Creating a student-instructor feedback loop and acting in response shows students that their instructor, Dr. Dutcher, is listening.
Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course
“Liberal use of communication tools such as announcements, unit introductions, discussion forums, feedback, and generally “being there” frequently communicates to learners that you care about their learning, their questions, and their concerns” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 44). – December 31, 1969
Using a D2L Intelligent Agent (IA) lets Dr. Dutcher establish instructor presence when students log in for the first time.
Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course
“Liberal use of communication tools such as announcements, unit introductions, discussion forums, feedback, and generally “being there” frequently communicates to learners that you care about their learning, their questions, and their concerns” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 44). – December 31, 1969
Dr. Bahl is clear about how students are expected to support each other’s learning, specifically through editing and reviewing each other’s writing.
Best practice 3 Develop a set of explicit expectations for your learners and yourself as to how you will communicate and how much time students should be working on the course each week.
“Developing and communicating explicit expectations reduces uncertainty and encourages good time and learning management” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 48). – December 31, 1969
Dr. Gardner establishes discussion board norms through push alerts that promote students to continue the conversation.
Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course
“Liberal use of communication tools such as announcements, unit introductions, discussion forums, feedback, and generally “being there” frequently communicates to learners that you care about their learning, their questions, and their concerns” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 44). – December 31, 1969
Setting up a virtual space for students to work together helps Dr. Gardner establish a sense of class community.
Best Practice 4: Use a Variety of Large Group, Small Group, and Individual Work Experiences
“talking through problems with others, as in study groups, and other collaborative work, increases learning” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 50). – December 31, 1969
By combining automatic feedback with a tailored class email, Dr. Dutcher supports her students following a D2L survey.
Best Practice 6: Ask for Informal Feedback Early in the Term
“Early feedback surveys or informal discussions are effective in getting students to provide feedback on what is working well in a course and solicit suggestions and ideas on what might help them have a better course experience” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 52). – December 31, 1969
Dr. Howard takes steps to ensure her (many) students receive at least one piece of personalized feedback each week.
Best Practice 11: Assess as You Go by Gathering Evidences of Learning
“Applying this practice means we gather evidences of learning throughout the course. This relieves the end‐of‐course stress and burdens. Another stress‐reliever is also giving learners more choice in how they demonstrate Knowledge" (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 58). – December 31, 1969
To replace the end of the semester physical poster gallery, Dr. Gardner describes how she has students build on their problem-solving videos to allow student-to-student learning through a virtual gallery.
Best Practice 4: Use a Variety of Large Group, Small Group, and Individual Work Experiences
“Large groups: The now‐ubiquitous mobile and synchronous tools allow us to spontaneously plan large group activities such as expert visits and virtual conferences and do real‐time project planning, brainstorming, and presentations” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 51). – December 31, 1969
With undergraduates, 3 emails/week helps Dr. Dutcher’s students stay on top of assignments while establishing presence in the online class.
Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course
“Liberal use of communication tools such as announcements, unit introductions, discussion forums, feedback, and generally “being there” frequently communicates to learners that you care about their learning, their questions, and their concerns” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 44). – December 31, 1969
Consistently posting important information in multiple places reminds students of expectations and that their instructor, Dr. Dutcher, wants them to succeed.
Best Practice 1: Be Present at Your Course
“Liberal use of communication tools such as announcements, unit introductions, discussion forums, feedback, and generally “being there” frequently communicates to learners that you care about their learning, their questions, and their concerns” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2016, p. 44). – December 31, 1969
