The practice of virtual teaching: school leaders who want to teach an online college course need to be mindful of effective tricks

School Administrator, April, 2004 by William Brown, Philip M. Corkill

Teaching online courses presents new and unique experiences--especially for those of us who started as educators more than a quarter century ago.

Teaching a course where there is no face-to-face contact with the learner eliminates the unspoken language of nonverbal clues that teachers use to get a feel for their classrooms.

The instructor of a virtual class must be cognizant of the interactions with each learner and the wording of each message sent to those learners. Because the students are not sitting in the classroom, a simple joke that is shared may be interpreted in a completely different and unintended way by a learner working from home many states or even continents away. Instructors cannot see a raised hand asking a question that provides clarification of a topic.

As instructors of online university-level courses in the K-12 educational leadership program at Capella University, we have identified a variety of best-practice teaching techniques that are unique to the online classroom environment, while other practices are simply appropriate for teaching in any environment. Our suggestions for effective online teaching relate to curriculum, culture and instruction.

Curriculum Concerns

At Capella University, core faculty, as well as adjuncts, are contracted to develop curriculum and revise current courses. In preparing to teach an online course, the professor must be ready to address several key areas, some of which aren't major issues when teaching in a regular classroom. These considerations include the use of emotion, clarity of instruction, whole-class instructions, video and audio links, chat rooms, hands-on projects, assessing competencies and in-depth learning.

* Emotion. Current research on learning indicates that the brain learns when emotion is attached to what is being presented. So how does one infuse emotion into a virtual classroom?

When teaching an online course, associating an emotional issue with the question or material being taught provides better opportunities for the student to retain material. The emotional part of the brain is the first triggered when learning occurs. If emotions are accessed when teaching, the brain synapses process the information and commit it to memory.

For example, if the lesson involves teaching a group of teachers about school reform in various states, an effective tactic might be to associate the topic with the emotional issue of teacher tenure or performance-based salaries. These issues may elicit sensitive responses. They are passionate topics for most teachers and should generate involvement in the discussion. Alternatively, the instructor could launch a discussion about teachers who have lost their jobs due to school reform efforts.

* Clarity and organization. It is often difficult to clarify the concerns of learners in an online classroom. Therefore, the curriculum must be well-organized and follow a logical progression.

In an asynchronous environment where learners log on at different times, the curriculum must be written clearly and well-organized. It is much different from the classroom where the instructor can move from item to item and then return back to the primary topic.

In addition, the online course sequence must be related to past experiences and to the current curriculum content. In a Capella course on leadership practices, case studies are drawn from real situations. One such case study involves a student and outstanding athlete who has plagiarized her final project for a high school course. The dilemma facing the administrator involved a revocation of the student's college scholarship offer if she received a failing grade.

Another example involves a superintendent preparing a PowerPoint presentation for his board members explaining special education law. The board members want to know why they cannot automatically expel a special education student who has struck one of the high school teachers. The board members are livid and think the superintendent is just being too soft.

Students must recognize the relationships between topics and experiences. A graphic organizer could be used to help arrange the materials into connected webs to illustrate the relationships. Lastly, a schedule should be included in the course instructions to give students a timeline for completing assignments.

* Class instructions. As in any course, the instructions and expectations for the class should be posted clearly. Students should be encouraged to seek clarification whenever necessary. Students should review the instructions for due dates, writing style, grading rubrics, project details and other key information. These expectations should be clearly written.

An online instructor must emphasize the importance of not beginning the course until the student fully understands the expectations. A negative experience that recently occurred in a Capella course involved a student who submitted a course project he also had submitted in another course. He did not believe he had done anything wrong and the course instructions did not address the expectation that all coursework should be newly developed for the class.