TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING WORKING WITH ONLINE LEARNING

• Take an online course. Experiencing online learning yourself will make you much more aware of -and empathetic to - difficulties your own online learners may encounter, as well as issues of online group dynamics, the importance of contact with the tutor,and so on.
• Ensure that all design and delivery issues are resolved at the planning stage. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on course preparation and tutoring.
• Find out about your learners' expectations about the online course so that you can deal with and fullfill them.
• Create interactive tasks at the beginning of your online course to introduce the learners to the technicalities of the online environment.(You remember the introductory tasks here in Funiber. They were great)
• Create an online community by providing opportunities for learners to interact with each other and get to know each other socially from the very beginning of the course.
• Create spaces, communication channels and norms for dealing with issues and conflict.This can be done both publicly and privately, and should be available throughout the course.
• Establish norms, protocols or guidelines for group interaction and behavoiur. Provide clear guidelines as to tutor roles, contact times and turnaround time for responding to work and emails.
• Allow for group closure by, for example, celebrating achievements, disseminating products, providing feedback, designing closing activities and providing for post-course contact and development.