Six Keys for Online Teaching Success
Here are six key areas to think about when teaching online. Note that all tools listed in this section are available to faculty, staff, and students.
The following resources are useful guides to supplement the recommendations below:
- Backward Course Design
- Learning to Teach Online on LinkedIn Learning
- Online Course Design Framework & Online Course Design Quality Checklist
Communication
Communication is always key, and it's essential to keep in touch and interact with students, no matter where you are. While email is always an option, we offer additional tools that help you keep communication manageable, quick, and personable.
- Use D2L Brightspace Announcements to give updates on upcoming topics and due dates.
- Consider incorporating humanizing facilitation and design practices in your online teaching. (Some Ideas: Infographic)
- Teach from Content in D2L Brightspace to clarify expectations: Create a hub for all of your learning activities using weekly, unit, or theme modules in Content. (More ideas: 10 Strategies for Engaging Learners in Blended and Online Classes)
- Communicate about deadlines by adding Due Dates to all Content topics.
- Encourage students to turn on notifications in D2L Brightspace to get emails and/or text message updates.
- Create and share a two-minute course tour video using Media Space to show students where to find what they need in D2L Brightspace and/or another tech you use.
Content
Consider teaching your online course through Content in D2L Brightspace. The Content tool in D2L Brightspace makes it easy to organize your course materials, activities, and assessments in one place:
- Upload documents, links, and other teaching materials to D2L Content
- Link to all of your Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions in Content using the Existing Activities button.
- Upload OneDrive documents directly into D2L Brightspace Content
- Creating Mobile Responsive and Accessible documents in D2L Brightspace with simple and modern templates.
- Create and insert video lectures into D2L Brightspace Content with Kaltura Media Space.
Assessment
You can still quiz students, hold in-depth discussions, and collect essays and papers in D2L Brightspace.
- Use Class Progress to get an at-a-glance view of student engagement in your online course
- Use Quick Eval to quickly locate and give feedback on oustanding Quizzes, Assignments, Discussions
- Attach Grades Items to all Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussions for quick and up to date gradebooks.
- Under the Assessment menu you can find:
- Quizzes
- Assignments
- Rubrics - Add Rubrics to Discussions, Assignments, and Grades Items for quick feedback.
- Under the Communication menu you can find:
- Discussions (Some ideas: 10 Strategies for Engaging Learners in Online Discussion)
- Use Media Space to create video quizzes.
- Consider group work using Online Collaboration tools. (Some Ideas: 10 Strategies for Engaging Learners with Online Collaboration)
Online Meetings
Hold virtual office hours, advising appointments, and your scheduled synchronous online class meetings with our university online meeting tool, Zoom.
- Consider using break out rooms, polling or other active learning strategies in your online meetings (Some Ideas: 10 Strategies for Engaging Learners with Online Meetings)
- Communicate clearly with your students the technology they need (computer, webcam, internet speed) for required online meetings.
- Provide students with information and help to access technology they need: Student Technology Tools and Resources for Online Learning
Video
Give students a sense of your presence in the online classroom and offer students video as an alternative to traditional assignments such as in class presentations.
- Create mini-lecture videos and video quizzes with Media Space. (Some ideas: 10 Strategies for Engaging Learners with Lecture Capture)
- Ask students to create presentations and share them in D2L Brightspace with Media Space
- Consider brief selfie videos to provide students with feedback or updates to build presence
- Zoom for live online screen sharing and presentations
Universal Design for Learning
We recommend you consider applying the Universal Design for Learning model to your online course design and delivery. This assures that all students have equitable experiences in your classes. This brief video from the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) explains these principles.
