How to Teach Online Like an Award-winning Instructor

Teaching online can seem difficult, but there are simple strategies that you can use to create amazing learning experiences for your students.

Published in

Educate.

6 min readMar 9, 2021

*Originally published on Joel’s blog.

Are you a teacher or trainer that has had to adapt to teaching online? In higher education, corporations, and K-12 settings, nearly every instructor has been forced to teach remotely, and this opportunity will certainly continue into the future.

Teaching online can seem difficult, but there are simple strategies that you can use to create amazing learning experiences for your students. Our award-winning instructional design team at Franklin University has worked with hundreds of faculty members at universities all over the world. We have seen and experienced some of the best in teaching online, and there are great research reports that describe the work of award-winning instructors in higher education (Kumar, Martin, Budhrani, & Ritzhaupt, 2019; Gardner, 2011).

So, in this article, I will share how to teach online like an award-winning instructor.

Teaching Effectively Online: 4 Fundamental Practices

There are four basic elements that award-winning teachers apply to teach online (Kumar, Martin, Budhrani, & Ritzhaupt, 2019). I will describe these in detail below.

Design a high-quality course
Facilitate engaging learning experiences
Assess student learning
Evaluate the course and the learning experience

1 Design a high-quality course

Be systematic in how you design — Start with what you want the students to be able to do, and then build activities and assessments that will help them reach those goals.
Align technology, outcomes, activities, and assessments — make sure everything points to an enjoyable experience that helps students reach the learning goals.
Organize the course logically with modules — make it easy for students to see the structure o the course and understand where they are in the course.
Meet specific student needs — Tailor your course to the needs of your students. At Franklin, we work to meet the needs of adult learners with many other responsibilities.
Plan positive student interaction — this could include collaboration with other students, discussions, and peer reviews.

2 Facilitate engaging learning experiences

Respond to students within 24 hours — be there for students so they can move forward with little delay.
Give timely feedback — I work to grade student work and provide feedback within 24 to 48 hours so that students can apply it in their next assignments.
Be available to your students — meet regularly with students as a group and individually, hold open hours for discussion and questions, and respond quickly to needs.
Establish presence through voice and video — ensure that you are seen and heard and that the learners know you are there and approachable.
Hold weekly announcements and class meetings — this will help students stay on track and give opportunities to have questions and concerns resolved.

3 Assess student learning

Use a variety of assessments — these could include student reflection, self-assessment, peer assessment, papers, exams, and projects. Keep in mind that assessments should measure whether the learning outcomes were achieved.
Make learning a habit — help students learn skills until they are automatic.
Use traditional and authentic assessments — exams are traditional and have some value. Authentic assessments like creating a website or designing a presentation are more representative of the real-world application of the skills being learned and assessed.
Use rubrics — they allow students to see clearly how they will be judged, and they can also speed up grading process and make the feedback more specific to the learner.

4 Evaluate the course and the learning experience

Use a quality assurance process — as you plan and create your course, use instructional designer support, take advantage of editorial review, and employ Subject Matter Experts to create and/or review course content.
Gather and review student and peer feedback — this doesn’t have to be just the end of course survey. You can survey students during the course, review Learning Management System data, ask for online course reviews with quality rubrics, and ask for peer observations from other faculty.
Adjust and improve — continuous improvement of the quality of your course is important, so use the information and feedback you receive to improve your students’ learning experiences.

Instructional Principles of Award-winning Instructors

There are also known principles and strategies for improving student learning (Gardner, 2011). These have been called the First Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2002). It turns out that award-winning instructors use these principles in their teaching.

Problem-centered — Base student learning around a real-world context and around solving real-world problems. Select a complex, ill-structured problem or task with multiple parts or steps and have students solve multiple, increasingly difficult problems.
Activation — Have the students recall, describe, or demonstrate their existing knowledge or skills. Provide an organizing structure or visual for the new knowledge. Use a metaphor or analogy to help your students relate to the content more easily.
Demonstration — Teach the general concept or skill you want your students to be able to do. Share specific real-world examples and show how to apply the skills in a real-world context. Use a variety of appropriate media to facilitate learning.
Application — Have your students practice applying new knowledge in real-world contexts and situations. Provide your students with constructive feedback on their performance.
Integration — Direct your students to reflect on, defend, or discuss their new knowledge. Have your students plan how they will use new knowledge in the future Characteristics of Award-winning Instructors

Award-winning instructors also demonstrate a few key characteristics that seem to create a positive learning environment and accelerate student success:

Enthusiastic — Demonstrate excitement for your course and topics.
Knowledgeable — Gain and show your expertise in the subject area.
Organized — Be sure you are organized and prepared for your course and for interactions with your students.
Humorous — Have fun in your course — humor can help create a positive learning environment.
Compassionate — Show compassion, concern, and care for your students.
Challenging — Push your students to accomplish their very best in their learning.

Do This Now to Teach Online Like an Award-Winner

Online learning is not going away. Why not create incredible experiences for your students and teach like the best? Do these things now to improve your teaching and maximize your students’ success!

Review these award-winning strategies. What two things could you focus on that would really improve your teaching? Do you need to be more enthusiastic or challenging? Do you need to create more authentic, real-world assignments? Do you need to make yourself more available to your students?
Have your course evaluated. There are several great online course evaluation rubrics that you can use to identify
Get feedback from an expert peer. Ask for feedback and work to implement it in a practical way
Ask your students. Or just read your course and teaching evaluations closely. Students give clues for improvement.

What am I missing?

What online teaching strategies are missing in this article? In your experience, what do the best online instructors do? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

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Dr. Joel Gardner is the Assistant Dean of Instructional Design at Franklin University Follow him for more research and best practices on learning, leadership, goal setting, performance improvement, and instructional design.

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References

Kumar, S., Martin, F., Budhrani, K., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2019). Award-Winning Faculty Online Teaching Practices: Elements of Award-Winning Courses. Online Learning, 23(4), 160–180.

Gardner, J. (2011). How award-winning professors in higher education use Merrill’s first principles of instruction. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 8(5), p. 3–16.

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development. 50(3), 43–59.