What resources are available to help with my teaching?
In the past....Course material was designed to provide students almost the entire teaching input from the lecturer. It was written as a “guided didactic conversation” to enable the learner to work through the course as though engaging in a discussion with a content expert. It took a lot of skill to do this well, as the major technology used for interaction and communication was the written word, printed in hard copy.
Feedback on assignments was the major point of contact between student and lecturer, and the start of the semester was the time when students opened course readings and study guides and started work. As a teacher, you could ‘sit back’ and wait for contact from students and for assignments to arrive for you to mark.
Today... things are different! The amount of teaching you do during a distance course can vary considerably, depending on the way in which you have designed the course.
You may have a residential, block or contact course at the beginning of the semester; you may be starting your course with a web, audio or video conference; you may begin straight away with an online discussion, or a series of online ice-breaker activities. Or, you might have designed your course to let students undertake some reading over the first two weeks before planning any other learning activity of any kind.
Because the design and development of your course is so closely aligned with your teaching, you will have been thinking about teaching during that earlier phase of your work. However, teaching at a distance involves additional skills that you will wish to learn about.
Look through sections of this Handbook for information about resources and people who can help with your distance teaching.
Resources Available at Otago University:
HEDC Academic Development for Staff
Linked in Learning - Learning to teach online course
Distance Learning site on YAMMER - lots of posts on current and shared examples of teaching online
Contact the Distance Learning Office to find out more.