Although I started teaching online over the summer, I am really getting into the swing of it this semester. I am really enjoying it! So what is it about online teaching that is different from face-to-face teaching?
Besides the obvious, both students and the instructor have to work A LOT harder at communicating. There's no f2f lecture to be able to ask questions as they pop up, or to remind students of due dates, or what I call the "door" questions - when you get mobbed by students right when you walk in or right before you leave after class. Although I use Blackboard constantly for my f2f classes, it's different from online.
I make an effort to send out weekly, here's what we finished here's what's happening this week, announcements. I also let them know, via announcement, when any major assignment, a paper or a speech, has been graded and posted. I also spend a lot more time sending and receiving email. My hubby has decided that my laptop should just be surgically implanted into me somewhere, but I just feel it's too important to keep in contact with them as often as they want to talk. Then, there's the discussion boards. I don't reply to every post or every reply to a post, but I do make comments about good work, clarifying a point if they seem to be off, or even adding my own funny story to help humanize me.
Students sometimes forget we instructors are people, too.
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