Distance Learning Success

EXPLORE YOUR TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES !

Faculty Suggestions for Distance Learning Success

What is Distance Learning?

Distance learning describes courses where at least 80% of direct instruction uses some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both. Hybrid courses are partially online courses where 50-79% of direct instruction uses some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both. [Definition taken from the Florida Distance Learning Task Force (2/26/09). Final report (TFFinalRPt10FINAL.pdf). Tallahassee, FL: Florida Distance Learning Consortium]

Tips for Syllabi/Course Policies
	Require students to have regular/reliable access to a computer. List software/hardware requirements (microphone, speakers) on your syllabus. List required attendance in chats (Elluminate) with a working microphone, number of points deducted for missing chats. Include a policy on safe assignment (for plagiarism detection). See Abdous, M. & He, W. (2006). A Learner-Centered Online Syllabus Generator System (http://go.editlib.org/p/22198). In C. Crawford etc al. (Eds), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 1095-1101). Chesapeake, VA: AACE
Tips for Planning
	Talk with someone who has taught online to avoid pitfalls. For example, when one faculty member taught her first online class, she had three (3) discussion questions per week for 20 students, and she also required them to respond to someone else's post. That was a minimum of 60 posts, and more often, close to 200 posts that she had to read and respond to. Alternate between weekly written assignments and self-graded quizzes to allow yourself more time to grade. Break large classes into small work groups and have work groups post a summary of their discussion question to the main board.
Helpful Resources as You Plan and Design Your Online Class(es)

In the College of Education
- Laptop Lounge - http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/laptop/index.html
- Florida Center for Instructional Technology - http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu
- Chalk and Wire Helpdesk - http://www.coedu.usf.edu/main/chalkandwire/index.htm
At the USF Level
- USF iTunes - http://itunes.usf.edu
- Center for 21st Century Teaching Excellence - http://www.c21te.usf.edu/
  - Neil Gomes' blog - http://cnburney.blog.usf.edu/feeds/author/Neil_Gomes_My_Weblog
- Online Student Evaluation Process - http://www.c21te.usf.edu/evaluation.htm
- Plagiarism Resources and Tutorials - http://www.c21te.usf.edu/plagiarism/index.html
- Office of Distance and Online Learning - http://www.distance.usf.edu/ - This site provides information about Blackboard, accessing USF from a distance, locating resources in the USF computer store, and locating courses and technology.
- USF Computer Store - http://www.computerstore.usf.edu
- USF Academic Computing Survey Tool - Request an account by emailing survey@acomp.usf.edu; link to a wiki that explains how to set up your survey: http://wiki.acomp.usf.edu/index.php/Survey.acomp
At the State Level
- Florida Department of Education, Office of Technology - http://www.fldoe.org/edtech/ - This site includes links to state and national policy about technology, resources, district technology plans, technical resources related to technology in K-12 settings, state initiatives to promote technology in education, and assessment tools for evaluating teachers' proficiency in infusing technology into the curriculum.
At the Regional Level (Standards for DL)
- Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB) SREB: Standards for Quality Online Teaching. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- SACS Distance Education Policy Statement
At the National Level (Standards for DL)
- North American Council for Online Learning (2007). National Standards of Quality for Online Courses. Retrieved April 2, 2009 - Though designed for K-12 distance learning courses, the references on pp 9-10 provide several publications that would be useful to higher education faculty who teach online.
  - Trotter, A. (2008). Voluntary online-teaching standards come amid concerns over quality. Retrieved April 2, 2009. (only accessible to subscribers)
- U.S. Department of Education (2008). Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success. Retrieved April 2, 2009. Provides links to standards for distance learning, as well as evaluations, reports, instruments, and references to related information.
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation (2002). Accreditation and Assuring Quality in Distance Learning. Retrieved April 2, 2009. Describes the scope and impact of distance learning today.
Other Links Recommended by USF Faculty
- Implementing the Seven Principles [for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education]: Technology as Lever - http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
- Google timelines - http://code.google.com/p/simile-widgets/wiki/Timeline
- Stick-figure animator -http://www.snapfiles.com/GeT/sTiCkFiGuRe.html
- Windows Flash animator (slightly above the stick-figure animator) - http://www.k-sketch.org/
- Social annotation - http://diigo.com
- Rubric generating tool - http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index
- Google Docs help - http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_More_Out_of_Google_Docs
- Moodle (for the very independent instructor) - http://moodle.com
- Search www.YouTube.com for various distance learning videos, tutorials, features of distance learning.
- Guidance on developing and teaching online classes.
Resources for Students
- Help Screens - http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/Help_Screens/HelpScreens.htm
- Google Calendar - Available through USF's Gmail (http://mail.usf.edu) for students. Students can put all assignment deadlines and appointments into the calendar, and google will email and send text-message reminders if students set up that option.
- Students Moderators in Online Courses - Joan Thormann, professor in the Technology in Education Division in the School of Education at Lesley University, provides guidelines how to prepare students to moderate online discussions.

[ Back to Top ]