I can say many wonderful things about the English department at Emory; I’ve taken inspiring courses with brilliant professors, I’ve had many wonderful research and conference experiences and I’ve been able to work with the foremost scholars in my research fields. However, I received very little training in pedagogy in my department. 95% of what I have learned about teaching I had to teach myself, reinventing the wheel, researching on my own, talking with my peers, and finding a faculty mentor in a different department. Now that I’m about to graduate with a PhD, and I’m now employed full-time in an academic support, teaching and faculty development position, I’ve come to realize that my actual training has very little to do with what I’m actually going to be doing with my degree in my career. Online course instruction–whether I am teaching and developing courses, or supporting other faculty who are doing it–is a crucial part of this new career path. And this summer, I will be teaching an online summer course for students who are taking internships–there will be 40 students, most of whom will be international.

One of my my major concerns about teaching online is related to what I believe to be my best pedagogical strength: I am an excellent facilitator of discussion and F2F classroom dynamics. To be perfectly honest, I’ve been able to rely on that strength to carry me through on days when I’m underprepared. I know that this skill can’t translate directly (most of the time) into this medium, so I am really thinking about the ways I can leverage it, or at least bring some aspects of it into my online teaching.

Reading everyone’s posts sparked a question, that I would be really interested to hear other’s thoughts about.

For many of us, there was a teacher or two who impacted us in a profound way. This is that class and teacher we remember our whole lives and may be what drove us to become lifelong learners. Do you think such a situation will happen in an online environment? Do you think that level of bonding can occur between student and teacher?

Joseph Drasin

As an educator, I realize that to stay relevant in my field it is imperative that I am knowledgeable about online learning. With the increase in people acquiring bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees without ever having to step into a classroom I believe the academy, and the professors within it, must change the way we think about teaching and learning. Also, as a teacher educator (I teach teachers how to teach children) I think that learning these skills will benefit the teachers that I teach; thus benefiting the students that they teach. I am not sure if I will ever be where Leah is and be able to teach others how to use this technology, but I am excited to know that it is available to assist in the learning process.

In reading the article by Ragan and Tehegeen (2003) I was surprised, and pleased, to learn that much of their recommended strategies for workload management in the online environment were the same strategies that I suggest for beginning teachers. For example, they found some of the most effective strategies were “identifying and acquiring existing learning resources, establishing and distributing reusable templates, providing the course author with a sample online course, providing students with specific instruction for assignments, applying project planning and management methods to the course development process, etc…” In teaching future educators, I advise them of the same exact things. First year teachers are told to “beg, borrow, and steal; don’t reinvent the wheel” and use lessons that are already created and available online or through other resources. We also encourage the use of rubrics as they provide a manageable way to grade lots of assignments.

Admittedly, the article by Van de Vorde and Pogue (2012) really resonated with me. I have somehow allowed myself to believe that online teaching results in increased workload for the teacher. My best friend attends Devry, a popular online university, and it seems to me that she actually does more work (I use this word “work” to mean labor) than the students who attend classes I teach at Emory. I wonder if the professor, who is on the other side of her work, is working that hard, or that much, as well. I am just not so sure. Still, the world of online teaching is alluring and is in many ways quite sexy. I am drawn to the idea that I can teach classes and travel abroad, or simply be out of town visiting my mother. Does it get any better than that?

My experience with VoiceThread was odd. I was uncomfortable and I felt clumsy. I hope it didn’t sound that way to the people who listened to my VoiceThread. I felt it was an anomalous, one-sided, way to have a conversation and, because I had not yet seen the faces or heard the voices of the other people in the class, I had no idea who I was talking too. I’m not Catholic, but I imagined that is how I might feel in the confessional booth…who is on the other side of the wall and what are they thinking about what I am saying? I am recognizing the need for Face-time, particularly in conversations with new folks who have not been introduced to me in any other way.

My motivation to want to teach in an online classroom is threefold. First, as many have already noted, online teaching is an expanding sector of academia, and so I would like to be equipped to participate in that in a constructive way (and not just because the times dictate I have to!) Secondly, in my field of theological education, the student body in the US is decreasing, while the demand for quality theological training is increasing to the South and East. While some face to face interaction is valuable, I believe, particularly in the training of clergy, enabling students to complete the majority of a degree online increases the availability of this knowledge. Finally, I would like to be proactive in exploring the possibilities of online teaching as a young scholar, instead of being forced to “learn a new language” when my department decides to move classes from face to face to online platforms. I hope that this “pre-thought” will be beneficial to my future students.

