Quality Online Teaching Series: Managing the Online Teaching Workload

This workshop will introduce you to some strategies for keeping up with the course, techniques that can save you time, and best practices to manage student expectations of you, including some simple suggestions for saving time and increasing your efficiency.

Key Insights

• Course Development
  • Use existing resources, like Open Education Resources, instead of creating new multimedia
  • Finalize one module first, then duplicate the structure to maintain consistency
  • Use Batch Edit (in Ultra Course View) or Date Management (in Original Course View) to update availability & due dates efficiently
• Course Delivery
  • Set clear expectations for communication, such as subject line for emails and when to post to a Q&A forum vs. emailing you
  • Use a Q&A forum for general questions and encourage students to post questions there instead of emailing you
  • Use due dates on assessments and the calendar in Blackboard to communicate key dates so they are easy for students to find
  • Establish a routine for course management tasks, like posting announcements and grading
• Grading
  • Consider your schedule when setting assignment due dates to pace grading tasks
  • Use interactive rubrics in Blackboard to save time on grading and reduce questions about how grades were calculated
  • Save common feedback phrases in a document to copy/paste instead of typing each time

Resources

• Be Efficient, Not Busy: Time Management Strategies for Online Teaching 
• 10 Tips for More Efficient and Effective Grading
• Tips for Online Instructors: Managing Files, Feedback, and Workload