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My Qs to Author:

Ch. 12 – More Ideas for Facilitating

Threaded Discussions

Strengths & Weaknesses

Ch. 11 – Can My Class Really Become a Community?

Tips for Cultivating Connection

• Create a Rhythm

• Keep Doing What You’re Doing (Consistent

instructor modeling is key—incarnational teaching)

• Break Things up by Groups

• Affirmation Goes a Long Way

• Share Your Life (People admire your strength, but

connect with your vulnerabilities)

• Grade When You’re Most Alert

• Redesign an Assignment (When assignments

aren’t working, be willing to change—flexibility

and adaptability are key)

• Seven Go-To Reply Prompts

About the Author:

Key Strengths:

Me: Are there any sections you would add or expand upon for a future edition?

Thesis:

Me: Are there any other technologies you are aware of that we might be able to incorporate with better results [than BBBE/Google Hangouts] in online live discussions/teaching?

Aaron Johnson:

• Straightforward and pragmatic approach

• Keen insights (A-Z list) for helping your 1st online

class run smoothly

• Online Resource (www.excellentonlineteaching.com)

& makes himself available for help

Ch. 15 – Improving Your Game

• You Can’t Remember Everything (Keep a log of what worked and what didn’t)

• When Teaching Courses You Didn’t Design, Share Observations (Try to make

the class your own – add assignments, devotionals, or other ways to make

your unique contribution to the class)

• Use a Syllabus Focused System (Evernote – revise assignment instructions,

record notes about things to keep/toss, etc.)

• Revise Quizzes/Assignments as You Go and as Needed to Help Future

Teachers (You may be that future teacher!)

• Consider Deploying a Mid-Course Evaluation (Survey Monkey)

• Take an Online Course (Enroll in a free course to put yourself in your

students’ shoes)

Ch. 14 – Communicating Your Unique Voice

Ch. 2 – Where Do I Begin?

How to Get Your Online Course Off to a Great Start

Ch. 13 – Four Essential Qualities of an Awesome Online Teacher (book’s most important chapter)

• Realize That You Have a Voice (Just like a writer)

• Note Your Catch Words and Catch Phrases

• Note What You Emphasize

(What are you passionate about?)

Ch. 16 – Finishing Well

1) Compassionate

Ch. 3 – How Do I Communicate Well

with My Students? 4 Strategies for

Effective Online Communication

1) Send Out a Welcome Message

• Takeaway Discussions

• Let Them Hear You

(Create videos throughout the semester and

participate in live teaching events [BBBEs] so

students get facetime access

• Employ Culminating Assignments

• Send a Concluding Email

2) Good Listener

• Host a Q&A Web Conference

2) Engage Student Introductions

• Challenge Returning Students

1) Use Emoticons and Use Them Often

Conclusion

• Plan for It

• Celebrate the End of a Successful Semester!

3) Available

• Both Teaching & Learning Take Time!

2) Communicate Often

3) The Payoff

• You Will Get Better with Practice!

4) Flexible

3) Address Students by Name

4) Read Emails Carefully Before Sending

Ch. 4 – How Do I Start Each Week? 5 Core Ingredients to Your Weekly Email

1) “Where Do I Start?”

2) Make Your Subject Line Interesting

3) Provide Rationale

4) Communicate Your Expectations

5) Be Positive & Encouraging

Ch. 1 – Am I Ready?

3 Ways to Prepare Your Course

Ch. 6 – What’s the Most Important Habit? Facilitating Discussions

• Set a Goal & Quit When You Hit It

1) Survey Your Course and Syllabus

• Be Brief

Ch. 9 – How Do I Give Feedback?

