Learning to Teach Online is an open educational resource available to anyone with an interest in designing high quality online teaching and learning experiences for K-12 students. It is a self-paced course, designed to meet the needs of preservice teachers in Ontario, Canada and particularly those enrolled in the Bachelor of Education program at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Education. The course is composed of six modules (Relationships, Equity & Accessibility, Planning, Assessment, Modelling Norms, and Standards of Practice). Each module is designed around a central theme, practice, or idea. Generally, each module takes about two hours to complete. Estimated reading, reflection and practice times are provided at the start of modules 1-6.
Type of Material:
Online Course
Recommended Uses:
This material is best used as a self-paced learning material. However, elements could be incorporated into lecture or whole-class work.
Technical Requirements:
internet connection, audio/video players
Identify Major Learning Goals:
This course has been developed to meet some of the needs of preservice teacher candidates who must now prepare to teach online in ways that might have seemed “optional” before the global COVID-19 public health crisis caused schools to pivot to online instruction at scale.
This course, however, is meant to help us stay focused on core pedagogical considerations that will enable online learning — in whatever form required — to be as supportive as it can be, all things considered. This is the first iteration of the course, but it will surely evolve over time.
Target Student Population:
College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
No special skills are needed, just an interest in onine learning from the teacher perspective.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The quality of the online course is relevant and meets educationally significant concepts, models, and skills teacher preparation. The course starts at the beginning with learning objectives and course organization which should provide the pre-requisite knowledge for learning how to teach online. The course organization is easy to follow.
Concerns:
This OER was developed to support pre-service teachers at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. As such, and in alignment with professional standards for ethics established by the Ontario College of Teachers. The creators expect that it "...could, potentially, be of interest to people around the world (and not just at uOttawa)... where curriculum standards and methods may vary greatly from the norms for Ottawa and Canada.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
Objectives are clearly outlined. The material is set up in topical modules. For those looking to practice a specific skill, the user can use the navigation menu at the top of the main page to jump to a spcific topic rather than proceed through the scaffolded modules from the beginning.
This purpose of this online course is defined and uses and learning goals are easy to identify:
Learning Objectives for this Course
By the end of this course, students will…
KNOW
Why it is so important to design for relationship building and social presence when teaching online;
About synchronous and asynchronous approaches to online course activities and when to use these approaches;
About accessibility standards for online courses; Important theories of learning that can inform the design of online courses for K-12 students (Universal Design, TPACK)
Current research that can be used to inform instructional approaches online for K-12 students;
Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) expectations for the use of videoconferencing and social media platforms for professional purposes.
KNOW HOW TO
Cultivate meaningful, authentic relationships with learners in online course environments using a range of strategies;
Prioritize social justice-oriented teaching practices, and create accessible, safe, psychological spaces for non-dominant, racialized, or traditionally marginalized learners in online courses;
Design and set up predictable, well-structured learning modules for K-12 students using learning management systems;
Assess and evaluate learning in digital contexts; Use a range of digital tools (e.g., screencasts, infographics, games, interactive messaging applications) to support student learning for a range of purposes (e.g., collaboration, multimodal writing, problem-solving, practice of particular skills);
Model respectful, effective communications for K-12 learners in online environments;
Decide when to use synchronous or asynchronous methods of instruction;
Navigate professional boundaries in digital environments; Find high-quality resources to inform online instruction;
Set up workflows for online teaching that are easy to maintain.
BECOME
Aware of the ways that issues of digital equity may impact student learning online;
More confident in their use of digital tools to teach a range of topics using evidence-informed teaching practices;
Better prepared for success in online practica during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Module Objectives are also included at the start of each module.
Concerns:
Learning objectives as stated above are not written in a manner typically used to develop an online course with Bloom's Taxonomy, action verbs and measurable as in the US. For example, Know, Know How To and Become used in phrases such as 'know why.." or 'become aware of''', would not be considered measurable. This probably would not be of a concern as long as the learners become aware of the differences.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
There are Six Modules in this Course. Each module is designed around a central theme, practice, or idea. Generally, each module takes about two hours to complete. Estimated reading, reflection and practice times are provided at the start of modules 1-6.
The course is run as a self-paced learning experience. This means that all content is made available to anyone online and students can work through the content at their own pace, asychronously.
Learning is divided into three specific categories including Think Big (reading, watching, etc), Reflection, and Practice.
Concerns:
Many of the images are not optimized for the web which causes VERY slow loading of the image. For example, there were more than two lines in the example of the Gmail inbox in Mod 1 but because of the long load time, we did not see the remaining lines initially.
Creative Commons:
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