Reducing the Online Instructor’s Workload

Tips on designing and administering online courses can save faculty valuable time while producing high-quality content

By Rick Sheridan

Teaching an online course can be exciting, yet time-consuming to the point of infringing on an instructor’s other responsibilities and personal time. Faculty typically put many hours into designing and administering an online course, especially the first semester it is offered. I’ve heard many horror stories about the massive time faculty spent designing a new class only to practically start over when they discovered the need for a few changes in the content or format. Fortunately, there are ways to cut back on the time put into developing and teaching online courses. After teaching both an online and a hybrid course, I have discovered several ways to deliver high-quality content while reducing the typical workload requirements.

My first online teaching experience was with a hybrid class at California State University, Chico (CSUC), a social science course called Introduction to the Information Highway that I taught in 1999. The class met once a week, and the students used my Web site to complete some of the required work. I have also taught an entirely online Internet Healthcare Research class through the College of Marin Extension for the past five years. This class allows students to start at any time and work through the four modules at their own pace. The course also has performance objectives, case studies, and a reference section. Students who complete the course receive relicensure credit from the California Board of Registered Nurses.

Pros and Cons of Online

Most instructors are already familiar with the many advantages and disadvantages of online learning, but it’s worth going over a few of them here. Online courses are self-paced; students can speed up or slow down as needed. They can skip over material they already know and focus on topics they most want or need to learn. Geographical barriers are eliminated. For example, most of my Internet Healthcare Research students did not live in the area. They also appreciated the flexibility of the online format, since many of them had day jobs and family commitments. In addition, I have found that it is easier for some people to communicate through writing. In the hybrid class at CSUC, at least one shy student preferred sending e-mails or posting materials on the discussion forum to speaking face-to-face with an instructor or another student.

Despite the obvious advantages of online education, several disadvantages stand out. Often, both students and instructor must master a technological learning curve. Some students may be at the very beginning stages of understanding how to use the Internet, and the requirements of operating the online course may frustrate or overwhelm them. With online training, students have little or no direct contact with the instructor or support personnel. This makes it more difficult for a student with questions or one who does not understand part of the training to seek and obtain help.

In some cases, online students do not have the incentives and pressures of classroom-based students; they can become lazy and unfocused. I had several students who quietly dropped out of one of my online classes and later contacted me to ask for an extension. Online drop-outs are more difficult for an instructor to notice than in a classroom situation where daily attendance and participation indicate a student’s involvement.

Occasionally, bandwidth or browser limitations restrict student participation. Some students simply can’t afford a fast Internet connection, and they can get frustrated with the slow browsing experience. Finally, students sometimes complain about on-screen readability.

Managing Time for an Online Course

One way I learned to save time both for me and for students was by setting up a “What’s New” section at the beginning of the online course. In the past, I added content to whatever section seemed appropriate. Students either complained about not finding the new material or they simply did not respond adequately to the new assignments or lecture notes. Indicating what has been added at the beginning of the site makes it much easier for students to focus on the new material, and it also provides me with a quick reminder at the start of class about what needs to be covered in the discussion.

To make these courses easy to administer, I set up a discussion forum where students can post questions, comments, difficulties, and advice for other students. This encourages teamwork on some of the projects and allows students to “blow off steam” when they get frustrated. Another technique I use is to post a reference section that has more than 150 links to health-related sites, an explanation of basic and advanced Internet research techniques, a bibliography, and case studies, along with other resources. As students work through the modules, they see an occasional link to the reference section for additional information. This structure prevents the individual modules from becoming cluttered with too much general reference material while allowing me to quickly add related materials as they become available.

I have used the design structure of the Internet Healthcare Research class as a template for several other online courses. Although the content is much different, I use the same structure of four modules plus reference section. I simply add lecture notes and other resources into the template and modify the content to match the new performance objectives. This way, all the links and anchors work, and the course can be loaded easily to any available server.

To read more, go to: http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/ReducingtheOnlineIns/39983?time=1192449546