1	Distance Delivery: 8 Lessons Learned Dave Sheftman Fall ’05 Flex
2	Lesson #1: Document Communications or “Be a Pack Rat” Conflicts between teacher and student happen in online courses. Keep copies of all emails; be sure to cc: yourself on every communication you have with students When students complain that they haven’t been treated fairly or they haven’t been told something they should have been or they claim the grade you have for them on an assignment is not the same grade they have written down, etc. you need email evidence to make your case to the student and, if necessary, to your dean.
3	Lesson #2: Interactivity or “Will You Have a Life”? Don’t build in more interaction than you can handle How much interaction between you and the students? How much interaction from student to student? Will interaction come via email? forums? chats? All? Some? It’s easy to get swamped when more interaction is built into a course than an instructor can reasonably handle. Getting swamped can also occur if interaction is limited only to one type of delivery, such as a class listserv. Finding the right balance takes time.
4	Lesson #3: Spell It Out or “The Devil Is In The Details” Be explicit about what students must do and when. Remind them with a weekly agenda email to focus them on the week’s work and key deadlines Provide students with a level of detail which makes them understand exactly what is due, when it is due, where to find the assignments, how to receive help, etc. I typically see students once for the first class meeting. Since F2F meetings happen rarely, I make sure students have everything they need on the web to make them as independent as possible.
5	Lesson #4: Timing or “Don’t Get Out of the Gate Too Fast” Too fast a start overwhelms students who are taking online courses for the first time or who have little experience with technology Have the pace be leisurely at the beginning so that students build confidence and have time to reflect on whether an online course meets their learning styles and temperament We’d like to think that students who enroll in online courses know the environment will suit them, but many have not taken the plunge without awareness of whether the match is a good one.
6	Lesson #5: Archiving or “Make Your Course an Organic Entity” Make available to students what has been done by previous students on the same assignments Turn the course website into an archive for all your instructional artifacts: former student papers, excerpts from student evaluations of your class, emails from students giving advice on how they tackled an assignment, etc. The course website becomes, over time, a rich repository of instructional material, a growing organism which reflects what is being taught, what’s working and how it can work even better.
7	Lesson #6: Network or “Tapping Into Your Fellow Teachers” Attend technology and teaching conferences Attend distance education committee meetings Ask your colleagues about the newest technologies they are using for distance delivery Being part of a community of fellow online teachers opens doors to new approaches to teaching, new uses of technology, new insights into course and curriculum design. Find your fellow technophiles and enjoy their company.
8	Lesson #7: Create Community or “We’re All In This Together” Sharing online is easy; encourage students to see that their success is facilitated by reaching out to others Personalize the environment via pictures of yourself and your students, via journals or blogs, via audio and video files, via chats Consider having one graded assignment be done collaboratively in small groups The learning environment online is dynamic and powerful. The opportunities for sharing, collaboration and assistance are incredible and will promote student success and retention.
9	Lesson #8: Enjoy or “Celebrate Yourself and Your Contribution” Online instruction promotes the college’s mission to make education accessible to the full diversity of students Distance delivery reaches single mothers, people with disabilities, students who are traveling outside the state and the country Online instructors promote the college’s mission by creating flexible and accessible educational options for students. So, be proud of teaching online and encourage your colleagues to give it a try.