TEACHING ONLINE
Course 2:
MASTERING PEDAGOGY IN THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
Course duration
Author name
Course overview
Unit 1 title
Screen title
1a.
Getting started: Who
are my students?
3 hours
Professor Peter Shea, Ph.D., University at Albany, State University of New York
This course will introduce you to online pedagogy and assist you to understand instructional foundations, concepts, and themes in online
education. The art and science of teaching online share much in common with high quality classroom pedagogy, but these learning
environments are clearly not identical. This course will enable you to grasp commonalities and recognize crucial distinctions that will make you
a better designer and instructor in the online environment. After participating in this course you will comprehend the unique pedagogical
dimensions of online education and be positioned to engage in course design and instruction with greater confidence, skill, and knowledge.
The transition from face-to-face to online teaching
Screen learning outcome
Notes on screen content
To understand how to focus on the
Screen will introduce designing the course with the students’ needs, goals, and interests in mind.
learning needs, goals and interests of
 Understanding your audience/students.
your students in online learning.
 Designing for your students.
 Getting to know your distance/online students is possible, even likely, when you design for the
development of a learning community.
 Understanding that online learning is not impersonal, but perhaps “hyper-personal”.
 Understanding the advantages of better access to learning in the online environment.
Video interview with Karen Swan (or another expert) on the question of “knowing” students in
online courses.
1b.
The online
environment is the
same…but
To understand that good pedagogy in the
online environment shares a great deal
with good pedagogy in the classroom and
elsewhere.
Activity: Needs assessment quiz – “What kind of learner are you?”
Or Needs Assessment activity – Design a needs assessment for your students.
Screen will focus on what we know about good pedagogy in general. There will be a discussion of
the qualities of good pedagogy:
 Learner centred
 Knowledge centred
 Assessment centred
 Community centred
Image from Bransford, Brow, Cocking et al. (eds) (2000) How People Learn.
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1c.
…The online
environment is also
different
1d.
Transformation, not
duplication
To understand that the pedagogy of
online learning has some distinctive
qualities:
 Teaching Presence
 Social Presence
 Cognitive Presence
 Learning Presence
To understand that classroom-based
materials must be transformed for online
environments.
 Orientation and Syllabus
 Modular Design
 Office Hours
Activity: Finding the right balance – Which “centre” is crucial to support student learning in your
own course(s) and why? Can we sacrifice one in favour of another? How? Why?
This screen will explain the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model.
Presentational activity
Overlays CoI on ‘How People Learn’ framework.
Activity: Self-assessment quiz on CoI.
[Further information on the CoI model can be found in Course 4: ‘Being a successful online
instructor’.]
 Discussion and examples of the need for greater explicitness and redundancy.
 Need for more complete orientation and syllabus with examples.
 Need for complete schedule with due dates and ranges for asynchronous discussion.
 Need for setting expectations etc.
 Examples of various elements of the orientation and syllabus section.
Activity: Presentation of two syllabi highlighting the flow needed for an asynchronous online
course and the added detail required to compensate for the lack of face-to-face negotiation of
meaning
1e.
Instructional design
101: Start with the
end and work back
To be introduced to the role of
instructional design for pedagogy in the
online environment.
1f.
Some dos and don’ts
for online teachers
To understand common mistakes in
online teaching and how to avoid them.
Application: Participants will work on their own course syllabus
Participants will learn how to create a plan that will be solid yet allow for increased flexibility.
 Modular design of courses.
 Consistency with variety.
 Working back from overarching goals and objectives to design supporting learning
activities.
 Goal-setting template and activity.
[This screen will be linked with learning from Course 3: ‘Designing and Developing your course’.]
Discussion and examples of activities that do and do not work well and why:
 The Course and a Half
 Lack of Structure
 Mistakes in Group Work
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
Others
Video interviews with instructors on one learning activity that worked and one learning activity
that they would not do again.
1g.
Unit review
Unit 2 title
Screen title
2a.
The promises of
online learning
2b.
Interaction in all its
forms
Scenario activity: Participants are presented with a series of scenarios of ‘common mistakes’; they
select their preferred course of action and are given feedback on their choices.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
How learning takes place in the online environment
Screen learning outcome
Notes on screen content
To gain an understanding of the
Screen will focus on the motivating visions as well as mechanisms for promoting learning across
‘promises’ of presentation, intelligent
distance education modalities, including online learning.
tutoring, and epistemic engagement.
 Presentation.
 Intelligent tutoring.
 Epistemic engagement.
To be able to promote epistemic
engagement through various forms of
interaction.
Video case study: MOOCs as case studies that unwittingly reflect the promises of online learning.
