In early 2005 The eLearning Guild conducted a survey of its members on the subject of Synchronous Instruction. A total of 644 members responded to the questionnaire. The last question in the questionnaire asked members who have online instruction experience to list their favorite tips to share with other online instructors; a remarkable total of 336 members contributed usable tips.
As might be expected the tips ranged from a single word (Plan! or Practice!) to as many as fifteen separate tips running over 350 words! They also ranged from the simple and obvious to the unusual and subtle. They covered the complete gamut of behavior for an online instructor. We are providing these tips to everybody who is interested in being more effective at doing online synchronous instruction.
The raw list of tips was overwhelming, so we examined several schemes for categorizing them, none of which worked very well. Finally, we decided to let the tips fall into more or less natural categories as suggested by the tips themselves. Most of the categories relate to functional roles: instructor, manager, and design and development team. The remainder gives more generic advice about implementation and miscellaneous matters. Many tips clearly fall into a specific category, but we could equally well place a large number of tips into several different categories. We put them where we thought they fit best, knowing full well that people may disagree with us.
The vast majority of the tips apply to the online instructor. This seems wholly appropriate. At the same time, we believe that everyone concerned with synchronous e-Learning will benefit by reading through all the tips. There is repetition and overlap between the tips, and we left things that way so that the reader could judge (without our editorializing) how much emphasis practitioners placed on the various aspects of synchronous e-Learning.
We have devised a way to credit the members who contributed the tips (the Tipsters). We follow most tips with a number indicating who contributed it, and an indexed list of Tipsters appears at the end of this book. Note that a few numbers are missing from the index, and that some members did not provide their names when doing the survey so there are a few tips without numbers. All tips are in the Tipster’s own words, with editing only for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
We deeply appreciate the effort that contributors made to create these tips. We hope you find at least one valuable idea — and, hopefully, many valuable ideas — that can help you when doing online instruction.
Contents
I. How to Use These Tips
- A. Introduction
II. Tips for Instructors
- A. Prepare thoroughly for facilitating synchronous events
- 1. Be familiar with the software, tools and technology
2. Be prepared to teach in the online medium
3. Know the content
4. Develop a “Plan B”
5. Get some experience as a learner
6. Plan, prepare, practice
7. Know your learners
B. Ensure an effective delivery
- 1. Get started on the right foot
2. Manage the main event: Content delivery
C. Pay attention to four special skills
- 1. Give and receive feedback
2. Be effective when correcting learners
3. Handle silence without fear
4. Deal with problems effectively and professionally
D. Do your follow-up
III. Tips for Managers
- A. Selecting online instructors for success
- 1. Choose instructors based on competencies
2. Choose instructors with the right attitudes
3. Choose instructors with the right knowledge and skills
4. Take into account other considerations when choosing instructors
B. Set the instructor up for success
- 1. Ensure that there is organization support for synchronous e-Learning
2. Ensure there will be IT support
3. Establish a complete delivery team
IV. Tips for Design and Development Teams
- A. Apply these design tips
B. Provide support for learning
C. Make Forums a useful tool for learners
D. Consider other tips (incl. advice and asynchronous items)
V. Tips for Implementation
- A. Manage the class size
B. Manage the class length
C. Provide an effective physical setup for the instructor
VI. Miscellania
VII. Thanks to Our Tipsters
About Guild Membership
