Jump-Start Your Online Classroom

“Have you been tasked with conducting an online class and have no idea where to start? Or have you taught online courses before, but felt they were not effective? If so, then Jump-Start Your Online Classroom offers plenty of practical advice and resources to help you build an effective virtual classroom environment. [the authors] define five challenges—‘making the transition to online learning, building online spaces for learning, preparing students for online learning, managing and facilitat[ing] the online classroom, and assessing learner outcomes’—of online classroom development, and offer detailed plans for conquering each challenge. The authors organize the book to effectively discuss these challenges. Overall, this book could serve as a master class in establishing an online learning environment.”

Technical Communication

"The brevity of Jump-Start Your Online Classroom should not be underestimated. Based on practical application of the content and concepts, its organization contains helpful hints on various aspects of successfully constructing a learner-centered, virtual classroom experience. The organization of the book is its greatest strength. Its five-day approach is based on five challenges: (1) Making the transition to online teaching, (2) Building online spaces for learning, (3) Preparing students for online learning, (4) Managing and facilitating the online classroom, and (5) Assessing learner outcomes. Although this book is marketed toward the novice online instructor, its approach, organization, and content make it a foundational tool that could have long-term value in troubleshooting and future course design.”

Reflective Teaching

"Jump-Start Your Online Classroom is created for the novice online instructor. Stein and Wanstreet have created a must-read that is filled with practical strategies and resources to meet the challenges of teaching online."

Simone C. O. Conceicao, Professor, Department of Administrative Leadership - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

"This book does a remarkable job of both challenging faulty assumptions related to the online classroom and providing practical advice based on sound pedagogical research. I highly recommend this text for any novice to online instruction."

Meghan B. Raehll, Director of Instructor Quality and Lead Faculty - Franklin University

"Overall, this is a good general book for instructors who are new to online teaching. It will expose them to some key best practices, stimulate their thought processes, and encourage reflection. For those who appreciate a linear, step-by-step guide to thinking about and planning how to teach online, this book will be useful, and will also come in handy as a reference resource."

Teachers College Record - .

Preface

1) The Online Environment

First Challenge: Making the Transition to Online Teaching
2) Are You Ready to Teach Online?
3) Addressing Concerns About Teaching Online
4) Thinking and Acting Like an Online Instructor

Second Challenge: Building Online Spaces for Learning
5) Building Spaces and Places for Learning

Third Challenge: Preparing Students for Online Learning
6) Preparing Your Students for Online Learning

Fourth Challenge: Managing and Facilitating the Online Classroom
7) Managing and Facilitating the Online Classroom

Fifth Challenge: Assessing Learner Outcomes
8) Assessing Learning in the Online Classroom
9) Reflecting on Your Experience
10) Challenge for the Future: Building Knowledge

Appendices
References
About the Authors
Index

David S. Stein

David S. Stein is an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. He specializes in adult teaching and learning. Dr. Stein has conducted workshops on principles of adult teaching and has served as a consultant to the Ohio Board of Regents, the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College, the Columbus (Ohio) City Schools, the Ohio Learning Network, the Digital Union at Ohio State, professional associations, and other universities. He has presented at numerous conferences on adult and online learning and has written extensively on how adults learn in online environments. He serves on the conference planning committee for the Distance Teaching and Learning Conference in Madison, Wisc. Dr. Stein received his Ph.D. in adult education from the University of Michigan and earned an M.S. in community health planning and administration from the University of Cincinnati.

Constance E. Wanstreet

Constance E. Wanstreet is an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. She has developed and implemented training programs for adult learners in workplace settings and pioneered the use of training via videoconference for a major national corporation. Dr. Wanstreet has served as a consultant to the Ohio Board of Regents, the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College, the Columbus (Ohio) City Schools, the Ohio Learning Network, and the Digital Union at Ohio State. She has presented at numerous international and national conferences, primarily on how adults learn online. She received her Ph.D. in workforce development and education from The Ohio State University.

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