Article,

(MY) THREE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE ONLINE PEDAGOGY

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Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network - JALN, (2004)

Abstract

As the recipient of the 2003 Sloan-C award for Excellence in Online Teaching, I have been invited to share some of my thoughts regarding effective online pedagogy. I am nothing if not a teacher, and as such, I am honored—both by the recognition that accompanies this wonderful award, and by the opportunity to share my thoughts about asynchronous teaching and learning with my colleagues. This may seem a strange way to begin, but I want to admit that my ever-emerging philosophy of education increasingly diminishes the role of "the teacher" in the teaching/learning equation. It took over 30 years of college teaching experience for me to realize that the learner is, for the most part, in charge of what gets learned. Implementing this point of view online has, for me, blurred, somewhat, the distinction between effective teaching and pedagogically sound instructional design. If I create an environment in which a majority of students gladly learn that which they and I deem relevant and salient, then have I succeeded as a teacher or as a designer?—and does it matter? I hope some of the ideas that follow are helpful to others. I have liberally interspersed snippets from several of my current online courses throughout this essay. Because screen shots can be hard to read, I have also provided links to the actual courses whenever possible. When no link is available, it's because the course is password protected. Should you find any of the words and/or strategies useful, feel free to copy or adapt them for your own use.

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