I've been touching on some common bad habits that online teachers fall into. Tip #22 addressed the bad habit of checking email as the first thing you do in your teaching day or week. Tip #23 addressed the bad habits that flow from an obsession with … [Continue reading]
If you've read through some of these online teaching tips, or read my book, Excellent Online Teaching, you've picked up on the fact that I believe good online teaching is built on good habits. You've probably had a teacher in high school or college … [Continue reading]
If you want to be conventional, be sure that the first thing you do at the beginning of the week is to check your email.As an online teacher, I'll explain two big reasons why this is maybe the worst habit you could begin. 1. It puts you into a … [Continue reading]
Earlier this year I got a free advanced copy of Decisive from Chip and Dan Heath before it was released to the public. I got it because of a tripwire. I'll explain. So, here's how it happened. I signed up for the Heath brothers' online … [Continue reading]
Your online students presume that you are unavailable. That may sound harsh, but it's one of the realities of teaching in the online context. What follows that belief is that your students will leave you alone. There are always the exceptions, the … [Continue reading]
Overwhelm comes with the territory of the teacher. But the online classroom is especially fragmenting. I think this is due to the fact that we work with so many intangibles. Instead of a stack of papers, we have a set of online submissions. Instead … [Continue reading]
Move the Ball Forward Motivation wanes in the the middle of the semester. Our students are feeling the demands of school, and our contact with them online starts to feel more like business than learning. And this dynamic is a lot more difficult to … [Continue reading]
FAQ Saves the Day! I received a couple emails from students who didn't completely understand a research panel project I had designed for an online course. With the due date quickly approaching, they were already deep into the work on the their … [Continue reading]
Surprise Your Students by Noticing Imagine that you checked your inbox today to find an unexpected email. It's from a friend whom you had a conversation with last week and they wrote, "Insert your name, I was just thinking about our conversation … [Continue reading]
The One Question that Drives How You Facilitate Online Discussion Here's the question: How can I move this student (or group of students) to the next level? You're probably thinking, "Aaron, where are you getting these 'levels'." I'm getting them … [Continue reading]
