Best Practices for Teaching Online

Web-site Organization:

• All pages should have a navigation bar which includes a link back to the Class Homepage
• The class Homepage page should be named index.htm or index.asp
• Use only alphanumeric characters in page names
• Each page should have a short, descriptive name and a relevant title
• All pages should be organized into descriptive folders
• Use relative URLs (rather than absolute)
• Avoid using automatic pop up windows
• If using links that open new windows, warn the user first
• Use the same theme/template for the entire class
• Graphic buttons should have equivalent text buttons somewhere on the same page
• Run the FrontPage report to check for broken hyperlinks before the class starts
• Link to the system requirements page from the Class Homepage
• Any additional system requirements must be included in the class website and links should be provided for each
• All fair use and copyrighted material should be password protected

Web-page Organization:

• Do not include official Southeast logos on instructional pages
• Use horizontal navigation bars, not vertical, on second and subsequent level pages
• Remove unused buttons in the navigation bar(s)
• Don’t use java hover buttons
• Don’t use flash for a navigation system
• Don’t hyperlink your email address (hyperlinked email addresses require that an email client is installed on the user’s system)
• Add a link to tech support on your Class Homepage (online.semo.edu/help)
• Use font style consistently
• Use web safe fonts (i.e. Times, Courier, Arial)
• Use printable, readable, high contrast color fonts (e.g. white text does not print in IE)
• All images should have alt tags; helps in ADA compliance
• Use .jpeg image format for photographs; .gif for logos and pictures up to 256 colors or images that need transparency
• Tables should use relative sizing (i.e. in percent rather than in pixels; fixed size tables don’t print well)
• Use consistent sizes for tables at the same hierarchal level
• Cell padding should be used so that text is more readable (spaces text from borders, images, etc.)
• Don’t hyperlink a URL, hyperlink the relevant text (i.e. CSTL rather than http://cstl.semo.edu
• Links to the OIS components should be descriptive unless they are defined previously in the class (Tests & Quizzes, Gradebook, Your Account, Logoff, Bulletin Board, Drop Box, Server Time)
• Provide opportunity for students to practice using the OIS components prior to giving them required assignments
• Don’t make regular text look like hyperlinks (i.e. blue, underlined regular text is not appropriate)

Teaching Practice:

• Put a fake student in the class without instructor privileges so you can view the class from the student’s perspective
• All Microsoft Office documents should be saved as .htm files as well as saving in the native format on the web for the students to download
• Office hours should be listed on the Class Homepage or faculty member’s page (three hours per week are required by Southeast’s Faculty Handbook)
• Keep a dynamic Announcements page
• Don’t link to commercial websites (For more info, visit MORE.net)
• Do not require face-to-face or synchronous meetings
• Have a schedule which outlines the materials and the available & due dates for the class
• Minimize reliance on external websites for content or assessment
• Review publisher provided materials before using in a class
• Once the class has begun, only delete a student if they have never logged into the class and show as dropped in OIS Manager (you may be required to provide last date of attendance)
• No assignments should be due before class begins
• Due Dates – Don’t use midnight (it is ambiguous), define due dates in Central Time
• Don’t change due dates after the class has started

UTest:

• If you want to minimize the printing or copying of your tests, require the use of the secure browser
• Do not provide immediate feedback besides the student’s grade when the test is being used for assessment
• Publish feedback after the test has been closed
• Use question banks for multiple choice/TF/matching/fill in the blank when possible
• Review publisher’s test bank questions before putting them into UTest
• Test banks should be at least three times the size as the number of questions on the test
• Randomize the questions on the test
• Randomize the answers on the multiple choice questions
• If you randomize the answers, then don’t use “all of the above”/etc. as a choice in the list of possible answers
• Instructors should tell students to save their tests frequently; to enforce this action, consider using the feature in UTest which will only put part of the test on each page
• If the student has a problem and has saved the test previously then the instructor just has to add time for that particular student to finish the test
• Tests should be available for a minimum of 24 hours
• Make sure the test time length is appropriate (multiple choice questions need approximately 1 minute, etc.)
• Take the test using your fake student id and your faculty id before making it available to your students
• To increase your objectivity when grading text answers, click on the checkbox that allows you to grade anonymously

Forum:

• Set up your Forum with the grading structure in mind
• Familiar yourself with the three levels of organization within Forum before you setup your Forum
• If the text of the assignment is lengthy, make it available as a web page and link it from the Forum message.
• Disable student editing of posts after due dates (or before grading posts)

DropBox:

• Familiarize yourself with the three levels or organization
• Use a different category for each grading scheme
• Set the number of files to one if you only want one file per student
• If you want to give inline feedback, then edit the file itself
• Make sure you limit the allowed file types to only the file formats you can read
• Instead of putting the assignment in the text of the DropBox, make the assignment available as a separate web page or as a downloadable file.

GradeA:

• Update the gradebook as frequently as possible
• Use GradeA as the only mechanism for delivering grades to students.
• Use descriptive titles for gradebook entries
• Make sure the server area has only the information which the instructor wants shown to the students

Calendar:

• Put only beginning and ending dates for each event; don’t post the event everyday it is available.
• In the pop up window, put a link to the assignment’s webpage