Designing Impactful Activities

Fostering a sense of community  in an online course can be challenging, however, creating an environment that serves a community of learners who are able to connect with one another, learn from one another and challenge one another is imperative in today’s digital academic space. The book Small Teaching Online provides so many important and practical tools, along with the theories and scientific evidence behind them, for  teaching humans effectively virtually. 

Without the visual cues that instructors can often pick up on in a classroom setting that may indicate to the instructor when they should slow down in their teaching as the students seem perplexed, or take a break when students seem disengaged and distracted, the online classroom can be very hard to read. It can become difficult to know when your students are struggling, when they are feeling stressed or when they need more help. It can also be difficult to see what material they are indeed grasping and what material is falling through the cracks. It is very important to structure your online course activities and assignments to reduce these uncertainties, to improve student learning and understanding and to help guide you in your teaching. My role as an Academic Technology Scholar is to help you think through the design and incorporation of impactful assessments in Canvas that will keep your students engaged, motivated and on track with your courses. We can discuss the many tools and technologies that Canvas has that will enable you to do so, but for now here are some key tips from Flowers Darby’s Small Teaching Online.

Be Transparent

As Small Teaching Online stresses from the outset; be mindful and intentional about the tasks and assessments you design for your students. Before asking students to complete a particular activity, asking yourself what you intend students to gain from and walk away with from a particular assignment will help you convey this information to them as well. Be transparent in your intentions – inform students why and how they are expected to learn from and complete a given task.

Formative + Summative Assessments

Use the technique (which was touched on in last week’s post) of scaffolding your course design to help students achieve learning goals over the course of the semester with formative assessments that lead towards larger summative assessment(s). Formative assessments can take many forms (e.g. quizzes, reflections, video posts, blog posts, polls, small assignments), however, they should be relatively low stakes and they should be presented often. Providing students ample opportunity to engage with the material, illustrate their learning, and receive feedback from you will prepare them for the summative assignments designed to assess their overall understanding of course material at the summation of a course. The formative assessments should align with learning objectives that you have set out for your students at the beginning of the course, making these connections clear for your students will instill motivation and a sense of self efficacy. This course structure enables you to do two things for your students:

[1] Provide Feedback

Providing effective and timely feedback to your students as they submit smaller/lower stakes course work shows them that you are indeed present in this course, that you care about their learning goals and achievements, and can provide them with tangible steps for making progress in their learning and the tools they need to succeed next time. Make it clear to your students how often and when they should expect feedback, and be open with them if you should fall behind on this ‘promise’ when life gets in the way.

[2] Keep a Pulse

Keeping track of student progress and setbacks will allow you to provide extra assistance where needed. It also allows you to self-reflect on your own teaching style and course content. Maybe the students all struggle with a particular concept or topic, and perhaps the content provided could be made clearer in the future. You can take advantage of many of the tools and technologies that are integrated in online learning management systems like Canvas, that may indicate to you which students (if any)  are falling behind, not reaching goals and missing deadlines. Small Teaching Online suggests instructors take advantage of these tools and provide a gentle Nudge to students who may need it. Sending personal, kind and thoughtful emails to reach out to students about their progress can help to remind them that you are there to help them learn and work through this course material. It may also serve as a safe place for them to inform you of any hardship or struggle outside of the course material  that may be contributing to a setback in their learning.

Darby, F. & Lang, J.M. (2019). Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes. Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Brand.