How Can Online Instructors Better Manage Their Workload?
September 27, 2022
How Can Online Instructors Better Manage Their Workload?
September 27, 2022
By Hannah Flatt (IDLT)
At the September 21 Midweek Mentor session, Dr. Brian Udermann, the Director of Online Education at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, presented strategies to help online instructors better manage their workload. A few of these strategies involve initial setup in Blackboard, but they will lead to easier management of the course in the long run. Here are some highlights from the presentation:
1. Email students prior to the start of class or post a “getting started” announcement in Blackboard to make it easy for students to get to work on their own. Avoid an inbox full of questions about how to get started by making that information available prior to the start of class.
2. Utilize a discussion forum for general course questions and encourage students to answer each other’s questions. Often, students’ questions can be answered by a deeper look at the course syllabus or Blackboard shell. Encourage students to ask their general course questions in a designated discussion forum so the answer will be available for all students. Take it a step further by encouraging students to help their classmates and answer each other’s questions when possible.
3. Reuse course materials, such as lecture videos, announcements, feedback, etc. Course content can be copied from one Blackboard shell to another if you want to reuse your announcements, discussion forums, tests, etc. Also, you can recycle lecture videos and update them as needed. YuJa provides tools for splicing video clips together, replacing outdated slides, and other editing features that can help you update existing lecture videos without having to record new ones every semester.
4. Use tools in Blackboard to help manage your workload. Setting up grading rubrics and self-grading assessments will require some initial setup but can streamline your grading process in the long run. Rubrics can be customized and attached to discussion forums and assignments in Blackboard.
5. Utilize the ITS Help Desk for Blackboard and other technology questions. If you find that your inbox is often bogged down with technical questions, encourage your students to reach out to the help desk directly instead of trying to solve their Blackboard problems yourself. Providing the course name, section, screenshots of any error messages, and other identifying information will allow help desk staff to assist them more efficiently.
These are just a few of the strategies that were presented and discussed. If you would like to explore any of these strategies in further detail or consult with an instructional designer about your online course, please contact the Instructional Design & Learning Technologies group at idlt_center@siue.edu.
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