Screen will focus on promoting epistemic engagement (will be defined in previous section) through
various forms of interaction.
 Student-Content
 Student-Instructor
 Student-Student
 Student-Interface
 Student-Agent
 Vicarious Interaction
Activity: Examples of activities that promote or support each form of interaction
2c.
Formative feedback
To understand that feedback is the most
powerful tool in online and traditional
settings.
Brief review of research on feedback and examples of forms of feedback that support learning.
 Formative feedback activities
 Multiple Drafts of papers
 Revisions of Projects
 Other Staged Learning Activities
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
2d.
Collaboration and
knowledge
construction
2e.
Learning “presence”:
Online regulated
learning
To understand the rationale for
collaboration and the conceptual
foundations for community-centric
learning environments.
To understand the rationale, conceptual
foundations, and ways to promote online
learner self-regulation.
Reflective Journals
Video of various experts responding to the question “Why is feedback so important?”
Screen will contain a brief review of the rationale for collaboration.
Activity: Presentational activity explaining the concepts of:
 Community and Learning
 Roots of Collaborative Learning
 Cooperative Learning
Case studies of successful collaborative learning activities.
Brief review of self and co-regulation of learning and its special relevance to online environments.
 Self-regulated Learning
 Self Efficacy
 Online Learning Demands
Activity: Examples of self-tests for self-regulation in the online environment.
2f.
Unit review
Unit 3 title
Screen title
3a.
The non-traditional
student
3b.
The professional
student
Pod: Cross reference to Course 6, ‘Studying online’ – a course for students.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
The learner: Understanding learner characteristics
Screen learning outcome
Notes on screen content
To understand in more detail some of the Case study of non-traditional student with:
demographics that shape non-traditional
 kids
student needs.
 low paying job
 other stressors
and how this can affect performance in online learning.
To understand how to adapt for the
learner characteristics of a ‘professional
student’.
Activity: Top Tips for Working with the Non-Traditional Student.
Case study of professional student with drive, self-organization, and conflicting responsibilities and
how such students may contribute to or struggle with online learning.
Activity: Top Tips for working with Professionals.
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3c.
The adult student
To understand the importance of
andragogy with an adult population.
3d.
Clueless: The
dependent student
3e.
“Expert”: the
dominant student
3f.
Unit review
Unit 4 title
Screen title
4a.
Designer
To learn how to support students who
may be less self-regulated.
4b.
Coach
4c.
Sage
4d.
Self-regulation aid
To build up strategies for coping with
students who attempt to dominate in the
online environment.
Case study of adult student with reference to Knowles and concept of andragogy – need for choice
in learning activities.
Activity: Top Tips for working with Adult Students.
Case study and discussion of Dzuiban and Moskal’s work on less successful student types.
Activity: Top Tips for working with Dependent Students.
Case study of dominant students and strategies for managing this student type.
Activity: Top Tips for working with Dominant Students.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
The instructor: The changing role of the instructor
Screen learning outcome
Notes on screen content
To understand the instructor’s role as a
Activity: Feature comparison –comparison of the two roles ‘instructor’ and ‘designer’.
designer of learning activities.
Activity: Diagnostic exercise to assess how comfortable the participant is with the different aspects
of these roles. Activity identifies areas for improvement and offers supporting feedback with links
to resources.
To help you to identify the skills and
Activity: Comic graphic novel branching scenario – The coaching metaphor of online instruction.
capabilities within the learner, and how
Participant is presented with a series of scenarios and choses the ‘correct’ course of action to get
to enable them to use them to the best of the best out of their student.
their ability.
Video: Interview with expert practitioners giving tips on when and how to be a good coach.
To understand your role in direct
Developing materials for the provision of direct instruction that are appropriate to the online
instruction and how to incorporate it into environment:
your course.
 Mini-lectures
 Stand alone video
 Stand alone PPT
 Narrated Prezi
To understand how to support students in
need of additional self-regulation.
Video case study: The Khan Academy approach to online instruction.
Present/Depiction of Cycle of:
 Planning
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4e.
Motivational guide
4f.
Unit review
Unit 5 title
Screen title
5a.
Learners
5b.
Instructional Designer
5c.
Multimedia
Designer/Educational
Technologist
5d.
Help Desk staff
To understand the role of motivation –
intrinsic and extrinsic – and how to use
motivation to enhance learner success.
 Monitoring and Strategy use
 Reflection
Case study: “The Undermining Effects of External Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation”.
