Phase 3 - Teach

Phase 3 - TEACH

Pre-Phase checklist

  • Course materials (presentation/demonstration, practice, and assessments components) developed in your course delivery system
  • An organized and easy-to-navigate course 
  • A completed course syllabus

Teach Phase Objectives:

In the Teach phase you will:

  • develop and give a course orientation / introduction;
  • facilitate student progress through their learning and interactions with each other; and
  • provide teaching, training, and reference materials

The Teach phase objectives address Quality Course Element #5

Rationale:

The Teach phase of the course deployment is where your course design is put into practice. This is where your course design meets a learning community and you teach, mentor, collaborate and communicate with your learners.

The Teach phase consists of the following activities:

  1. Provide course orientation and introduction
  2. Facilitate student interaction and progress through learning activities
  3. Provide support channels for academic and technical needs

Process:

Step 1 - Course Orientation/Introduction:

Review the syllabus with students and make sure they understand the course requirements, such as:

  • Course learning outcomes/objectives
  • Method of delivery
  • Testing procedures (articulate learning assessment strategies)
  • Communication methods
  • Office hours, email, phone call, netiquette
  • Access to technical support
  • Course timeline/schedule (due dates, course outline)
  • Course site structure and organization

Step 2 - Facilitate student interaction and progress through learning activities:

Instructors and students should maintain regular contact and interaction throughout the course. Consider providing learning opportunities for students through interaction with course content, as well as with each other, teachers, professionals, and others within the community.  The community may consist of:

Teacher to student communication, e.g.,

  • Facilitate lecture discussions
  • Provide performance feedback
  • Provide Individual consultations
Example:
 

Student to student, e.g.,

  • Share perspectives/experiences with others
  • Provide peer feedback
Example:

Community - in/outside the classroom

Commonly used tools for achieving efficient communication include: blogs, wikis, discussion boards, collaborative live video interaction (i.e., Skype), etc.

Step 3 - Provide Support:

Inform students of resources and opportunities to seek help with the course curriculum.  These may include establishing office hours (live or virtual), providing links to related resources, and contact information for technical help. 

Watch the video below about providing student support and communication.

Assessment Resources

  • During the Teach phase
    • TLT Links to an external site. or Distance Ed Links to an external site.. could take the technical approach and make observations about how the course is running, check the interaction and communication components, and provide assistance with technical issues that arise
    • CTLE Links to an external site. could conduct a mid-semester online student course feedback survey to gather student feedback to make course adjustments
    • The instructor could also keep a journal of issues and successes, especially if this is the first time the instructor has been teaching an online course

By the end of this phase you should have

  • Provided a rich learning environment where communication practices are being implemented
  • Established a learning community
  • Assessed student performance against the stated learning objectives