Online Teaching Blog

Almost every day I read articles on how to become a better online teacher and engage students so they will benefit from our time together and consequently take away useful and applicable information from the course. Often times technology is a barrier rather than an aid to help students through their online experience; however, once this phase is mastered, it is then up to the instructor to find ways to connect, contribute, and encourage students to remain with the course through its entirety—and be happy. This piece highlights several best practices that I have found to be useful since teaching online more than a decade ago.

Before enrolling, a student’s consideration of a school’s online learning management system could help alleviate a lot of frustration in the long run. While technology shouldn’t be the only consideration, it should certainly play a roll when selecting a school or program of study. The online learning management system at times can both maximize and minimize learner frustration.

Many students do not want to hear that they have to complete a group project in a course. When they find out that this is a requirement, there might be some grumbling and resistance. Depending on the discipline, instructors might even balk at the idea of having to include group projects in their courses. Essentially, with group projects, instructors and students are giving up some level of control and independence. Group projects have the potential to offer positive impacts on student learning and long-lasting skills. But, when things go wrong, instructors need to be equipped to deal with issues that run the risk of becoming detrimental to student learning or well-being. Like weather forecasters, instructors have to be prepared to predict the unpredictable. This article will offer some insight into things that could go wrong in group processes.

So you’ve been an educator at the elementary, middle, or high school level for eight, 10, 12 or more years. You likely have an undergraduate degree in education and possibly a Master’s degree, also in education. Now, you would like to venture into the world of online teaching and learning. You know all about pedagogy and best practices, curriculum and instruction, etc…this makes you the perfect candidate, right? Maybe.

In the “old days” of applying to industry jobs, it was common to find the name of the hiring manager and fire off snail mail or an email with your letter of interest and resume. Back in 2005 when we started helping professors find teaching jobs, most of our candidates used this method: they sent emails off to deans and administrators they had contact information for, and were either sent a rejection note or a reply with information on how to proceed with candidacy.

Welcome back to this short discussion of plagiarism and today’s student. In Part I , I shared many of the old tricks still floating around the internet that students may be attempting to use to cheat the plagiarism software. I shared how that software works and even why some feel it does not work well at all. I also shared some of the more devious issues that are now cropping up making our jobs much more difficult.

However, I didn’t yet discuss what can be done to minimize the issues of plagiarism or what we can do to help identify it, especially if the software doesn’t catch it.

This two part series delves into the issues surrounding plagiarism in today’s learning environment.  It breaks down several of the methods today’s student will attempt to use in order to cheat, and explores the differences between the “accidental plagiarist” and those who “game the system.”  It also offers help to mitigate some of the issues that plague today’s instructor in an environment where using the Internet to cheat seems to be becoming the new normal.

There are always those factors you may be worried about, however. “Do I have enough publications?” “How will Human Resources view my Human Development degree when the job ad calls for a degree in Psychology?” “Do I have enough credit hours?” “Maybe I should have left out that last school I worked for on my cover letter.”

Do you want to diversify your online teaching workload? Tired of being stuck with one school? Looking to break in to the world of online teaching? Bored with your current teaching load? Consider diversification as a key component to your ability to expand and grow your career. The broader your experiences and the more willing you are to take on new and different opportunities, the greater chance that you will have to expand and grow your career.