As deNoyelles et al (2014) note, teaching presence is crucial to a successful online classroom experience. In my previous roles where a great deal of communication took place in asynchronous communication environments (online discussions; email; etc.), communication has generally been successful and maintained a consistent relationship between teacher and student. This was always balanced, however, by in person interaction, whether in the lecture hall or in the types of spontaneous interactions that can take place when you share a campus space. This translates into my area of concern, shared by many, that it is difficult to communicate the engagement with and excitement for the subject matter that proves so beneficial in my own teaching. Online classrooms require that the student generate the enthusiasm for the material themselves, whereas in the classroom, the shared focused space can serve to make the instructor’s enthusiasm contagious. This is also an issue with the required responses necessary to gauge student participation. In a classroom setting, you can ask a question if you have one! In online classrooms you are often required to continually respond in several ways. Some students benefit from this, while this translates for some into “busy work.”

One way that I am hoping to address the above concerns is through exposure to technologies that best mirror the in person learning experience. Spaces such as voice thread allow for video and audio communication, while adobe connect can mimic (in some cases, and barring the always present technological difficulties) a conversational space. Both of these are spaces where the instructor can model engagement and create the kind of infectious enthusiasm that should happen in a class! In relation to the second concern, several of our readings have referenced the importance of transparency in communicating the learning objectives associated with activities. This might help to reduce the student’s sense of the more frequent small assignments as “busy work.”

I am interested in creating online material to provide learners with more flexibility, give me the opportunity to flip my classroom, and finally to consider my audience beyond the US.  Here at Emory, many of the learners who attend ELSP are also pursuing their PhD or are research employees.  It would benefit them greatly to have certain activities or whole courses online so they do not have to travel to attend class.  Additionally, I would like to spend less time teaching certain grammar or organizational points and more time practicing and using them when we have time together. I believe those focused lectures could exist online with ease.  Finally, it cannot be ignored that much of my population is not here in the US.  I would like to reach learners all over the globe and assist them with academic English.

I think there are a few areas that I can perform well taking my experiences into consideration. In Van de Vord and Pogue (2012) instructors reported feeling surprised at the amount of time needed to deliver student feedback within the online environment.  For me, this is the norm. Within my field instructors to provide focused individual feedback on almost every speaking and writing event.   Each learner will experience variations in their language development, and as the instructor we must respond in relation to the language objectives set forth in that particular task. Although we do not fix all the grammar errors, as you might imagine, we may spend an hour on one paper addressing organization, word choice, tone, and clarity.

An additional instructor concern, illustrated in Lin and Dyer (2012), addressed student survival and learning capacity within the online environment.  Understandably this thought has crossed our minds as we experience our own learning curve within this course.  Interestingly enough, we are experiencing firsthand the solution proposed in Lin and Dyer (2012) where the online instructor is omnisciently present though the “Ask the Instructor” discussion forum. As learners we feel assured and supported though this simple feature. Other factors such as the video tutorials and exploratory phase of the curriculum allowed us to smoothly move into the online learning space. Personally, I hope to pull from my skills in scaffolding information to achieve a similar structured environment where students are successful.

I also see opportunities to create dynamic experiences though Content Based Instruction.  This method of creating curriculum has been in the ESL field for a number of years. At its core, curriculum is developed so language learning is facilitated through an extended topic.  It would be useful to create a content based course focused on technology. This would provide the framework to address some of the technical needs of the students and give rise to simulating topics as the course progressed.

An area of concern for me revolves on my reliance to spontaneously address misunderstandings. Although I could articulate my appreciation for tutorial videos and discussion forms above as a learner, I still feel concern as an instructor.  Lin and Dyer (2012) illustrate this reality when describing the role instructor’s play beyond simply delivering content. This general description rings true when I reflect on how aspects of non-verbal feedback, empathetic movement, and paralinguistic sounds ( i.e. the verbal sounds or tones we add to convey meaning) pay a role in a successful language learning classroom. This is in addition to the overwhelming literature on the importance of social interaction when learning a new language.  Solutions for this may include heavy use of tools like Voicethread and Adobeconnect.  Google hangouts might also be useful tool as students could see when other learners were around so they could work together.  I can also imagine the a chat function being very useful with lots of positive feedback from the instructor on a regular basis.

Lin H, Dyer K, Guo Y. (2012) Exploring online teaching: A three-year composite journal of concerns and strategies from online instructors. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 15(3).

Van de Vord R, Pogue K. (2012). Teaching time investment: Does online really take more time than face-to-face?. International Review of Research on Open And Distance Learning. 13(3). 132-146.

