding Remarks