This content was published: February 4, 2019. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
The “Good Things List”
Posted by Ann Cary
As an online faculty mentor, I come across a lot of great course designs. I see things that make me laugh—like a faculty member’s daily email availability framed as “2-80 times per day.” I see things that make me utterly impressed in their simplistic novelty, like instructor-created videos that literally walk a student through the course. I see many things I wish I’d thought of myself (and soon implement!) like the use of Google docs/spreadsheets to make rote tasks more efficient. I see all these things, and many more, that make me excited to think about the learning experience students will have in these courses.
But you know what I can’t really see? And always wonder about? What’s it really like to be in this class? What particular magic does this specific instructor’s facilitation skill add to make this course come alive?
You can sometimes catch a glimpse of these particular facilitation skills in a course’s design, but unless you’re an actual student, it’s hard to really see them. If you ask your colleagues, or catch a webinar or recent article, and listen closely though, you can slowly piece them together. If you try to incorporate every good idea though, you’ll likely end up with something that’s hard to sustain, or just doesn’t work well. So it’s key to pick and choose the ones that work best for you.
For a while, my own list of “best facilitation practices” was just something I kept in my head. These were all things I’d tried, implemented, and found effective, but that weren’t necessarily natural or habituated yet. And I realized that some terms the timing of other commitments (SAC meetings on a specific Friday, holidays, sick kids, etc.) were making these fall off my radar. So I wrote them down, and named them my “Good Things List.” Writing them down was critical—as it helped me identify and commit to the most important ones that I needed to remember to do. So without anything further, I give you my current (yet ever-evolving) “Good Things List”:
- Open the course one week before the term starts. Email students a welcome email, with information on the textbook and a statement about the drop deadline.
- Email during the first couple of days reminding students that the prerequisite quiz is a guide for review, not something to scare them away.
- Email a reminder about the drop without penalty deadline the Thursday/Friday before that deadline.
- Email anyone who doesn’t submit the first worksheet, asking if there’s anything you can do to help them stay on track. Offer an (already-input) two-day extension.
- Email anyone who gets below passing on the first worksheet (within a day of grading it), asking to start a conversation about how you can support them.
- Repeat this after the second worksheet.
- Scan and email exams back to students within one week.
Over time, I know that some of these things will become habits, others will simply change, and new things (but not too many!) will be added to the list.
Do you have facilitation secrets to share—your own version of a “Good Things List?” Add them below and continue the conversation.
My absolute must-do is to email students 3 times before the beginning of the term with the full syllabus, and a short video of me describing the class. I think of it as informed consent. If the class is not a good fit, they can still find another class, and we all have a much better time throughout the term.
Like Ann and Jimena, I send out an email a week before the course begins outlining the core requirements of the course and attaching a syllabus encouraging students to review. I also open up the D2L course for students a week in advance so students have access to the course.
Communicating regularly at the beginning of the term is key to student success. I send two emails the first week discussing deadlines and course organization. I encourage students to print a copy of the course schedule and refer to it often in order to meet the deadlines of the two weekly assignments in the course. In addition, when students do not submit an assignment on time during the first two weeks, I send an email only to those students giving them a short extension to maximize the student’s potential of being successful in the course. By week three, students are turning in assignments on time and the course flows seamlessly.
I work hard to create an environment of trust and clear expectations for students.
Thank you Ann for sharing your Good Things List.
Recently a colleague, who does not teach online, said, “I prefer high-touch to high-tech.” But does it really have to be one or the other? This article – and Jimena’s comment – make me think online learning experiences can be high-tech AND high-touch. Thanks, Ann!
In addition to many of the things already listed, I have some informational emails about the course design, types of assignments, etc., that are emailed out one per night during the first four days of the term. This way each email students receive has a specific topic, which is identified in the subject of the email.
Your framing of “high-tech and high-touch” is really great, Peter, and I think that balancing the two in a way that they complement each other is key. I’m continually curious about what can/should be automated and what can’t/shouldn’t be automated.