Small Teaching Online
Think you might want to read this book?
Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby and James Lang looks at the small teaching methods that can be implemented in online classes to have a large impact. While largely focused on higher education, Small Teaching Online provides ideas and strategies for delivery content and enhanced learning in an online format that can be applied to all levels. Constant changes in our world makes becoming familiar with online teaching practices an imperative for all educators and this book does just that!
What Would Socrates Ask?
What do you want your students to achieve?
How will you know you have arrived as a competent online teacher?
How can you communicate purpose to your students?
What aspects of face-to-face learning can be included in an online environment?
How can you be present in the online environment?
What aspects of instruction are specific to the online environment?
What choices do your students have in their online learning?
Research
Online class videos should be no longer than six minutes
Only use graphics that substantively connect to what you are trying to teach
Concepts
Backward Design
When you begin to teach any course, think about the end first.
Where do we want to go?
How do we know if we have arrived?
What will we need to help us get there?
Every aspect of a course should align with and support the learning objectives
Clear Rationale
Explain why you do things (the purpose) to your students
Create assignment instructions that clearly provide a purpose for the assignment as well as clear directions on how to successfully complete the assignment.
Here’s what I want you to do, Here’s why I want you to do it, Here’s how to do it
Reflection on learning is important
Build in regular opportunities to reflect
When reflecting online, don’t require students to reply to everyone’s post, instead, require original and reply posts
Point students back to the core objectives
Chunking
Break down difficult tasks into more manageable steps (build into the assessment)
Provide process-oriented feedback
Help students build confidence as they complete steps
Scaffolding
Offer frequent opportunities for students to succeed in low-stakes tasks they they work toward more complex/high-stakes ones
Develop objectives first and then determine which technology will support you and your students
Creating videos
Students engage with professionally created videos less than genuine ones.
Screen-cast-o-matic
Loom
Create videos that can be used each semester/year
Avoid specific dates/etc.
Feedback
Students crave feedback
Feedback should help students get better
Connections
Make connections between students and course content
Students take more ownership when they find the tasks relevant
Activate prior knowledge
Concept maps
Provide choice
Quotes from the author
“Students who find an assessment more meaningful are more likely to work hard on that assessment, learn from it, and complete it successfully.”
“Both in the classroom and online, our technology should solve teaching problems or open new possibilities for teaching excellence.”
Quotes from others
“...unsuccessful attempts to solve a problem encourage deep processing of the answer when it is later supplied.” - Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel
“...when students are provided with an organizational structure in which to fit new knowledge, they learn more effectively and efficiently than when they are left to deduce this conceptual structure for themselves.” - Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Normal
Implement tomorrow?
Three Takeaways Assignment
Ask students to think about the three most important things they have learned (that day, that week, the semester, etc.).
Ask them how they will continue to develop that learning and apply it to future learning opportunities.
Gateways to further learning
Referenced books with the potential to impact leading and learning in education
The applicability of this book to education is ….
Resources
