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Educator's Voice

Volume 7, Issue 1
January 11, 2006

Creating A Successful Online Environment: From Your Classroom to Your Online Course

In the average higher education classroom, the only tools an instructor needs to succeed are a whiteboard, an ample supply of markers (preferably colored), a great lesson plan and, most important, passion for the subject matter being taught. In the online learning environment it may appear that some of these essential instructional elements are missing, leaving instructors with questions as to how best to teach their class and effectively reach their online students. At times, instructors new to the online environment may feel adrift. However, in the online classroom, instructors don't have to abandon the essentials of good teaching. They just have to redefine them to meet the contingencies of the new situation. There are clear ways to establish a "welcoming environment" and a positive "instructor presence" that reach and motivate online students. The "human factor" is not missing online, it merely appears in a different guise.

Many instructors who are new to the environment of online education have legitimate concerns about the loss of face-to-face classroom interaction and its positive impact on student motivation and achievement. Similarly, many students entering the online course environment are anxious and in need of guidance and a supportive instructor presence. The good news is that there are numerous options to address both instructor and student concerns.

Establishing Your Welcoming Environment

At eCollege, we believe that it is highly beneficial, if not absolutely essential, for instructors of online courses to "reach out" and communicate with their online students early and often. To that end, we suggest you consider the following strategies for engaging your students and establishing a "welcoming learning environment" as you get your course underway.

Send a "Welcome" E-mail
Before the course starts, send an e-mail introducing yourself, welcoming students to the course, providing tips for accessing the course and getting started, and informing students how to access the Help Desk for technical issues. It is also a good idea to suggest that students complete the Student Orientation Tutorial—a tool designed to help ensure students succeed in the online environment. Finally, your e-mail might also provide your students with alternate methods for reaching you in case of an "emergency," such as your office phone number or an alternate e-mail address. This initial e-mail helps to establish the desired Instructor presence for your course.

Present a Welcoming Course Home Page
Show your students a home page that sends the message "come in and let's learn together." First, make sure that the course title is prominently displayed so students will see instantly that they have arrived at the correct course. Also, provide a visual guidepost to the course, an attractive image that relates in some way to the course content. Your image can be a photo, graph or diagram, an equation, or a piece of clip art— static or animated. You're only limited by your imagination. Next, include an overview/introductory paragraph that describes what the course is all about and why students should both enjoy and benefit from it. You could think of this paragraph as a "public relations or marketing" version of the course description in the catalog or syllabus. In conclusion, provide a "guidance" sentence or two that tells students how to proceed. For example: "Carefully read the Welcome Announcement at the top of the page and review the Syllabus before beginning work on the first unit of the course." This learner-friendly home page can go a long way toward alleviating student fears of the new learning environment.

Provide a Welcome Announcement
In an announcement on the course home page, post a "Welcome" message that greets the students, explains how to get started in the course, and reminds them how to get help. For example, in the "getting started" category, tell students (again) to review the Syllabus, ask them to introduce themselves in an "Introductions" threaded discussion. Tell them about your online Office, where they can ask course-related questions and receive your answers, and remind them to contact the Help Desk if their questions are technical in nature. As noted below, we believe it is a good idea to have threaded discussion areas ("Introductions" and "Office") under Course Home.

Design a Usable Syllabus
The Course Syllabus is a required element for most institutions, while also meeting the demands of accrediting agencies. That said, the Syllabus can be a tool that provides guidance and support for students. There are, of course, various standard items in the average Syllabus. At a minimum, make sure your Syllabus:

Establish a Class Lounge
Under Course Home, consider creating an informal threaded discussion that functions similarly to the student union on campus. This site allows students to connect on a social level and helps expand the desirable online learning community. Here, students can ask each other questions, discuss the course assignments or discuss items of common interest that fall outside of the course. This is a student area designed for their use, though the instructor may choose to monitor it for compliance with institution policies regarding online communication behavior and etiquette.

Establishing Your Instructor Presence
We also believe that it is imperative that instructors establish an effective online presence, or instructor "immediacy." To that end, we suggest you consider the following strategies for communicating to your students that you are present and supportive.

Introduce Yourself in the Syllabus
As the instructor, it is a good idea to provide a biographical statement and photo of yourself in the Syllabus. The biography should, of course, identify your academic credentials and instructional background. To give the students an idea of who you are as a person, add some personal information such as hobbies and interests outside of academia. This information lets students know that there is a real human being facilitating their online course. The instructor introduction also contributes to the establishment of the online learning community.

Encourage Student Introductions
Under Course Home, create an Introductions discussion where students can introduce themselves to their fellow learners and to their instructor. This activity also contributes to the growth of the online learning community. Be sure to provide some guidance, such as "Tell us something about yourself: What is your major field of study? What is your career goal? What do you like to do in your spare time?" While this area contributes to the welcoming course environment, it also establishes instructor presence, so you'll want to respond to every student's introduction.

Establish an Office
Under Course Home, create an Office threaded discussion, where students can post course-related questions and you can provide answers. Be sure to let students know how often you check your Office and respond to student questions. You may want to remind students to contact the Help Desk for technical questions. You might also want to let students know that sending you an e-mail is acceptable if they have a personal issue to discuss with you. The Office accomplishes at least two things: it provides students with a means to contact the instructor with questions and it reduces the instructor e-mail load by providing an alternate means for students to pose questions within the course. This Office also tells students that their Instructor is available and accessible on a regular basis. This area alone will help ease some students' fears.

Provide Constructive Feedback
Research indicates that the online courses receiving the "best" student evaluations are those with strong Instructor presence and constructive feedback provided in a timely fashion. To that end, specify in your syllabus the time frame within which you will review, grade and provide constructive feedback on assignments and assessments. In feedback, be sure to provide both positive comments and constructive suggestions for improvement. Taking these steps will help you establish an environment that students will perceive as "fair."

Conclusion
By completing these easily accomplished actions, you will establish a welcoming learning environment for your online course and demonstrate a positive Instructor presence that motivates students to be successful. As you see, the "human factor" can be introduced into your classroom in a different, but effective, guise. Good luck and good teaching!

       —Ken Switzer, Ph.D.

TIP

Uploading PowerPoint Files

If you have tried to upload a PowerPoint presentation into an MS PowerPoint-type content item in your course and experienced issues, try this procedure:

  1. Open the file in PowerPoint.
  2. Click File, then Save as…
  3. Rename the file and choose PowerPoint 95 as the file type, then click Save.
  4. Close PowerPoint.
  5. Reopen the new file in PowerPoint.
  6. Click File, then Save as…
  7. Choose Presentation as the file type, then click Save.
  8. Close PowerPoint.
  9. Upload the new file.

It may seem tedious, but this process works 99 percent of the time. However, none of these steps can be skipped, I'm afraid. The problem lies in the fact that Microsoft's Office Document Converter (ODC), which is the tool used to translate the PowerPoint presentations into HTML, does not accept many of the upgrades that Microsoft itself has made to PowerPoint over the years.

You can check to see if a .ppt will upload just by clicking File and Save as Web Page. If you receive an error message, it most likely will not go through the ODC. That's when the steps above will be helpful to you!

       —Paul Silvey