My motivation for online teaching is largely one of practicality. As noted in the Lin and Dyer (2012) as well as the Van de Vord and Pogue (2012) piece, online learning is expanding, and this is especially true for adult learners. Since most of my teaching is to professionals and academic adult learners, I need to be where my audience is. As I mentioned in the VT thread last week, I spent the fall taking a course in pedagogy vs. andragogy, and it really was fascinating. Many of the concepts in that class are applicable here. If you’ve not read any of his work, and have any interest in adult learning, I high recommend reading some of Lindeman’s (1944; 1945) work.

What I think has made and will hopefully continue to make, me successful at online teaching is being able to engage my students in a manner which bridges their academic and practical interest. I do this by expressing my passion for the subject, the practical value of the subject matter, and why they have a vested interest in engaging in the topic. I was very drawn to Fink’s (2003) taxonomy (though he does not like that word) in which the driver of a teacher is not simply to impart knowledge, but to create a desire in the students to continue learning about the topic after the course. If you’ve not read his book Creating Significant Learning Experiences, I recommend it.

This drive for purpose becomes even more important in the online environment which the students tends to be more self-motivated and self-guided. Fortunately for me, the subjects I teach professionally and in the classroom tend to be ones which lend themselves to this. Be it leadership, organizational change, organizational development, being able to show students how these are more complex social and psychological dynamics, but also ones which can greatly help them understand their workplace, relationships, and themselves. I truly believe that the role of a managers and leaders is a fiduciary one, and so I have a strong desire to impart these concepts on my students, and I think they pick up on that.

One of the areas of concern for me is not the time factor, which dominated the readings, but rather how to maintain this level of engagement and passion which one can establish more easily face-to-face. I think the VT posts we did helps some with this, but as I mentioned, I don’t think this is necessarily sustainable as a primary means of collaboration. In addition, the asynchronous nature removes some ability to effectively work together and synthesize new ideas. As an instructor I need to be much keener at picking up on queues of student engagement, be it the frequency or verbosity of their posts or other means. This is something I would really like to hear about from others.

While writing this, I starting thinking about the concept of an online classroom, but in a more permanent sense to reflect the brick-and-mortar classroom. I think it’s great that we have a once a week meeting to meet “face-to-face”(ish) J However, I’ve thought about extending this to having a permanent open A/V conference space where students can go at any time and meet up. Almost like a lounge in the dorm, they can hang out there while they work and other students may be there and collaboration may serendipitously occur.

Another challenge (I know you said one) has plagued every online class I’ve taken, and that is one of organization. I’m not sure if it is a reflection of the software quality, but in every class I’ve taken it’s been an effort to be aware of all the activities and assignments. Some classes have almost felt like a treasure hunt to make sure there isn’t some important note in some hidden corner of the virtual classroom.

Joseph Drasin

Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lin H, Dyer K, Guo Y. (2012) Exploring online teaching: A three-year composite journal of concerns and strategies from online instructors. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 15(3).

Lindeman, E. C. (1945). The sociology of adult education. Journal of Educational Sociology, 19(1), 4-13.

Lindeman, E. C. (1944). New Needs for Adult Education. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 115.

Van de Vord R, Pogue K. (2012). Teaching time investment: Does online really take more time than face-to-face?. International Review of Research on Open And Distance Learning. 13(3). 132-146.

I’m afraid that given my lack of experience, my post will not be as long or well-researched as Daniel’s!  Regardless, I think my primary motivation to teach in an online classroom is the flexibility to learn anywhere, anytime.  I’m very interested in the idea of a flipped classroom; given that accounting (especially introductory accounting) tends to not be very discussion-based, it would be nice to have the ability to post lectures for students to watch at whatever time is most convenient for them and to use the normal in-class time to work on problems and answer questions.  In addition, students’ ability to engage in asynchronous questions/answers via online forums would allow for students to answer other students’ questions.  And, of course, there’s the advantage that lectures may not need to be updated from semester to semester, saving preparation time as well.

Given what I mentioned, I think that these methods will help students to learn because it allows for more interactivity between the students and the content (e.g. quizzes during or after the lectures, more sophisticated ways to interact with visuals than simple PowerPoint presentations).  Linking the course content to real-world content would also help make some of the topics we cover more relevant and timely.

The biggest challenge that I see with online teaching is ensuring that students do not collaborate or cheat on assessments, given that there is obviously no way to observe them while they are doing these.  Having the quizzes draw from a pool of questions and/or having more assessments in the classroom might reduce this problem, but it may reduce the hoped-for effectiveness of online assessments.