Want to fail big time?

Want to fail big time? Want to announce to the world that you plan to teach online, then fall flat on your face? Here’s how.

Mistake #1: Try to start from scratch.

Want to make sure you don’t stand a change of succeeding with you’re new online course? Try to create it entirely from scratch rather than converting a course that already exists.

Surely you’ve taught before. Surely you have a course ready to roll. Convert that one! Researching and preparing original course material is labor intensive enough. If you attempt to do that while also building your first course Web site, months, many months, will likely pass before you are ready. Do yourself a favor. Convert a course you’ve already taught. Especially your first time online, don’t start from scratch.

Mistake #2: Don’t start far enough ahead.

Even if you do choose a course that already exists, beware the beginner’s tendency to underestimate how long the conversion process takes. Give yourself plenty of time to do the job right. For a course that will last 12 to 16 weeks, plan for at least that same amount of time to build the technology-enriched version. If you are developing original materials, double that. Rule of Thumb: Make your best estimate and add 25 to 50 percent on to that.

Mistake #3: Use the wrong media for the message.

Inexperienced cyber-teachers tend to type or scan reams of pages into what then becomes a huge, dense, unwieldy, deadly dull, eye-numbing course Web site. Or, they foist streaming audio or video onto learners who don’t have the bandwidth to receive it in more than fits and starts. Why bother? Why torture your students? You don’t have to deliver EVERYTHING electronically. If you want to distribute a lengthy reading, pass it out or mail it. If you want to avoid copyright hassles, point people to the book or article rather than scanning it. If your students don’t have a lot of bandwidth, give them a CD, DVD, or good old-fashioned video tape. Technology hasn’t replaced traditional methods of distribution; it supplements them. Use the best medium for your purpose.

Mistake #4: Forsake content for fluff.

Content is king. Build a basic, no-nonsense course first. Then go back and add extras as time permits. Don’t be seduced by a search for the perfect icon, the ideal graphic, the snappiest color scheme. "Bleeding-edge" technology is a time suck. Clip art is a cheap thrill that can never replace substantive content or fundamental tools. Get the real goods in place first, then, and only then, add the jewelry.

Mistake #5: Neglect navigation.

Content may be king, but without good navigation, everyone gets lost in the castle. Always give your Web site a simple table of contents, along with "Previous Page" and "Next Page" buttons. Consider adding a search system and any other signals that will help people find their way around.

Mistake #6: Stick to traditional teaching methods.

If you really want to teach online, you must do more than lecture. You must do more than assign readings. You must do more than test. These methods don’t really utilize the technology. Nor do they address the learning curve it represents. So, what should you do? Facilitate rather than lecture. Point to resources rather than invent everything yourself. Use online polls to take the measure of the group. Inspire collaboration. (Hundreds of research studies recommend it for the online classroom.) Encourage people to take responsibility for their own learning by helping them find, evaluate, understand, and apply knowledge pertinent to your course. How will you do all this? Find out how in FutureU’s Faculty Web Book.

Mistake #7: Try to answer every question yourself.

Written discussions, emails, and chats can add a valuable new dimension to your teaching, but if you try to write a substantive response to every single message yourself, you will soon want to retire. Instead, encourage participants to interact among themselves. Collect the answers you give repeatedly and store them together on a page of “frequently asked questions” (FAQs). Create boiler plate email responses to routine questions, such as “What’s the next assignment?–Check with your fellow students.” In summary, teach smarter, not harder.

Mistake #8: Assume that if you build it, they will come.

You can provide the best tools, the best learning activities, and the best content in the world but there’s no guarantee students will flock to your online course space, unless you provide skillful facilitation. Most unfacilitated, peer-based discussion lists on the Web have hundreds or even thousands of participants. That’s what it takes to build critical mass without a facilitator. Add a facilitator (That’s you!) and the conversation springs to life. With good facilitation you can expect at least 15 people in any group of 25 to participate regularly. With clear assignments and deadlines, you will get even more. Don’t rely on chance. Learn the art of online facilitation. (The FutureU Faculty Web Book has lots of helpful tips.)

Mistake # 9: Maintain low expectations and unclear deadlines.

Let’s face it. A lot of people procrastinate. A lot of students cram. But these old habits won’t work in a course that involves online communication. Why? Because of the workload!

Let’s say you ask everyone to post two messages a week for 12 weeks. That’s not much to expect, but it’s still enough to spell disaster–if even one participant waits a few weeks to meet their commitment. Suddenly, everyone in the course receives 8 or 10 messages, all at once, from the same person! As the instructor, you might read them, but almost no one else will, and hardly anyone will respond. They’ve moved on. They’re no longer interested in last month’s topic. It’s history. Even if you could get everyone in a 10-person course to read and respond to this last-minute effort, what a nightmare for you and the group! Yikes, that’s more than 200 potential messages to read! Instead, make sure your course has learning activities with daily deadlines and weekly summaries, punctuated by periodic exams, papers, or demonstrations of mastery that will keep the ball rolling.

Mistake #10: Fail to update your course every time you teach it.

Take advantage of your evolving knowledge of computers and Web resources by improving your navigation aids, instructions, and content. Most important of all, re-check all hyper-links, both internal to the course and external (to other Web sites), to make sure they still work. Web sites have a way of disappearing when their developers change Web addresses, lose interest, or go out of business. Nothing will diminish your credibility with students quite like a string of dead-end links. Always give your course a fresh look before its next showing.

That’s it. The ten biggest mistakes you can make when you deliver even a portion of a course online. If you can avoid these no-nos right from the start, you will save yourself a world of trouble and give yourself a much better chance of success in the cyber-classroom.

Claude