WISE Excellence in Online Teaching Award Recipients
Best Practices – 2010

Stephen Miller, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (repeat recipient)
Information Architecture and Knowledge Organization, Spring 2010

Best Practices: Students have frequently expressed appreciation of the posting of videos created using screen capture software. I use these to give weekly content presentations and try to create an atmosphere of directly addressing the students and giving them some sense of greater connection with the instructor than using text or discussions alone. I also use videos to demonstrate how to use software and apply techniques needed for information architecture, such as drawing diagrams and conducting usability tests. I use them as well for giving feedback on selected class exercises and assignments, addressing specific issues that have arisen in student submissions and discussions. Combining weekly assigned readings, content slides with detailed notes, hands-on exercises, online discussions, and these various kinds of videos all work together to facilitate learning by students with different learning styles, including textual, visual, and auditory.”

What Professor Miller’s students say: “The scope of Professor Miller's class was excellent--it provided both a broad overview of the Information Architecture field as well and rigorous exercises in real-world IA. He was a good lecturer, an enthusiastic part of class discussions, and the readings and assignments were thoughtful and well-organized.”

Michelle Holschuh Simmons, San Jose University
Seminar in Information Science: Information Literacy, Spring 2010
Seminar in Information Science: Information Literacy, Fall 2010

Best Practices: I try to personalize my online classes so students feel a connection to me and to their classmates, and so I am always striving to find ways to connect with students throughout the term. For example, at the beginning of the term as students post their introductions in our discussion forum, I record in an Excel spreadsheet a few notes to myself about each student: preferred names, family situation, geographic locale, or anything else that might distinguish that person in my mind. Then throughout the term I revisit this document so that I learn to "know" each student and can connect with them about a certain topic if the opportunity arises. Just being conscientious about calling a student by a preferred name--"Judy" instead of the more formal "Judith" that might be on the roster, for instance--seems to help make students feel a personal connection. Secondly, I find that humor is often lost in the online classroom, and so I look for opportunities to incorporate humor myself or to encourage humor from my students. For example, in my reference course, we collaboratively annotate a large number of reference sources using GoogleDocs, and I encourage students to incorporate humor or quirky information in their annotations. As a face-to-face classroom teacher for fifteen years before becoming an online teacher, I try to replicate the informal repartee in my online classrooms that I enjoyed in my face-to-face classrooms.

What Professor Holschuh Simmon’s students say: “Extremely dedicated to her students, Michelle made sure we all felt welcomed into her class. Interactive, highly engaging style of teaching, dynamic and demanding course but extremely rewarding. Absolutely THE BEST lecturer I have ever had! Michelle made sure we also establish the social connection with our classmates and get to know each other. She kept us on our toes, making sure we were keeping up with all course requirements and responded to ALL students' queries, questions and feedback immediately. I have never met a tutor so dedicated to her students! Michelle has definitely become my role model, both in teaching technique and pedagogy. She is inspiring, high spirited, bursting with positive energy and enthusiasm for her teaching and subject. I feel truly fortunate and privileged that I have had the opportunity to be in her class and complete one of her papers.”

Lori Lindberg, San Jose University
Seminar is Archives and Records Management: Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Spring 2010

Best Practices: "Keep students engaged by showing how engaged you are with the material you teach. Passion for your course content does come across in the online environment through posts on discussion boards, recorded lectures, regular messages and good preparation. Enthusiasm, a sense of humor, and regular positive communication goes a long way to make sometimes rather dry and technical topics fun, and help communicate some very abstract ideas. When students feel comfortable they are more willing to share with you and with each other, and they learn more.

“In addition, learn from the students. Resolve to continuously improve your course by paying close attention to student evaluations, staying abreast of different content delivery options and refreshing/revising your course content."

What Professor Lindberg’s students say: “She’s the best.”

John Wagstaff, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champagn (repeat recipient)
Music Librarianship & Bibliography, Spring 2010
Best Practices:

"As I've become more experienced with distance-learning technologies I've found myself less afraid to try out some of the more advanced functionality that Elluminate (the package we use at UIUC) offers for distance learners and instructors. It's so easy to just restrict yourself to the few features that are easy to use, but I'd encourage everyone using this technology -- including my students! -- to try out some new feature this year. It's worth the effort."

