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Educator's Voice

Volume 4, Issue 7
July 9, 2003

The Most Daunting Tasks…

While attending a conference/potential teacher training in Bloomington, IL, for IVHS (Illinois Virtual High School), it was repeatedly reinforced just how much other stuff has to be dealt with-not just teaching a course. Not even just developing and teaching a course (which is a huge task, in and of itself). This stuff is pervasive whether you're in higher education or K-12. The administrative side of teaching is immense. This is true, of course, in the traditional classroom as well as online; but, when a virtual high school is brought together and/or a new university program goes online, the administrative, logistical elements that must be dealt with (or at least thought of) consume a great deal of time.

When I was contemplating going for my Ph.D., I thought of all my professors who spent the majority of their time researching and spinning in that endless "publish or perish" cycle. They spent so much time researching that their courses were the last thing they thought about. That's not the case for all my professors, of course, but there were enough of them that it made me think twice about wanting to become a full-blown professor. Then, I thought seriously about getting certified to teach high school. I worked as a TA in a charter school for about six months. I saw that these teachers came in at about seven in the morning and left at about seven at night. In between, they taught a few classes, but at the end of the day, their job consisted of budget and disciplinary forms and an endless stream of "administrative" meetings. Neither of these roles attracted me much. I wanted to teach. I didn't want to deal with all that other stuff that seemed to go along with it. Of course, there are administrative tasks that inevitably go with education; that's just the way it goes. There seem to be some areas of education, though, where it's worse/more time-consuming than others.

Online programs aren't immune; in fact, the administrative tasks that have to be dealt with in a new program, in particular, are seemingly infinite. Our administrative staffs need to be patted on the back now and again--they have a lot on their plates. As instructors, though, making the leap (perhaps for the first time) from the brick and mortar to cyber classes, we have much to think about as well. And, there are many tasks that need to be taken care of long before the first cyber student sets "foot" in your class.

In listening to some of the bits and pieces (how many times can I say, "stuff" ?) from the IVHS teachers, I was reminded just how much instructors have to take into consideration: parent information, privacy policies, state curriculum, internal policies, rubrics and spreadsheets, progress and attendance reports, etc. Some of these pieces apply only to K-12, and some only to higher education; many are applicable to both areas.

Either way, policies and procedures set forth by our administration need to be understood and taken into consideration, and, to the extent that's possible, implemented into our courses ahead of time.

Some of the more administrative tasks are also teaching strategies, though. Your syllabus is a good example of this. You want to layout not only your expectations for students, but your school policies as well: attendance, progress reports, grading rubrics, and state curriculum requirements (where applicable, of course). You may even provide students with their own rubric spreadsheet.

You've probably heard this before, too (definitely, if you've taught online once or twice): in an online course, you for sure need to let your students know what they can expect from you. That is, let them know your virtual, or in-person office hours and how that will operate in the online forum, how and when you want to receive and reply to email-those sorts of things… .

Again, these tasks blur the line between administrative and teaching, but they're important to keep in mind.

Beyond this, and purely for personal (administrative) uses, you may go further and keep spreadsheets for students in a folder on your desktop or in Document Sharing (don't "share" it with the class, and it's there, for your personal use); for K-12, you may want to make a sheet of parent and student contacts for each of your courses; you may want to keep handy rubrics and curriculum and state standards.

Perhaps one of the most daunting tasks for first-time online teachers is setting up your online Gradebook. Setting up items and points is time-consuming and can be confusing. This is essential, though, I believe, to do well before class starts. If it's set up with some rhyme and reason, it will then lower the time you spend in actually recording and communicating students' grades. Once you set up your Gradebook, too, this set up can be moved from one term to the next; then you can make minor tweaks and modifications as needed, which isn't nearly as time-consuming.

In the end, I guess what I'm saying (in this round-about, last minute, sort of stream-of- consciousness piece) is that there will always be those administrative, set-up activities in any classroom. Some of these are implementing school policy; some are preparing the course itself, so you have to worry about it less when the course is actually underway. All of these aspects are important in their own way, and there are innovative ways to prepare you and your class that can minimize the time, and sometimes pain, set aside for this stuff.

       --Errin Klein, M.A.

TIP

Tool Time for eCollege^SM Users…

By now, some of you have probably noticed that there is a new addition to the system! It's technically called an enhancement, and it was designed to make things more intuitive and easier. It's also based on faculty comments and suggestions. It's called the Toolbox.

Where is the Toolbox?
You will find the Toolbox on any content item in the course.

What does the Toolbox contain?

• Edit Schedule - This is also true in the Exam Manager!
• Create/Delete Dropbox Basket - This is NO LONGER an individual link on individual pages
• Move Content Item - This will move AND reorder Content Items
• Delete Content Item - As before, this only removes the item from the unit. Users will still have to go to a Unit Home and go to "Add New Content Item" to remove the item from the course or rename it all together
• Hide Content Item - You can now hide an item while working on it or until you wish students to see it
• Lock Topics - This option is only available on a Threaded Discussion Content Item and makes threads "Read-only"
• Make Responses Editable - This option allows students to edit their postings and is also only available on Threaded Discussion pages - as well, under Course Admin, instructors can set ALL of their threads universally

We hope you will enjoy the enhancement. Good luck and good teaching!

       --Jeff D. Borden, M.A.