Enhancing Teaching with Online Course  Supplements

The ECTL has compiled a list of ways that you might use online supplements in your classes.  Schedule a consultation with Robin Hill (766-5499) to discuss further advantages of incorporating online supplements.

For additional information, see Instructional Computing Services FAQs.

You want to give students permanent access to the syllabus, or lectures, or summary materials.

You can get an online course for display purposes only, and let students see the syllabus, critical definitions, periodic reviews, and even some of your lecture notes. The materials can be set up well in advance and made accessible to students as you determine.

You want reliable, archived communication from you to your students throughout the semester, or you want controlled submission of student work.

You can post announcements prominently in an online course and also use the e-mail tool provided. Grades can be entered and distributed to students through that venue, as well. Students can submit assignments as files of various formats, stored in the course space for your retrieval.

You want to provide extra materials, including websites, pictures, audio files, and references for further exploration of the subject.

An online course can host pages of notes from you, written, audio, and visual, and also makes a convenient place to put links to interesting websites that expand upon the subjects of the course.

You want to increase participation, interaction, and collaboration.

You can set up discussions in an online course, for students, and you, to share reflections on course topics. Online course platforms also provide mechanisms for the definition of groups for collaborative projects, including exchange of documents.

You want better assessment of student learning.

Use an online course to give ungraded quizzes, where you can view the results and some statistics, and students can see feedback from you on both correct and incorrect answers. For summative assessments, such as exams that count toward the grade, online courses can score the multiple-choice and other machine-gradable questions.

You want to off-load some administrative details, with a TA to do some of the work.

Add an assistant in the Teaching Assistant or designer role, for such tasks as entering grades and monitoring discussion. Use the online gradebook to display student grades and current standing.

For additional information, see Instructional Computing Services FAQs.

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