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Prior to 1st Day
The following is a suggested
list of things you should have ready before your distance education course
begins, which will help you start your course off on the right foot.
Syllabus is completed Developing
and posting online a course syllabus
at least a week before the class helps students understand what the course
is about. Your syllabus should have the following information:
- Your contact information (name, phone,
e-mail, address).
- Technical and software requirements
for the course.
- Course goals and objectives.
- Outline of the course content (Topics
or modules).
- Schedule for interaction sessions (chats,
discussions, forums).
- Any class "ground rules." (See Teaching
Strategies in this section.)
- Your expectations of the students for
the course.
- You may also wish to list course readings
and links to related Web sites.
Welcome page is created
In addition to a syllabus, you should develop
a welcome page, consisting of a few
sentences. Tell the students that you're glad they're participating. Reinforce
the value the students will receive for being in the course. Convey excitement
about them contributing to the course. Probably most important is to reassure
them that they can succeed, especially for those who have never taken a
distance education course.
Course
materials are requested Make sure arrangements have
been made to have textbooks and other course materials available at college
bookstores and remote sites.
Office
hours are established Establish
office hours for your on-campus and off-campus students. You may have
"virtual" office hours in a chat room or a block of "instant"
email access, or make sure you're available for phone calls at a certain
time. Allow students to call you during regularly scheduled blocks of
time at your office.
You have rehearsed at least one presentation
It's also suggested that you rehearse your
presentation before the first day of class. If it's a totally online course,
you may want to walk through a trial discussion forum (chat) with some
selected students. Ask them for their input about how the interaction
felt. For a videoconference or videotape course, you may want to put yourself
in the videoconference classroom and practice your presentation to an
empty classroom. Instructional designers will assist you in your rehearsals.
 Next,
review tips for delivering a video-based
course or move on to learn about delivering
a web-based course.
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