11 Strategies for Managing your Online Courses

11 Strategies for Managing Your Online Courses was created to help online instructors
tackle many of the course management issues that can erode the efficiency and effectiveness of an online course. It features 11 articles pulled from the pages of Online Classroom, including:

• Syllabus Template Development for Online Course Success
• The Online Instructor’s Challenge: Helping ‘Newbies’
• Virtual Sections: A Creative Strategy for Managing Large Online Classes
• Internal or External Email for Online Courses?
• Trial by Fire: Online Teaching Tips That Work
• The Challenge of Teaching Across Generations

Read the full Special Report published by Faculty Focus, 11 Strategies for Managing your Online Course.

The Online Learning department has created a Course Management Strategies Document that provides a list of the criteria that we consider to be fundamental to creating and managing a quality online class. This list entails strategies concerning Course Management and Instructor Presence. A sample of the criteria found on the Course Management Strategies Document is as follows:

□     Provide prompt responses to emails from students, if all students would benefit from hearing your response, make a suitable post in a General Q&A discussion thread were general questions/answers can be posted.

□     Utilize the built-in Learning Management System (LMS) grading rubrics for drop-box assignments. This will provide clear expectations to students and reduce grading times.

□     Provide students with examples of exemplary work, with an explanation of how grades/points were awarded.

□     Participate in ice breaker exercises, initiate the concept of a class community, share emotion/humor/personality when appropriate and encourage students to do the same.

□     Release periodic course announcements/reminders via LMS announcement and course mail. Don’t nag, but indicate expected progression through the module/course, to keep students on track.

□     Provide periodic reminders and links to avenues of support; include previous student’s feedback if available.

□    Provide encouragement; include compliments and expressions of appreciation