For this case study, you are about to teach your favorite subject for the first time in an online class and you’ve learned that similar courses offered by other
universities have an unusually high attrition rate. Naturally, being the dedicated professional that you are, you are going to take the appropriate actions to
ascertain that your students don’t drop the course! What will you do?
You might begin by writing some of the steps you would first take to learn the reasons for the high dropout rate; then, in some detail, list measures you might
implement to keep your students engaged and excited. Throughout, consider: the likely competencies, characteristics, and skills of students of your field and whether
they are appropriate for – and how they will transition from traditional to – online studies; your students’ likely learning styles; your transition from traditional
to online instruction; and how you will prepare your students for this online course.
Task 2
In Lesson 1, you answered this journal question: What are your favorite traditional classroom techniques? Reflect on how to capture these established qualities as an
online instructor and elaborate on which of the various modes of delivery might work for you.
Now, reflect on some of your favorite class activities, both individual and group, and consider the varied and exciting technological tools that will be available to
you as never before and the different aspects they might bring to these – and other, for that matter – activities. What do these differences between the traditional
and online assessments mean to you? To your students? How will you prepare them to succeed in online learning assignments?
For example, as you think of a traditional class assignment that you have used, imagine what you could develop online in this multimodal environment using, perhaps,
animation, a virtual field trip, or a podcast.
Define and consider the design of one individual assignment or one collaborative project. Create a Word document, or document in the word processing program of your
choice, and provide your response to this case study.
