I am developing an online course for graduates, at a B&M school. I would love to hear the best practices, lessons learned, any insight on what works best. I was a student in DL, but am only one person, so if anybody has experiences with the masses I would most appreciate it.
My experience - students hate team assignments. Short classes (6 weeks) seem better and have a better interaction. Set due dates for all assignments within the framework (if Week 1 has 3 assigments make them due M, W, and F. This helps keep things moving and identify students that have issue to save them early), Require instructors to call the students to welcome them (builds relationships), have the instructors post "office hours" or best times to reach them (as an adjunct I make myself available 10am - 10pm and have my cell phone number as part of my email signature line), students like a response to their first post of every new subject. If this helpful or were you looking for something different?
This is my experience too. Team assignments/projects usually stress out the better students as they end up carrying the team. The only people that benefit from team assignments are the weaker students.
Try to have online virtual office hours, I do this for 3 universities that I work for and the students love it. More communication is always better, save all emails and documentation for future reference and to cover yourself! Incorporate project based learning assessments, web 2.0, and get your students in a routine early! Try to send out announcements and weekly overviews on the same day each week.
