What works well in online teaching
The updated version of What Works Well in Online Teaching includes a strong emphasis on creating a sense of community and academic belonging for all students, and each of the categories below support teaching with dynamic instructor presence. The essential practices for each category are listed below, and clicking on the “+” sign will reveal additional high-impact practices. We invite you to follow the link to Examples and Resources for details about each category, including a PCC faculty video!
Teach Material
Essential Practices
- Organize teaching materials clearly and consistently within D2L Brightspace so students can easily find lectures, readings, assignments, and other key resources.
- Ensure course materials and activities align with both module-level and course-level outcomes.
- Thoroughly review course materials, resources, and activities to ensure they are current and relevant.
- Monitor course before and during the term, as well as for any live sessions, to make sure everything functions properly, e.g. correct broken links and accessibility issues.
- Provide and facilitate weekly material using a variety of tools to engage students in their learning, e.g. announcements, images, video, audio, discussions, and Zoom.
- Add material or explanations to clarify concepts as needed while teaching the course.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Create a “Course Tour” or “Getting Started” video for week one and “How to” videos as needed.
- Use the TiLT framework to explicitly outline purpose, task, and criteria of course activities.
- Incorporate active learning strategies to engage students with course concepts.
- Regularly assess how your teaching materials meet the diverse needs of students.
- Make yourself available to provide additional guidance related to the teaching materials.
- Create short videos to answer common questions.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Build Community
Essential Practices
- Create a welcoming, engaging learning environment where students feel a sense of connection to the instructor, other students, and the course.
- Apply strategies to promote diversity, equity and inclusion as well as culturally responsive teaching.
- Implement classroom discussion guidelines for civil discourse that respects the diversity of the group.
- Show instructor presence in discussions and other collaborative activities through participation or feedback, and monitor discussion activities in regards to tone, relevance and appropriateness.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Evaluate culturally responsive teaching strategies for effectiveness and relevance. Make changes to courses accordingly.
- Encourage course participation through engagement in course related resources on campus or in the community.
- Foster a sense of community through group projects, discussions, and peer feedback opportunities.
- Encourage collaboration on projects and assignments when it supports learning outcomes.
- Encourage students to use images, audio, video, or other media in discussions or projects.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Communicate
Essential Practices
- Outline and follow communication expectations in the syllabus.
- Meet the expectations for regular and substantive interaction.
- Use multiple ways to communicate with students. Incorporate the tools available in D2L to maximize the communication processes.
- Engage with students to further clarify concepts as needed while teaching the course.
- Respond to student questions within 24 hours Monday – Friday.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Send pre-course communication emails that outline course modality, meeting times, and first-week participation expectations.
- Create a “Course Tour” or “Getting Started” video for week one and short “How to” videos to guide students through course expectations and processes as needed.
- Create short videos to answer common questions.
- Communicate instructor availability prior to major assignment due dates and make yourself available to provide additional guidance related to the teaching materials.
- Schedule weekly one-on-one meeting opportunities.
- Engage in discussion activities with students.
- Lead interactions in a respectful, upbeat, positive way to encourage student engagement.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Provide Feedback
Essential Practices
- Provide clear instructions for students on where to find feedback.
- Provide substantive personalized feedback which includes strategies for improvement and growth.
- Provide feedback in time for students to apply strategies to the current and future activities.
- Post grades in a timely fashion, typically within a week of the due date.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Provide personalized feedback to students through video, audio, or images in addition to text.
- Utilize a variety of feedback methods, including individual as well as to the whole-class.
- Practice equitable grading.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Get Input
Essential Practices
- Offer intentional opportunities for students to communicate with the instructor throughout the term.
- Provide a Q & A discussion forum that is easy to find, and encourage students to use it. Subscribe to that forum to ensure a quick response.
- Provide regularly scheduled “office hours” to students (or as determined by contract for PT faculty).
- Review end-of-term feedback from students and make updates where needed.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- In addition to scheduled “office hours,” offer broader availability for open office hours and privately scheduled meetings.
- Integrate opportunities for student feedback throughout the term.
- Check in with students about how their grades appear to them, how to self-assess and adjust performance as needed.
- Offer opportunities for student input on specific elements of the course and activities, such as the use of a certain tool or the expectations with a particular assignment.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Retain Students
Essential Practices
- Inform students about the “No-show” policy before the term begins and provide a reminder during the first week of class, as outlined in the syllabus.
- Initiate contact with students with approved academic accommodations, and work with Accessible Ed & Disability Resources to ensure that accommodations are provided in a timely manner.
- Prominently place student support resources in the course, and regularly promote and proactively connect students to those services.
- Regularly review student engagement and academic progress, and proactively initiate communication to support student participation and advancement, or to recognize student growth and development.
- Provide detailed and constructive feedback on assignments early enough for students to adjust course performance.
- Use the CPN or other Early Alert systems to provide official feedback on course progress.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Look for opportunities to connect with students during the first week of the term to encourage one-on-one communication.
- Communicate the course organizational structure to students to reduce confusion, deviations, or distractions.
- Schedule a time to meet with students who have academic accommodations to discuss individual needs.
- Provide alternatives to technologies and resources needed for the class when applicable.
- Remind students of expectations for workload, due dates, and end of term deadlines.
- Normalize and encourage the use of support resources.
- Encourage students to engage in and promote campus extracurricular and community-based events related to area of study or discipline.
Examples, resources, & faculty video
Follow Procedures
Essential Practices
- Follow the procedures and timelines from Online Learning for course management tasks.
- Post important and welcoming course information on the Class Details page to inform students prior to registration.
- Follow the institution’s policy for “no-show” students and communicate this early in a pre-course communication email or during the first week of the term.
- Meet college expectations for syllabi, which will include the required elements as outlined in the PCC syllabus standards document.
- Follow the accessibility guidelines established by PCC for online course content.
- Comply with copyright and fair use policies and practices.
- Stay current with timelines, reminders, actions, and issues related to online learning.
- Notify the FDC or Dean when unable to deliver online instruction due to illness or extended absence, and alert students of absence.
High Impact Practices for Continuous Improvement
- Link to a copy of the syllabus and/or a course overview video from the Class Details page.
- Educate students on the concept of academic integrity, and report violations to support institutional integrity.
What Works Well In Online Teaching by Portland Community College Online Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.