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Five Habits for Effective Online Classes

By Joan B. Berkowitz, Ph.D.

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Five habits are key to the effective management of my online classes; these habits have endeared me to my students and them to me. It’s mutual, as it has to be.

Each habit is discussed below.

Introduce Yourself Early & Ask for Advice

If you have never taught an online class before, then as soon as your class roster is full, send an e-mail to all the students. Tell them that this will be your first online class. Ask them for their advice about what works and what doesn’t. In response, they will tell you how pleased they are to be asked, a good start toward building trust and rapport. You will also learn a lot. If you've taught online before, you can still request feedback early on what works and what doesn't.

Have Your Course Online on Day One

Lay out all 15 weeks of the course - lecturettes, readings, and assignments - before the term begins. Make everything accessible to the students. There are three reasons.

  1. It makes the students think you are well-organized.
  2. More importantly, it frees you during the term to participate in class discussions and to interact with each student based on his or her level of interest and experience. This is one of the major benefits and joys of teaching online.
  3. It enables the students to plan their coursework around their own schedules.

I do not take off points for late submission of assignments. I do remind students of the perils of falling behind. They all know that; it was the factor mentioned most often when I sent out my first e-mail soliciting their advice on online teaching and learning. I don’t have to be a nanny; I do tell the students, “If you expect to be away, get your assignments in early rather than late.” Many do just that. All say how much appreciate the flexibility, even though few take advantage of it.

Get to know your students

How? I use two approaches:

  1. In the Week 1 Conference, I ask the students to write an extended biography – where they went to school, what degrees they have earned, what their current job is, what their previous jobs were, where they are in the ENVM program, what their goals are, what they like to be called, and anything else that would help us to know them better. I provide them with my biography by way of example. This exercise helps you to understand where your students are coming from and what they have to contribute to your course. If a subsequent class discussion turns to aviation, for example, and your aviator doesn’t participate, draw him out.

  2. Also in the Week 1 Conference, I ask the students to read my objectives for the course as given in the syllabus, and to write down their objectives, what they would like to get out of the course. The responses help me tweak the course content. In the Week 5 and Week 10 Conferences, I ask the students to revisit their objectives, to indicate whether they are being met, and if not, to suggest modifications to the curriculum. I take the responses very seriously. I either act on the suggestions or say why I am not acting on them. One semester, a student expressed disappointment that we would not be covering ecological risk as part of the environmental risk assessment course. I explained that the basic principles were the same as those for human health risk and that the student might choose a topic in ecological risk for a term paper. When the third student expressed the same disappointment, I found a great paper on ecological risk and managed to fit it in.

Stimulate Class Discussion

As part of every Conference, I require the students to comment or ask questions on the reading for the week or on my lecturette.

Some instructors specify a conference discussion topic. I’ve tried it both ways and find I get a much richer discussion if I leave it open-ended. When I provide a discussion topic, or even more than one, the first five students cover the topic(s) well. The others simply agree. When I leave it open-ended, the students ask good questions and expand on the subject.

One student commented that 85 percent of the discussion in my class was substantive, a far higher percentage than in other online classes he had taken. In order to get an A, a student must contribute a little something extra – a pertinent reference, a relevant example from their own experience (particularly helpful), or an insightful comment or question.

I visit the classroom at least once a day and participate in conference discussions in 3 ways:

  1. If I want to bring out a new point or move the discussion in a new direction, I add my two cents. I do so not so much as the learned professor but as a member of the learning community, which is what I am trying to create.
  2. If a student makes an obvious error or has clearly misunderstood some of the material, I point it out.
  3. If a student asks a question, I answer it. But one student told me, “Dr. B, don’t be so quick to answer our questions. Give us a chance to respond to each other.” Now I wait a day before answering.

In Week 15, when I ask for a final critique of the course, over half the class mentions how much they learned from each other. As an afterthought, they say something nice about the professor. That doesn’t do much for my ego, but I don’t have to prove how smart I am. My credentials speak for themselves. My job is to give students confidence in how smart they are.

End On an Up-Beat

To round out the class, I have the students post their term papers. I require them to read at least one paper other than their own and to provide feedback to the author. The students spend a lot of time on their term papers. The work product is too good to be reserved for my eyes only. The students relish the opportunity to read each others' work. They say they do not get that opportunity in other classes. The discussion of the papers enhances the dialogue I foster throughout the semester. The papers themselves convey a broader perspective on the many practical applications of the material we have covered in class.

Sharing of the term papers does not quite make up for the end of class parties that I host for f2f classes. Still, the compliments and constructive advice that the students get from each other on their papers end the class on an up-beat.

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In conclusion, I urge you to put out of your mind any comparison between f2f and online classes. Focus on how to use the online medium to greatest advantage. We are all learning, teachers and students together, and the process is a continual source of excitement, renewal, and fun.

About the Author

Dr. Joan Berkowitz (BA, Chemistry, Swarthmore College; PhD, Physical Chemistry, University of Illinois) is a 2003-4 recipient of UMUC's Stanley J. Drazek Teaching Excellence Award. She has taught in UMUC's Graduate School of Management and Technology ENVM program for 10 years. Her courses include Planning for Environmental Managers, ISO 14001, Land and Water Resource Management, Watershed Planning and Management, and Environmental Risk Assessment. Joan is Managing Director of Farkas Berkowitz & Company, a management consulting firm that assists companies in the environmental industry with strategic planning, profitability improvement, and commercialization of technology. Prior to co-founding Farkas Berkowitz & Company, with Alan Farkas, Joan was Vice President of Arthur D. Little, Inc., in charge of that firm's environmental practice worldwide.

Our thanks to Joan Berkowitz for contributing this timely and relevant article to the DE Oracle @ UMUC.

If you have questions/comments regarding this article, or you have classroom management advice and experiences you would like to share, or would like to recommend someone to contribute an article, please contact your CSI Coordinator. 

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