Is Online Teaching Right For You?

• Do you communicate clearly through your writing?
• Are you self-motivated and self-disciplined instead of scrambling at the last minute?
• Are you willing to initiate and moderate online class discussions for students?
• Are you comfortable with using or learning technology as opposed to others who seem easily frustrated?
• Do you believe that high quality instruction can take place outside of a traditional classroom?
• Do you set specific objectives for your courses?
• Do you prepare each session's instruction before class rather than make it up as you go along?
• Are you able to set limits for yourself, e.g., stick to office hours?
• Are you well organized at managing files and folders, both in your physical office and on your computer?

• Do you have regular access to a home computer/laptop with high-speed Internet access?
• Do you use email regularly as a communications method?
• Can you easily surf the Web and perform searches to find necessary information online?
• Do you know how to download a file from the Internet?
• Can you attach a file to an outgoing email?
• Are you able to sit at your computer for two or more hours at a time?
• Do you have the necessary software applications on your home and/or office computer, e.g., MS Office Suite, Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browsers, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and WinZip or Stuffit?
• Would you feel comfortable providing basic technical computer or Internet assistance to students?

Assessment

Depending on your answers to the questions above, you may need extra preparation before submitting a proposal for an online course. The FCPE can help you work on your technical and organizational skills in order to become more adept at successfully leading students in an online course.

To thrive in this teaching platform, you can’t put off creating course assignments or the preparation of materials. You must be able to resist distractions, whether it be people in your home, the TV, or other interruptions on your computer while you’re preparing course work. You need to be able to set aside blocks of time where online posting takes priority.

Additionally, students are depending on you to lead them through the course work and to make expectations and directions clear and explicit. You will also be expected to model and adhere to certain “Netiquette” standards of online communication conduct. In addition, students may be looking forward to enhancements to break up all the text, such as having their reading supplemented by images, video, and audio.