Teaching Online: Design & Delivery of Effective Online Courses: Teaching Online

At Virginia Western, online learning includes courses that are 40 percent or more online. Here is a summary of key terms:

• Face-to-Face: More than 40 percent of scheduled class time is on-campus or face-to-face.
• Hybrid Course: Courses that have reduced “face time” that is replaced by time spent outside the traditional classroom. About 41 to 99 percent of scheduled class time is online. Remaining class time requires face-to-face meetings. Course ID has an indicator with “HY”, e.g. ENG.111.HY1
• Fully Online: 100 percent of scheduled class time is online. No on-campus class time is required. Course ID has an indicator with “V”, e.g. ENG.111.V1

Chris Porter
Dean of Learning Resources & Online Learning
Email: cporter@virginiawestern.edu
Phone: (540) 857-6697
Carrie Halpin
Instructional Designer & Technologist
Email: chalpin@virginiawestern.edu
Phone: (540) 857-6636
Erin Leftwich
Instructional Technologist & Canvas Administrator
Email: eleftwich@virginiawestern.edu
Phone: (540) 857-6687

Good teaching is good teaching, whether it happens in courses that are face-to-face, technology-enhanced, hybrid or fully online. The difference in teaching online is that an online course is delivered via the Internet, is comprised of instructional materials designed and developed to be student-centered, and uses a variety of tools and techniques to facilitate communication, increase student engagement, and convey the subject matter.

This InfoGuide is developed to assist instructors in preparing and teaching their online courses.

In the following video, Dr. Michael Wesch, an associate professor from Kansas State University, describes “10 Tips for Online Teaching”.

Wesch, M. (2019, August 23). Teaching Without Walls: 10 Tips for Online Teaching [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7vooDcxUaA

Teaching an online course requires all the skills and knowledge necessary to teach in a classroom…and then some more. This self-assessment (created by Penn State University) for online teaching will allow you to evaluate and reflect upon your competencies in key areas of online teaching and provide a baseline of your pedagogical, technical, and administrative skills. As part of your results, you will receive additional guidance/resources for each competency to better prepare you for the online teaching environment. Click on the link below to access the survey:

Faculty Self-Assessment: Preparing for Online Teaching

VWCC online courses are presented through Canvas, a centralized learning management system. After logging into the MyVWCC portal, you can access your course site through Canvas. Online course content may include announcements, syllabi, assignments, course materials, exams, access to web conferencing through Zoom integration in Canvas, discussion forums, and gradebooks. The online courses should be developed to mirror the same learning outcomes and quality as face-to-face courses.