The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Designing and Teaching Online Courses

Book excerpt: In this valuable resource, experts share deep knowledge including practical “how-to” and preventive trouble-shooting tips. Instructors will learn about course design and development, instructional methods for online teaching, and student engagement and community building techniques. The book contains successful teaching strategies, guidance for facilitating interactions and responding to diversity, and assessments, as well as future directions for online learning. With many field-tested examples and practice assignments, and with voices from students, teachers, and experts, this book arms instructors and administrators with the tools they need to teach effective and empowering online courses. This one-stop resource addresses all of the core elements of online teaching in terms that are universally applicable to any content area and at any instructional level. “A rare book in education: one that is not only highly useful but also intellectually coherent and based on robusta>, transferable principles of learning and teaching. All educators—in online environments and in brick-and-mortar schools—will find this an invaluable resource.” —From the Foreword by Grant Wiggins “We now know we can get increased participation with online tools to make thinking more visible and switch the traditional delivery of instruction to personalize learning. While it is inevitable that online learning will become an important skill for everyone, the ideas, concepts, strategies, design elements, and tools in the book by Thormann and Zimmerman can also be applied to blended learning.” —Alan November, Senior Partner and Founder, November Learning “The authors of this book have created an excellent resource for anyone interested in becoming an online instructor or improving his or her skills in online teaching. The authors share a wealth of step-by-step activities, examples of assignments and teaching strategies that will guide both novice and experienced teachers as they expand their skills into the online realm. Even as a ‘veteran’ online instructor the book provided me with new ideas to try in my next online class.” —Sam Gladstein, Coordinator, Edmonds eLearning Program at Edmonds School District, WA “Cheers to Thormann and Zimmerman for providing a must-read for online teaching. This clear and practical guide takes the instructor from design to implementation of online courses. The authors remove the anxiety about online teaching for those thinking about on-screen instruction, and provide new thinking and examples for those already immersed in it. It is a great guide for those entering the field and a superb resource for those actively engaged in it.” —Anthony J. Bent, Chairman, Global Studies-21st Century Skills Committee of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Book Features: The building blocks necessary to create a successful online course. The know-how of long-time online instructors. Models for Skype conferencing with groups of students. Templates for course building, including sample assignments, activities, assessments, and emails. Detailed treatment of diversity in the online environment Joan Thormann is professor in the division of Technology in Education at Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She edits a column on technology and special needs for Learning and Leading with Technology. Isa Kaftal Zimmerman is the principal of IKZ Advisors in Boston, Massachusetts, an educational consulting firm serving educators and stakeholders in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.