Converting from "Remote Teaching" to "Online Teaching"

What's the difference between remote and online teaching? Remote teaching is doing the best with digital tools as you are able. Online teaching has specific best practices and meets the AU standards for teaching online.

Why does it matter? Among other reasons, international students are allowed to participate in remote teaching, but are restricted in how many online courses they can take. So, your teaching might be labelled "remote", but you may still strive to meet some or all of the Andrews University Standards for Teaching Online if you so choose.

Normally when you move from teaching face to face online, at Andrews University, the School of Distance Education and the Center for Digital Learning and Instructional Technology provide online degree design support, and an Instructional Faciliator is assigned to work with you for one or two semesters through our online course development process before your course is offered online. 

However, time is short and resources are stretched thin. Some faculty want to upgrade remote teaching to meet some or all of the Andrews University Standards for Teaching Online. So we are providing this DIY guide to upgrading your course from "remote teaching" to "online teaching."

Getting Help: If you still need assistance you can email dlit@andrews.edu for assistance with online course design, online teaching, or technical aspects. 

LearningHub Layout & Syllabus Template

The presentation and organization of your LearningHub site is a fairly easy first step to upgrading your course.

Online Element Additional Resources
Syllabus Items or Template for Teaching Online  
Setting Up the Top of Your Course Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 1
Setting up the Edges of Your Course (blocks)  

Create clean simple LearningHub weeks or modules
Organize your course sequentially, by module or week
Post everything open before the course starts

Requirements for Online Courses

Quality Matters Standard 1, 6 & 7

Online Learning Consortium Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice (QCTIP) Course Fundamentals Scorecard

Faith Integration

Online Element Additional Resources

Aim to include at least 3 of these 4 aspects of Faith Integration online: 

  • appropriate worship opportunities connected to the course content
  • appropriate connections to the Adventist faith throughout the content presentations
  • assignments that encourage growth in students’ understanding of life, learning and civic responsibility from a Christian point of view (and possibly also from their own faith perspective)
  • your interactions with the students exhibit care for the student

Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 4

Learning Community

Online Element Resources
  • Introduce yourself, not just your content self! See LearningHub: Setting up the top of your course.
  • Include an introduction forum or another creative method for students to introduce themselves.
  • In synchronous Zoom sessions, don't just lecture. Provide opportunites to interact with other students.
  • In asychronous discussion forums, ask questions that allow students to connect prior knowledge and experience with the content, thereby getting to know each other.

Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 9

Article: Organic Online Discussions: Save Time and Increasing Engagement

Faculty Presence

Online Element Resources

Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 8

Online Learning Consortium Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice (QCTIP) Faculty Engagement Scorecard

Andrews University Substantive Interaction Policy

 

Lectures

Online Element Resources
Choose between Zoom or recorded Panopto lectures. Consider audience and pegagogy. Maybe a mix is best?
  • Consider your audience needs: Are live Zoom lectures going to work for all your target students? What time zones are your students in? Do students need the extra motivation of live lectures? Are your students working a wide variety of schedules?
  • Consider your pedagogy: Are your live Zoom lectures engaging the audience interactively, or would the experience be the same if they watched the recording? 

Zoom lecture tips: 

Panopto lecture tips:

  • Record lectures concisely, like TED talks, 20 minutes or less per major topic/video
  • Students like to see a person; show your face!
  • Try to record with a student in mind; it will make your talking more natural and less stilted

Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 7

8 Ways to Be More Inclusive in Your Zoom Teaching

Assignments and Assessments

Online Element Resources
  • Post full details and instructions for assignments by the start of class
  • Post full details for assignments in the location where students will submit the assignment (in addition to the syllabus if you have it there as well)
  • If assignments use the library, include links to the libguide for your discipline or to specific databases
  • Ensure your course checks the identity of the student (either a proctored exam or a Zoom session where the instructor checks the identity of the course)
  • Ensure the gradebook setup matches the syllabus
  • Provide regular feedback to students
  • Ensure that faculty-directed activities add up to the "contact time" hours required for the number of credits your course is offered for. We use this Faculty Directed Credit Hour spreadsheet to consider and plan for the credit hour for online courses. Ensure that you don't just convert your course to "homework" time!

Adventist Learning Community: Teaching Online in Higher Education: Module 6

AU Requirements for Online Courses

Assessing Students Remotely

Online Learning Consortium Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice (QCTIP) Learning Foundations Scorecard

Online Learning Consortium Quality Course Teaching and Instructional Practice (QCTIP) Student Engagement Scorecard

Additional Resources and Tips

  • 20% survey: All online courses every semester include a short survey when 20% of the course has past. It allows for early intervention and is non anonymous. If you would like this added to your course, email dlit@andrews.edu and request the 20% survey for interactive online, and indicate which course(s) you'd like it added to. Include the semester please.
  • Online teaching tips via email: If you would like the semester tips for teaching online emails from Janine Lim, email assocdeanonline@andrews.edu and ask to be added to the "olteach" listserv. You're getting it already if you teach an interactive online course.
  • Student Services orientation for online students

Articles

Getting Help

Supporting online teaching is half of what we do in DLiT. Please don't hesitate to email dlit@andrews.edu for online teaching advice in addition to technical assistance. Tell us what you're trying to convert to online, and indicate that you'd like a consultation.