Page 3 - Distance Education Best Practices

• If possible, try to have all instructional materials housed in the
learning management system in a repository. That way, students
only need to access a single repository for all the materials.
• Have all the "need to know" materials with "nice to know" materials
as supplemental so students are not overwhelmed.
• Make sure to have a variety of instructional tools. Don't just have
narrated PowerPoints, but try to include YouTube videos, TedTalks, or
Instructional audio files, if possible.

Materials • Videos should be short in length and connect with the content.
• Consider if the assignment being used is the best assignment for an
online course. Assignments may need to be rethought to fit the
distance education format more appropriately.

• Introduce yourself via video and encourage the students to do the
same, if possible. It is always nice to put a face to the name.
• Use discussion forum assignments wisely. One idea for utilizing
discussion forums is to do so in a way in which students can identify
areas in which they are struggling and for other students to try and
explain it in their own words. Some instructors allow students to
respond to discussion forums in a variety of ways, such as
PowerPoints, concept maps, or original videos.
• Include activities that enable students to interact with both faculty
as well as classmates. Think of group activities other than
discussion board forums. This is a good place to use Zoom, Teams,
Flipgrid ©, Eduflow ©, whiteboards, etc. depending on if the course
is synchronous or asynchronous. Incorporating both synchronous
or asynchronous activities facilitate both student engagement and
course flexibility.*

Course • Break down content into smaller "chunks" or utilize "microlearning."
This keeps the attention of students and increases the possibility of
learning.
Activities • Provide review exercises during and after to reinforce learning and
identify any gaps in the students' knowledge.
• Pair students up for assignments. This is an excellent way for
facilitating student engagement with each other and the material
being covered.
• Provide activities for faculty members to enable formative
assessment and intervene, if needed.
• Provide immediate feedback, if possible, to students for corrective
action.
• Do not reinvent the wheel! If there is an effective resource that
already exists and is available for public use that covers the topic in
a quick and concise manner - use it!