What the Best Online Teachers Should Do - 0 views
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we explore methods of fostering student engagement, stimulating intellectual development, and building rapport with students when teaching online
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What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain (2004) identified a set of core characteristics of exemplary college teachers
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The FLC was supported by funds provided by the Academic Affairs Division, and its members received a stipend of $500 for their participation.
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arguments and evidence are more important than facts and figures
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communicating clear goals and expectations
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incorporating multiple active learning opportunities
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providing frequent, prompt, and constructive feedback
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creating teacher support resources
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an exploratory study of the practices of exemplary online teachers, Lewis and Abdul-Hamid (2006)
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efforts to provide constructive and individualized feedback to students
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facilitating student interaction
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paying attention to how a course is organized and how teacher presence is enhanced
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involvement and learning
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most of the literature deals with the “science” of online teaching rather than the “art” of online teaching. In this paper, we attempt to remedy this state of affairs
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Faculty Learning Community
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The program typically includes a curriculum about enhancing teaching and learning with regularly-scheduled meetings and activities that provide participants with opportunities pertaining to the FLC’s major focus. An important component of an FLC is an emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning
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eLearning Pedagogy FLC
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Its general goal was to increase faculty interest in learning and teaching with instructional technologies
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Peers are viewed as important in the learning process by creating an environment where “students can reason together and challenge each other” (p. 53) and grapple with the content together while building a sense of community
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participants attended monthly meetings that included teaching and learning activities, development and training opportunities, and community building
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participants read the literature on the scholarship of teaching and designed individual projects that allowed the assessment and evaluation of their instructional changes, suitable for presentation or publication in a professional journal
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At the start of our FLC, we read Bain’s book, with the goal of discussing it in terms of its implications for teaching online
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during these discussions, each FLC member listed out the major and most interesting points from Bain’s book
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understanding is more important than remembering
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we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of what the best teachers studied by Bain did in terms of online teaching
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creating effective student interactions with faculty, peers, and content
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fostering student engagement
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s timulating intellectual development
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confronting intriguing, beautiful or important problems, authentic tasks that will challenge [students] to grapple with ideas, rethink assumptions and examine mental models of reality
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building rapport with students
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behaviors such as demonstrating and encouraging trust and potential in students, flexibility, self-directed learning, communicating learning and success intentions to students, and conveying realistic goals and expectations.
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Fostering Student Engagement
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foster engagement through effective student interactions with faculty, peers, and content
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see the potential in every student, demonstrate a strong trust in their students, encourage them to be reflective and candid, and foster intrinsic motivation moving students toward learning goals
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The best teachers want students to learn, regularly assess their efforts and make adjustments as needed, and accommodate diversity with sensitivity to student needs and issues
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we summarized the major categories of behaviors shown by Bain’s best teachers that are most applicable to online teaching and learning
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Class content – through its design, lectures, discussions, and assignments – supports the student learning objectives
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Accordingly, the best teachers use meaningful examples, stimulating assignments, and thought provoking questions to motivate students to know more about their discipline
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creating a community of learners where the quantity and quality of interactions with peers and faculty foster student engagement
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Student-to-faculty interaction is considered paramount in fostering student engagement
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student-to-student interaction is equally important as the quality and quantity of exchanges are predictors of success
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students should “feel a personal and emotional connection to the subject, their professor, and their peers
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In the online environment, lecture need not and should not be the primary teaching strategy because it leads to learner isolation and attrition
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The most important role of the teacher is to ensure a high level of interaction and participation
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This is achieved by means of greater student-to-faculty contact, participation in class discussions, and a more reflective learning style
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it is imperative that students be active, not passive, to create a true learning environment
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An account of a professional development project based on exemplary teacher best practices.