Considering the Philosophy of Teaching Online

This really is the first step. You must face the fact that teaching online is not identical to teaching in a traditional setting. Let's examine some of the differences between a typical brick-and-mortar class and an online course.

Traditional

  • Content delivery and discussion is synchronous.
  • The instructor is the primary content expert.
  • The instructor's primary role is to deliver content ("sage on the stage").
  • Students receive a considerable amount of content audibly.
  • The textbook and the lectures provide the basis for testing.
  • Classroom discussions are dominated by students who feel most comfortable expressing themselves verbally and spontaneously.
  • Student discussions of course content outside of class are generally unplanned and unmonitored by the instructor.
  • Communication between the teacher and individual students is typically conducted face-to-face or by telephone.
  • Authenticating student identity in class is relatively easy (although IDs are rarely checked).

Online

  • Content delivery and discussion may be synchronous or asynchronous.
  • The instructor is one of several content experts.
  • The instructor's primary role is to facilitate the students' discovery, analysis, and assessment of data.
  • Students receive almost all course content visibly.
  • The textbook and online readings provide the basis for testing. Online readings may include articles on websites as well as notes posted by the professor.
  • Course discussions are dominated by students who feel most comfortable expressing themselves in reflective, well edited writing.
  • Student discussions of course content are conducted in online discussion forums and/or virtual chat rooms. These may be monitored by the instructor.
  • Communication between the teacher and individual students is typically conducted by email, discussion board, or telephone.
  • Authenticating student identity requires considerable effort and often requires cooperation with proctoring agents.
Generally, you will need to plan for all your communication to be explicitly written out and published in ways that are accessible to the students. Any objects you wish to exhibit to the students will need to be reduced to digital format, i.e., photographed, scanned, imported, or otherwise rendered visible. Audio and video files will need to be created if you want the students to hear something or see a movie. It is best to plan on students accessing content from other websites and remote libraries. Textbook publishers in your field may have developed content modules for delivery online to supplement the course textbook. Check with our office on this.

One of the distinctives of teaching at Wayland is the opportunity to share one's faith in the classroom setting. Students recognize and appreciate both verbal and behavioral faith-sharing. We communicate our faith in the ways that we treat students: giving unambiguous instructions, sharing our content knowledge openly and honestly, grading fairly, honoring student achievement, providing feedback for improvement, treating students as fellow human beings. But we may also share our faith by describing it. Blackboard provides an area for instructors to give biographical information. Here you may post anything from a family snapshot to extracts of your dissertation to a full treatise on your theology and ministry involvement. I encourage you to think about what you would like to communicate to your students about your faith.