Timelines & 4 (not 5) Tips to Make it Happen

1) Draw a Line in the Sand (Set dates & stick to them)

• Timing Is Everything

2) Set a Regular Time (Consistency is key in

establishing a rhythm in teaching)

2) Determine Your Modes of Communication

3) Use Tools for Rapid Return (e.g., Scanning

software & Turnitin)

• Be Clear on Your Purpose

4) Use Rubrics to Simplify Grading (Rubrics take

subjectivity out of grading & saves you time in

feedback by referring students to rubric

descriptors)

3) Set Your Calendar

Ch. 5 – What Do I Do with Failing Students? Critical Weeks for Engaging the Bottom 20% of Learners

• If Students Fall Behind They’re not

Likely to Get Caught Up

• Show Students You’re Present &

Watching Their Activity

Ch. 7 – How Do I Connect with My Students?

2 Ways to Better Know Your Students

1) Use a Hardcopy of Student Groups or Class Lists

• Look for Problematic Signs

in Students

2) Checking-in Emails - Short & to the Point

• My Own Example (Kole)

Excellent! Online Teaching: Effective Strategies for a Successful Semester Online

"It’s not about the technologies you choose—those are just tools. That doesn’t mean learning the technical ropes is unimportant, but what the online teacher needs more than anything is to develop a set of habits: regular and clear communication, demonstrating compassion, and developing the discipline of prompt feedback. . . . That’s the core challenge of teaching online, and it’s what separates the excellent online teacher from the just okay one. It’s the one thing you need: habit."

~ Johnson, Excellent Online Teaching!, i

Johnson: “I'm becoming a huge fan of automated, rich feedback. This is formative quizzing that gives students feedback for both correct and wrong answers. I've been reading a lot recently on cognitive science and learning, and this type of formative quizzing is well-supported. However, I don't think I'd add it to the book, as the book focuses more on the act of teaching. I would like to add a chapter on what one of my colleagues calls warm vs. cold technologies and how to use them. Warm, being technologies that support your social presence in the course, like video-conferencing.”

Key Weaknesses:

Ch. 8 – How Do I Grade Discussions?

Save Time and Increase Learning

Ch. 10 – What Sort of Feedback Do My Students Need?

3 Strategies for Formative Feedback

• The 20/80 Approach:

• Summative vs. Formative Feedback

1) The 20% - Only enter comments for the 20% of students

with the lowest scores

1) Strategy 1: Invitation to Dialogue (Early & Often)

2) The 80% - Create a generic message for the 80% who are doing a

satisfactory job in their discussions

2) Strategy 2: Set up an All Class Paper Discussion

3) This approach ensures you are investing your time/energy where

you’ll be most effective

3) Strategy 3: Ask Students for the

Feedback They Need

4) Timely feedback is more important than the quantity or quality of feedback

• M.A. in spiritual formation, Denver Seminary (2013)

• Wrote book while he was teaching online classes

at a private HS in Ohio

• Now works (since 2008) in the Educational

Technology department at Denver Seminary,

“helping faculty to create better online classes

and to become better online teachers” (Johnson,

Excellent Online Teaching!, 51)

• Interestingly, his M.A. thesis: “Explores how

instructors can nurture their students’ spiritual

development through online discussions”

(Johnson, Excellent Online Teaching!, 51)

Johnson: “We are using Zoom and have found it to be both affordable and way better than Adobe Connect and Hangouts, the two other solutions we've used in the past. One logistical strategy is to require students to attend a certain # of live sessions, and to view a certain # of recorded sessions. For instance, you may say that you'll have a live session at 8AM CST, and one at 7PM CST on Tuesdays every week, and they must 1) make 4 sessions in the semester, and 2) will be called upon to answer Qs. You could use an appointment tool like Doodle.com to find out when the 2-3 best times are for your students who are distributed across many time zones. We've been very happy with the ease of use for Zoom. Students get the hang of it quickly.”

• Brevity (little here for seasoned online teachers)

• Inconsistency (first 11 chapters begin with question

format, but last five chapters seem more like an

afterthought and are disjointed in comparison)

• Numerous typographical errors throughout (detracts

from Johnson’s argument)

Presentation by:

Gregory E. Lamb

Ph.D. candidate (NT - SEBTS)

Oct. 10, 2015

https://sebts.academia.edu/GregoryLamb

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