Guest Author - Andrea Andrews

I am not an online educator myself – but have had plenty of experience in the role of the online student. Over time, I have learned what a great online class experience consists of. More often than not, it is truly what the student makes of it – but there are some things that you, as an online educator, can do to help make the experience be both successful for you and your students. Here are some important points to think about when structuring your online classroom.

1. Be available. Email tends to be the most convenient form of communication for both the student and the teacher. Make sure that you indicate ahead of time the timeframe which a student can expect a reply. There will be times that you will need more time to find or research an answer, but keeping that line of communication open will ensure a much smoother experience for the both of you. If possible, you could also be available by phone in case the student would like to contact you in that manner. I have never called a professor myself, but there are times that a phone call could be more productive and solve a problem much quicker than email. One of the most important ways to be available is to hold regular “office hours.” While many students take an online course for flexibility, and perhaps you are teaching one for the same reason – it is important to be available at a consistent time so that your students can rely on being able to contact you. This can be in the form of being available by email or phone – or a popular option is to hold a chat session. However you decide to be available for your students – be sure to stick to what you stated in the beginning of the course, and it will work best for everyone.

2. Discussion sessions. Whether these are mandatory or optional – holding a discussion session can be a great way to foster a productive learning environment. You can host a discussion, have a teaching assistant (if available) host one, or even enlist a student to help facilitate one. The goal of the discussion section is to allow the students a forum to apply what they are learning or perhaps discuss the week’s reading or assignments. Again, this will be held online and having a consistent weekly time that it is scheduled will be important. You could survey the students to decide when a good time for a discussion session could be – and holding multiple sessions may be helpful. Flexibility is key to an online course so make sure that this isn’t something that will hold the student from success – and that it is a tool to help them, not hurt them.

3. Online Forum. Like the discussion sessions – having a forum online is a great tool to allow the students to discuss various topics amongst each other. You can also chime in when necessary. Having a mandatory number of forum posts is one way to ensure the students are actively participating in the forum and utilizing it as a way to answer some of the questions. It is a way that the students can support one another and it helps foster the traditional classroom element of helping each other out.

While there are many things you can do to be a successful online educator, I hope these tips will help you become even better. Online education can only get better and you are one way to help improve the experience for both you and your students.