Julie Hall, Professor of Office Administration Napa Valley College, January 19, 2010

 Class management  Interaction and Participation  Communication  Tracking and Encouraging  Grading and Assessment  Teaching Style  Learning Style  Critical Thinking

 Too Large  Feel voice is lost, not heard  Delayed responses  Increased instructor workload  Smaller  Feel voice is heard  Community building  Better response time  Raises perception of quality  Instructor balanced workload

 Research indicates students is considered “large” online class size  Average online class size for maximum community building, satisfaction, and retention is between 17-22, with 20 being the most optimal number of students Sources: (ASHE Report, 2006; Davis & Dykman, 2008; Orellana, 2006; Palloff & Pratt 2003; Sieber 2005; Tomei 2004)  No one-size-fits-all rule  New instructors-15; Experienced (Palloff and Pratt, 2003, p.118).

For the first time, research has shown that successful distance education is contingent upon smaller, not larger, class sizes – nearly half the size of its traditional ancestor. Online teaching should not be expected to generate larger revenues by means of larger class sizes at the expense of effective instruction or faculty overloads. (Tomei, 2004, Conclusion, ¶ 3).

 Good structure half the battle!  Have synchronous office hours  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document  Proper orientation to learning online with you (See Julie Hall’s Online Orientation at NVC Webpage)

 Turn individual assignments into group assignments—grade on both individual contribution and whole project  Use peer-to-peer review and critique—create rubric for students to assess one another’s work

 Summarize and Combine Responses to Class Questions ◦ Ask students to answer questions of others ◦ Gently guide or send to instructor if not answered  Use detailed Discussion Rubric for feedback—less commentary, yet clear expectations (Ko, 2007).  Discussion Protocol ◦ Clearly define requirements, # of times p/week; use 2+2 feedback (two persons, 1 compliment and 1 suggestion or clarification); ◦ Document others’ quotes (J. Hall, personal communication, January 10, 2010) ◦ Type in word processor, edit for spelling and grammar, then copy/paste online

 Form smaller discussion groups max  Rotate leadership in groups for threaded discussions  Divide discussion topics into manageable units

 Avoid posting I agree! or Great Post! Tell WHY you agree!  Ask for more evidence—How do you know?  Ask for clarification—Example? What do you mean?  Ask open-ended questions—Why do you think this is important?  Ask linking or extension questions—How does this relate to? Connection?  Hypothetical questions—If you were to apply this to X, what would you do?  Cause-and-Effect questions—Effect on this if x?  Summary-and-Synthesis questions—Most important? Unresolved? Source: Brookfield and Preskill (1999) (as cited in Palloff and Pratt (2003), pp

 Davis, C. and Dykman, C. A. (2008). Online education forum-- Part three: A quality online educational experience". Journal of Information Systems Education, 19(3), Retrieved October 9, 2009, from an: Online education forum-- Part three: A quality online educational experience  Kelly, Rob. Tips for managing large online classes. Retrieved November 16, 2009 from  Ko, Susan. Tips for managing larger online classes. DE November/December Retrieved January 16, 2009 at  Orellana, Anymir. (2006). Class size and interaction in online courses. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(3), Retrieved March 21, 2009, from the Academic Search Premier database. an:

 Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The virtual student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.  Research on the factors of online learning. (2006). ASHE Higher Education Report. 32 (1), Retrieved September 16, 2009, from an:  Sieber, J. E., (2005). Misconceptions and realities about teaching online. East Bay Science and Engineering Ethics 11, Retrieved from the Academic Search Premier database. an:  Tomei, L. A. (2004). The impact of online teaching on faculty load: Computing the ideal class size for online courses. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. 1(1). Retrieved March 16, 2009, from

Mahalo!