Resources about Online Teaching

Hewett, Beth L., & Crista Ehmann Powers (Eds.). (2007). Special issue: Online teaching and learning: Preparation, development, and online communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 16, 1.

Notes on Teaching Writing Online (Warnock)

What have I found useful about this book?

• The three specific rationales for teaching online writing courses ("I specifically find online writing instruction promising because I believe--and this is a core premise of this book--that online writing instruction provides the opportunity for not just a different approach, but a progressive approach to the way teachers teach writing--an evolution of sorts in writing instruction" [xi])
• Chickering and Zelda Gamson's seven principles for undergraduate teaching (p. xiv)
• Icebreakers (p. 6-8)
• The idea, throughout the book, that students should use a specific subject line when sending me emails. For example, Section 15: Homework Question. I've never done this before. This, along with teaching them how to write an email to a professor, is a good idea. Then, set up Smart Folders in Apple Mail to accommodate these different kinds of emails.
• Helping students decide whether an online course is the right one for them--have them fill out a learning style survey (p. 43)
• Escape Clauses (giving students info on how to drop the class without penalty, etc.) (p. 43)
• Does BB9 have "pop up" reminders? ("scheduling reminders are often embedded in course documents") (p. 57)
• Rather than give students the PDFS, give them the citation information and have them go to the library page and download the documents themselves. This gets them at least a bit of exposure to the library website and learning a bit about how databases work and where academics publish their work. (p. 62)
• Quizzes (p. 64-65)

Chapter 8 is very useful--it's all about online discussion.

• Useful language on p. 79-81 for how to talk with students about online posting
• Primary and Secondary (follow-up) posts, how to grade them and language to explain all this to the students 83-84.
• Offering multiple prompts instead of just one per week.
• Student generated prompts (87)
• Having students use Discussion Board posts in their coursework (88-89)

Teaching Business/Tech Online

In Winter 2007, Technical Communication Quarterly published a special issue
on "Online Teaching and Learning: Preparation, Development, and
Organizational Communication." You might find some of the rationales for and
approaches to teaching online writing courses useful in developing your
case.

More online resources

The term appears to be OWI (Online Writing Instruction).

Resources:

http://www.blendedteaching.org/

http://thejournal.com/articles/2007/05/17/hybrid-learning-challenges-for-teachers.aspx

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/HybridorBlendedLearning/33312

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Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:55:21 -0400
From: Beth Hewett <beth.hewett@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: conferences/resources for hybrid writing classes

Hi Sara,

I'm writing on behalf of the CCCC Committee on Best Practices in Online
Writing Instruction. We've been working on research in this issue--directly
related to your concerns--for the past 3 years and expect to continue this
work for a few more years. Our committee will be represented at CCCC 2010
with a Friday panel presentation and a Friday night SIG. We'd love to have
you and your colleagues join us for these opportunities to talk about OWI.
Our panel presentations always allow time for questions and ideas from the
audience, as does our SIG. Please do put us on your list!

To that end, be on the lookout in mid-January for a survey on best practices
in OWI; it will be advertised in the elists, as well as through NCTE. We'll
certainly want to get your input (and that of everyone on this list).

Regards,
Beth

Beth L. Hewett, Ph.D.
Chair, CCCC Committee for Best Practices in Online Writing Instruction (OWI)
NCTE Professional Development Consultant
beth.hewett@comcast.net

Online Writing Teaching

A couple general references:

How to Be a Great Online Teacher :Kay Johnson Lehmann (2004)

Lessons from the Cyberspace Classroom: The Realities of Online Teaching:
Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt (2001)

The Online Writng Classroom: Susanmarie Harrington, Rebecca Rickly,
Michael Day, Eds.(2000)