Moving into an Online Learning Environment

While teaching on a F2F classroom, several things are taken for granted, and thus one assumes they are actually happening. Among this key “things” the instructor cannot overlook the importance of his/her personal presence, the concluding remarks by learners at the end of a course, one’s feedback for pupils, and our social presence via social media. But how can we move all these into a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) to trigger some great learning in one’s students?

Connect with students:

As it may happen in a F2F course, teachers oftentimes create different sorts of presentations to let students know who they are, and that can also be true in a virtual environment. An instructor can create a video, a slideshow, or a Voki avatar to introduce him/herself, to explain what his/her teaching philosophy is, to let students know what his/her interests and hobbies are, and to share with them what motivate him/her to become a teacher.

In an online scenario, the use of videos, audio recordings, slideshow –with or without audio-, and Voki avatars can become a great way to start creating, fostering, and nourishing a Class Culture (Anderson 2004) that can consolidate one’s student learning community. This experience of sharing a bit of one’s life can create this “human” bond that people at times think cannot be developed in an online course.

Student feedback sessions:

At the end of a F2F course it is indispensable to have some sort of feedback session with one’s students to get their concluding remarks about their experiences in class. This student feedback can be gathered by means of a written or recorded reflection, as a class discussion in which the instructor is present, in some sort of forum discussion, or by using Survey Monkey. Any of these methods can help the teacher to gather student impressions to improve or/and modify the way things are done in the course.

In VLEs the same sort of feedback-gathering techniques can be effectively applied. No matter on what kind of teaching scenario one is working on, the central idea behind “concluding remarks” is to gather student feedback to showcase betterment in one’s teaching and coaching practices. And let’s not forget to thank students for their feedback.

Teacher’s Feedback:

In F2F courses, at the end of learning tasks, it is essential that learners get some sort of feedback to know if they are doing things as expected. In this particular kind of teaching scenario, one usually provides this type of input to students on a one-to-one basis with the sole intention of giving general suggestions and comments to enhance students’ learning process. This feedback makes students feel their progress and teacher’s guidance to achieve the course goals.

In an online classroom, feedback is obviously not provided on a F2F basis, but it can be very effectively provided to students in different ways. Feedback can be made available for learners via email (privately or publicly – depending on the teacher’s intention -), or it can be supplied via recordings (a video or audio recording). A simple and easy to use online tool to provide audio feedback for one’s students is Vocaroo. This can be sent to students via their favorite social media, email, and the like.

Social media presence:

The fact in today’s world is that students are in sync with some sort of social media. And their presence in this type of media can be utilized by instructors to make themselves visible for their students, too. In a F2F environment, teachers are available in class, or they have some student attention hours to guide students, clarify doubts, or simple to coach them when needed. But what can be expected in an online teaching scenario?

By using a type of social media such as Ning, or even the LMS that is provided by one’s university or school, instructors can use them to enhance their social presence, visibility, and class culture as well. By means of social media, teachers and students can share information (links, PDFs, docx, etc.). Instructors can also send students reminders regarding deadlines and class events. Social media can also be used to provide feedback and guidance when learners require it. Social media is indeed a great way to let students know that you are there in case they are in need.

Of course there are more factors to consider when one is moving from a F2F teaching environment to an online VLE. As it was shown here, the same kind of activities one carries out in a F2F class can be present in online teaching scenarios. In addition, potential tools that can be utilized along an online course have also been provided to try them out or to start searching for better ones that can provide instructors with better results.

E To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:

1	Effective Virtual Hours in VLEs
2	Weekly Checklists in Online Teaching
3	Grading Rubrics in Blended Learning
4	Collaborative Group Assignments in VLEs
5	Online Support in Hybrid Learning