Managerial Role – Setting the StageLesson 6

Jeneen T. ChapmanJohn Madden

Facilitators

Welcome

Managerial Role - Setting the StageGood evening and Welcome My name is Jeneen Chapman and I will be your facilitator this evening. Lesson 6 focuses on “good course management “. Good course management creates an orderly environment that allows the learning process to move forward.

What is Course Management

Course management refers to:

The development and instructional design of the course that takes places before the actual course begins.

A structure that can be effectively facilitated with a reasonable expenditure of faculty time;

Develop a solid design along with ongoing course management strategies will keep the course moving forward and create an environment in which both student and instructors have a positive and productive experience.

What is Course Management?

According to Wikipedia, A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)

should make it possible for a course designer to present to

students, through a single, consistent, and intuitive interface, all

the components required for a course of education or training.

A VLE should implement all the following elements:

Setting the Stage

The time spent in design and course

development before the actual course begins is

probably one of the most important in terms of

effective course management.

Time Management Strategies for Online teaching

Online teaching redefines the faculty member’s schedule. The

feeling of being a 24/7 professor can lead to frustration.

Managing one’s time as an online teacher can be a challenge.

As the popularity of online education continues to grow,

teaching faculty need to develop effective time management

behaviors to be efficient and not just busy.

Element of an Effective Homepage

• Introduce yourself in syllabus

• Encourage student introduction• Establish instructor presence

• Establish an office

• Provide a calendar of due dates for assignments

• Provide constructive feedback

Setting the Stage

The following elements should be created in thedevelopment process and updated before each course:A well designed home page A welcome page with announcements Course SyllabusCourse OrientationLinks to tutorials and other resources

Establish Welcoming Environment

Send a welcome emailPresent a welcome home pageProvide a welcome announcementDesign a Usable SyllabusEstablish a class lounge or course topic section

• The syllabus for the course• Administrative information including the

location of sessions, details of pre-requisites and co-requisites, credit information, and how to get help

• A notice board for up-to-date course information

• Basic teaching materials. These may be the complete content of the course, if the VLE is being used in a distance learning context, or copies of visual aids used in lectures or other classes where it is being used to support a campus-based course.

• Additional resources, including reading materials, and links to outside resources in libraries and on the Internet.

• Self-assessment quizzes which can be scored automatically• Formal assessment procedures• Electronic communication support including e-mail, threaded discussions

and a chat room, with or without a moderator• Differential access rights for instructors and students• Production of documentation and statistics on the course in the format

required for institutional

Element of an Effective Homepage

• Introduce yourself in syllabus

• Encourage student introduction• Establish instructor presence

• Establish an office

• Provide a calendar of due dates for assignments

• Provide constructive feedback

• All these facilities should be capable of being hyperlinked together

• Easy authoring tools for creating the necessary documents including the insertion of hyperlinks - though it is acceptable (arguably, preferable) for the VLE to be designed allowing standard word processors or other office software to be used for authoring.

• In addition, the VLE should be capable of supporting numerous courses, so that students and instructors in a given institution (and, indeed, across institutions) experience a consistent interface when moving from one course to another.

• In addition, the VLE should be capable of supporting numerous courses, so that students and instructors in a given institution (and, indeed, across institutions) experience a consistent interface when moving from one course to another.

• Universities and other institutions of higher and further education are increasingly turning to VLEs in order to:

• Economize on the time of teaching staff, especially when they are also involved in research and administration. The extent of the economy over traditional "talk-and-chalk" teaching is not yet clear, but for instructors without web development expertise, using a VLE absorbs less time and produces a more professional result.

• Provide a service for students who increasingly look to the internet as the natural medium for finding information and resources.

• Ensure that quality control requirements are met by providing a standard vehicle for collecting the required information

• Facilitate the integration of distance and campus-based learning or of learning on different campuses.

• For example, accredited institutions

Course Management Systems• Using a Course Management System in Your Teaching• Course Management Systems (CMS) provide a range of tools to support learning and the administration of

courses in an online environment. Through a CMS, instructors can deliver virtually any content to students that could be delivered in a traditional face-to-face setting. Examples of commercial systems include: Blackboard, ANGEL, or Desire2Learn. Examples of open source systems include: Moodle, Sakai, or Atutor.

• You will need to become familiar with the specific feature set offered in the CMS used in your university or organizational setting. The following is a brief summary of the types of tools you will need to use in your online teaching.

• Communication tools - include tools such as email, discussion forums, and chat to allow faculty to correspond with students quickly and conveniently, and students can also use these tools to work on group projects and discussion.

• Dropboxes - Through the use of dropboxes, students can submit lessons and other electronic files to instructors, and instructors can then provide feedback directly to students through the dropbox functionality.

• Assessment tool - Instructors can administer quizzes and exams online using an assessment tool. Many systems allow for automatic grading of quizzes in the case of multiple choice or true/false questions. And for short-answer or essay questions, instructors can often grade responses and provide feedback on a question-by-question basis.

• Gradebook - Some systems provide course gradebook; a single location for storage of all course assignments, from online items such as dropboxes and quizzes, to offline items such as proctored exams and class participation.

Using a Course Management System in Your Teaching

• Course Management Systems (CMS) provide a range of tools to support learning and the administration of courses in an online environment. Through a CMS, instructors can deliver virtually any content to students that could be delivered in a traditional face-to-face setting. Examples of commercial systems include: Blackboard, ANGEL, or Desire2Learn. Examples of open source systems include: Moodle, Sakai, or Atutor.

• You will need to become familiar with the specific feature set offered in the CMS used in your university or organizational setting. The following is a brief summary of the types of tools you will need to use in your online teaching.

• Communication tools - include tools such as email, discussion forums, and chat to allow faculty to correspond with students quickly and conveniently, and students can also use these tools to work on group projects and discussion.

• Dropboxes - Through the use of dropboxes, students can submit lessons and other electronic files to instructors, and instructors can then provide feedback directly to students through the dropbox functionality.

• Assessment tool - Instructors can administer quizzes and exams online using an assessment tool. Many systems allow for automatic grading of quizzes in the case of multiple choice or true/false questions. And for short-answer or essay questions, instructors can often grade responses and provide feedback on a question-by-question basis.

• Gradebook - Some systems provide course gradebook; a single location for storage of all course assignments, from online items such as dropboxes and quizzes, to offline items such as proctored exams and class participation.