Case: Mid-point Course Review

Instructor Comments

The instructor was asked to provide a brief reflection on her experience so far...

I was hesitant about teaching this (my first online) course. But, my colleagues reassured me that my experience with the material and in the classroom would translate to a large extent. The dean told me the course had been designed by another instructor who was very familiar with the LMS and had experience teaching online. He suggested I review the course before I started but I had just returned from a sabbatical and just couldn't find the time before the course started.

I was overwhelmed by trying to navigate and find the relevant course activities for the first couple of weeks. I didn't find the topic discussion forum until the end of Week 1. I did manage to post an introduction and send out a reminder notice to encourage the students to complete the Week 1 quiz but I was relying on their prior experience of online courses at this university (all of them have taken online courses here before).

Since I knew that the students are all seasoned online learners (more so than I!), not to mention adult learners, I expected they would just "get on with it." Obviously some of them needed more help but they never contacted me.

The introductory posts were brief, full of personal anecdotes, in-jokes about residency, that kind of thing. As for the team work, I understand they use a variety of methods to connect (Skype, phone, etc), so I could never be sure where they were until they submitted their assignments.

Because I have no point of comparison, it's hard for me to judge the online activity. My sense is the forums are there for them if they want to use them, but their main job is to keep up with the schedule, study, and prepare for assignments and quizzes.

At this point, I have to say I'm not enjoying this experience very much. I find it way more work than teaching my face-to-face classes and I don't feel I have any sense of where my students are at. I've spent more time teaching this course than any of my others and I don't think I want to do it again (although I probably will be assigned to another course in the next semester.)

I am interested in receiving advice from colleagues who have been successful teaching online.