Resources Available for Teaching Online

This post is solely meant to relay the resources I have available to teach my online class at the University of Charleston and what outside resources I've been consulting for its design. 1. I've been reading (mainly skimming) Susan Ko and Steve Rossen's book 'Teaching Online: A Practical Guide' (Routledge 2004) and using this text as a general guide in creating the class and thinking of how to transfer traditional classroom teaching into an online environment. http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Online-Practical-Guide-College/dp/0618298487 2. AVS recording system and microphone: This piece of equipment is the only voice recording material I've thus far used for the class. Basically, I taught myself how to use an old microphone and downloaded the appropriate software (one system is called AVS). Now I can produce audio recordings for my students to hear and respond to. Early tests show the sound quality and volume with this microphone, though antiquated, is fine. The AVS software was free, by the way. http://www.avs4you.com/AVS-Audio-Recorder.aspx 3. eLearn/Moodle online learning system: This online course accompaniment system was already in place for my university and will be where the course content "exist" for lack of a better word. In eLearn, I can create forums, post assignments, post feedback, and create chat rooms. There are even more collaborative features to use with eLearn, though, including student journals and blogs. 4. Various 'Chronicle of Higher Education' and 'Inside Higher Ed' articles on online learning: “To Mooc or not to Mooc?” http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/11/29/essay-challenges-posed-moocs-liberal-arts-colleges “Unlikely Pairing” (Wesleyan and Wellesley, two liberal arts colleges, implement MOOC) http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/12/06/wellesley-and-wesleyan-hope-moocs-will-inform-campus-based-teaching "Online Learning: More Than MOOCs" http://chronicle.com/article/More-Than-MOOCs/134014/ "The Future is Now and Has Been for Years" http://chronicle.com/article/The-Future-Is-NowHas/134070/ "Before You Jump on the Bandwagon" http://chronicle.com/article/Before-You-Jump-on-the/134090/ "The Crisis in Higher Education" (courtesy of John Adkins) http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/429376/the-crisis-in-higher-education/ 5. A Discussion/Feedback rubric: I've consulted other online courses and found a discussion/feedback rubric that I plan on incorporating into my class. This rubric, from Southern New Hampshire University, will provide me with a way to provide focused grading and feedback on student responses to each other's work. Addendum: Currently, the main campus of my university does not have a full recording lab for online teaching, so I had to somewhat improvise and teach myself with the AVS recording system and microphone mentioned above. Blog Archive