Online Classroom Management: Course Design Strategies To Minimize Problems & Promote Learning

Description  ChallengeWith so many teachers and students experimenting with new online and remote modalities, attention to course management is vital to ensure that students learn and that teachers survive and thrive.Key TakeawayWe typically only think about course management to deal with problematic situations. Still, course management's real promise is promoting a virtuous course where both the students and the teacher are thriving in a productive learning environment.OverviewThinking about course management may evoke a scene of a frazzled teacher trying to motivate and control a class of apathetic, confused, or disruptive students. Online and remote course modalities present unique and even unknown course management challenges that we need to consider and plan for; things can go wrong. However, good course management's real promise is promoting a virtuous online or remote course where both the students and the teacher are thriving in a productive learning environment. This webinar will address practical strategies for dealing with in-the-moment problems that can occur in online and remote classes, but we will focus primarily on managing for success. The webinar will begin with course logistics, a host of online and remote course design strategies that can minimize student confusion and promote semester-long success. We will look at sample Week 1 and Week 2 templates, including agendas and pacing/workload guides that lead students to articulate their own goals for learning and acknowledge their responsibility for meeting their goals within the course structure. Participants will experiment with a student/teacher workload estimator to focus on essentials and trim busy work and, in general, to consider time management issues that impact both students and teachers. We will also review sample syllabi to highlight rules and rigor issues of special concern to online and remote classes, including a particular focus on promoting academic honesty and curtailing cheating and plagiarism. We will then segue into pedagogical/andragogical concerns by looking at the design of the student-student, and student-teacher interactions in our online and remote classes since these human dynamics offer the most promise for and peril for course management. A significant body of research shows that students in online and remote classes want an instructor who "guides them like a real teacher," and that authentic teacher presence is key to reducing or eliminating any course management issue and promoting excellence. There will be a specific focus on field-tested rules for professionalism and virtuous discourse adapted to any course or modality. The use of webcams by remote teachers and students will also be addressed. We will review proven strategies to incentivize universal camera use without mandates.This webinar will offer an active learning approach where participants will be encouraged to engage and participate during the session and leave with ample learning opportunities to take away and use immediately.Objectives Consider and share apprehensions about online and remote teaching and unpack specific course management concerns. Examine ways that online and remote modalities create new course management challenges and opportunities for designers and teachers. Explore the tension between "managing for control" and "managing for success." Consider specific design strategies that minimize student confusion and focus on productive course work, including sample Week 1 and 2 templates. Experiment with a student workload estimator and consider why special attention to student and teacher workload is vital to success in an online or remote class. Review and explore practical ways to get students to acknowledge responsibility for their learning to promote intrinsic motivation and minimize student complaints. Examine specific issues with rules and rigor in online and remote classes by unpacking sample syllabi. Review the various ways students interact with each other and the teacher in their online or remote class and consider ways to design interactions that minimize problems, promote a positive class culture, and lead to real learning. Focus on the use of webcams in remote classes and consider the claim that "webcams on" is a general best practice; learn about practical ways to promote webcam use without mandates. Focus on the productive management of online discussion assignments to include workload issues for students and teachers. Review field-tested rules for professionalism and virtuous discourse that can be adapted to any course or modality. Consider proactive, practical ways to promote academic honesty in online and remote classes, including focusing on exams where proctoring is considered and essays where plagiarism is a particular concern. Evaluate the claim that the best way to manage an online or remote class engages students to experience a "real teacher" who offers meaningful feedback. Who Should Attend Administration Faculty Online Learning Instructional Designers Any educator interested in learning more about online class management