Activity: Game – motivate the student. Select the most appropriate motivational elements to get
the best out of the student.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
The different roles of those who contribute to a successful learning experience
Screen learning outcome
Notes on screen content
To understand common:
Activity: Quiz on the question “What does it mean to be “Learner Centred?”
 Needs
 Goals
 Contributions etc.
of learners.
To understand the role of an instructional Description of the role of the instructional designer and how you can work with them.
designer in helping to:
Video vignette from instructional designers and how they view their work.
 Plan
 Design
Pod: ‘Your context’- institutions upload their own contact information for instructional design
 Evaluate
services on campus. This pod will be set as a default with links to ID resources open to all.
online courses.
To understand the role of a multimedia
designer in designing:
 Illustrations
 Animation
 Simulations etc.
in a course.
To understand how the help desk can be
used to support learners.
Pod: Portfolio activity – Seek out an instructional designer at your institution and discuss with
them your needs and ideas for your online course.
Description of the role of the multimedia designer.
Video vignette of how they view/do their work.
Activity: How to write a brief for a multimedia designer.
Activity: Interactive image of call centre staff and clear description of the importance of Help Desk
in making online teaching sustainable.
Pod: ‘Your context’ – institutions upload their own contact information for IT help desk services on
campus.
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5e.
Disability support
services staff
5f.
Advisors and others
5g.
Unit review
Unit 6 title
Screen title
6a.
Introduction to
different pedagogical
approaches
To understand how the disability services
staff can be used to ensure that your
course follows universal accessibility
standards.
To understand the many other roles that
may be a part of the online learning
environment:
 Advisors
 Librarians
 Counsellors etc.
Description of the role of the disability support services staff.
Video: Case study of a practitioner who followed steps to design a course with inbuilt universal
accessibility. Advice. Common pitfalls. Points to consider.
Pod: ‘Your context’ – institutions upload their own contact information for disability support
services on campus.
Activity: The role of Digital age advisors, librarians, counsellors.
Pod: ‘Your context’ – institutions upload their own contact information for library/resource support
services on campus.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
Common pedagogical approaches
Screen learning outcome
Participants will be given an overview of
the different pedagogical models that are
covered in this unit.
6b.
Blended learning
To understand how to adapt your
pedagogical approach for a ‘Blended
Learning’ course.
6c.
Problem-based
learning design
To understand and be able to design a
‘problem-based learning’ program.
Notes on screen content
Activity: Descriptions of each of the models.
Similarities and differences between the different curriculum models.
Participants will be set up to be able to evaluate which curriculum suits their own course
adaptation needs.
Podcast: A discussion of key pedagogical approaches in online learning.
Blended learning:
 Planning
 Organizing
 Managing
 Defining the objectives of a facilitator
 Introducing students to a Blended Learning approach
 How to ‘Flip the Classroom’
Case study of advantages and disadvantages of Blended Learning.
Problem Based Learning Design (students learn through problem solving):
 Planning
 Organizing
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



6d.
Assessment-based
learning design
To understand and be able to design an
‘assessment-based learning’ program.
Managing
Defining the objectives of a facilitator
Introducing Students to the PBL Program
Changing the assessment to suit the PBL curriculum
Case study of advantages and disadvantages of PBL.
Activity: Planning your own PBL curriculum.
Assessment-based learning design (students learn):
 Planning
 Organizing
 Managing
 Defining the objectives of a facilitator
 Introducing Students to the Assessment Based Learning Program
 Changing the assessment to suit the Assessment Based Learning curriculum
Case study of advantages and disadvantages of Assessment Based Learning.
6e.
Inquiry-based
learning design
6f.
Discussion-based/
eclectic approaches
To understand and be able to design an
‘inquiry-based learning’ program
Activity: When is it appropriate to use assessment-based learning and when is another approach
more effective?
Inquiry-based learning:
 Planning
 Organizing
 Managing
 Defining the objectives of a facilitator
 Introducing Students to Inquiry Based Learning
 Changing the assessment to suit the Inquiry Based curriculum
Case study of advantages and disadvantages of Inquiry Based Learning.
Activity: Planning your own Inquiry Based Learning program.
To understand and be able to use
Discussion-based/eclectic approaches to learning:
discussion or other eclectic approaches in
 Planning
your online program.
 Organizing
 Managing
 Defining the objectives of a facilitator
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

6g.
Unit review
Introducing Students to Inquiry Based Learning
Changing the assessment to suit the Discussion-Based curriculum
Case study of advantages and disadvantages of Discussion Based/Eclectic Approaches.
Activity: Designing good discussion-based activities.
This screen will review and check understanding of key concepts covered in the preceding screens.
Application: Considering and planning your own pedagogical approach
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