What Professor Wagstaff’s students say: “I enjoyed the enthusiasm and passion displayed by the instructor. I also enjoyed the practicality of the assignments and his dry British sense of humour.”

Robert Young, Syracuse University
Organizational Information Security, Summer 2010

Best Practices: "As with everything, virtual courses have their advantages and disadvantages. Trying to balance our daily lives can be a challenge, so I feel a combination of virtual and traditional teaching can be the best solution set for my students. As we fold together our personal, professional and academic lives, I hope I am enriching the quality of my students' learning, by increasing the opportunity for exposure to a larger real-world view while interacting with my students in a more personal way. In the end, I want to challenge, support and assist the students in the journey to better understand the complex world of cybersecurity ... we are a community after all."

What Professor Young’s students say: “The course was very challenging and thus extremely useful for future professional and/or academic career. There was enough freedom to act according to each student's individual research interests, assignments were well organized, discussion board was excellent. All in all, a very well-thought and useful course.”

Ruth Palmquist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (repeat recipient)
Research Methods, Summer 2010
Human Information Interactions, Fall 2010
Research Methods, Fall 2010

Best Practices: "I want to focus on two primary elements essential to successful online teaching––communication and structure. While we often take these two elements for granted in the traditional classroom, there importance in an online class escalates.

"Communication can be conducted in a variety of ways with online students, but primarily the Discussion Forum and email provide the major avenues for teacher and student(s) to talk, and for student(s) to talk with each other. Most learning management software also provides avenues like an Announcement area where it is advisable to post something frequently… reminding them of the week's work, what new documents have been posted, what is the next graded assignment due date, the schedule for an impending school holiday (even virtual students need a Spring Break!). Each new announcement gives the student a sense that logging in to the course site is important, that content there is changing often, and that the instructor is anxious to 'connect' with each of them. Email, of course, can provide a more personal way to provide a 'pat on the back' for an insightful post to the Discussion or to relay some specific material that the student might need. I still enjoy being a librarian to my students while they are casting about for material for a term project. I sometimes use email to send a partial bibliographic search result to help a student get a good start or suggest a slight topic change. I always offer, and some do utilize, the opportunity for a phone conversation, when that can be useful. For a lengthy discussion of a research idea, etc., they can let me know when they are available for me to phone and then email their phone number to me. I can then make the call. Luckily, I have a 'one price' arrangement with my phone company. And, I must admit that I haven't phoned students who are taking the class from outside of the U.S., although Skype and GoogleTalk are easily useful for those students. Navigating time zones might be a problem!

"Structure is the other essential element without which I think an online course would feel somewhat 'out of control' to the students. Besides a strong syllabus that expresses your expectations for participation and performance, each week has a definite topic with definite activities attached, readings, discussion, and in some cases, a 'presentation' of Power Point slides along with a targeted discussion aimed at the student 'presenter' from others in the class. Students need structure in order to gauge their workload and to successfully plan their course participation/performance around their other life activities."

“But while a formal structure is needed in a syllabus, it is good to make the communication with the students as much like you would speak in real life. Notes and emails and announcements and any participation in a discussion forum can offer an opportunity to add some humor and, as my student said, inject some personality.”

What Professor Palmquist’s students say: “First, Professor Palmquist has been teaching the course for years and her mastery of the material comes across through the course materials and the assistance that she provides. Second, she maintained a casual, comfortable atmosphere in both email interactions and online discussion forums. This encouraged students to ask for help and to interact with their fellow classmates. Third, through humour and enthusiasm, she transformed a potentially dry class into a course that was both practical and interesting. I have spoken to classmates who took this course in the classroom and were bored to tears. I feel fortunate that I was able to take this course online with Ruth because she made stats enjoyable to learn and placed this learned skill set within the context of Library and Information Studies.”
“I really am enjoying the class - the readings are really thought-provoking as are [her] notes (perhaps I have such a strong association with a more formal, dry form of the written word (in the academic context at least), but I've been really surprised at the insights, humor, and sense of "personality" that comes through in those word docs!)”