Asynchronous online courses are classes in which students and instructors aren’t present at the same time and location and activity centers around a learning management system, such as Canvas. Asynchronous classes still have established course policies and submission deadlines; they offer students a level of flexibility that is not available in a traditional classroom setting.
While it is often said that “good teaching is good teaching,” there are some recommendations and best practices that are germane to asynchronous online instruction. Several of these best practices are outlined below.
Asynchronous Online Best Practices
Course Preparation
- Incorporate backward design into your course development process.
- Develop assessments with transparent assignment design in mind.
- Leverage discussion boards in your course by posting engaging open-ended questions along with student participation requirements and grading rubric.
- Gain a familiarity with steps for creating an accessible Canvas course prior to adding content to the class.
- Test the hyperlinks within the course to verify they are working properly.
- Use a consistent naming convention for assignments. One best practice is to use the week number as a prefix (e.g., Week 1 – Class Assignment).
- Set due dates for all assignments, so they are clearly visible to students in their course calendars.
- Verify that all assignments have been published.
- Review the course gradebook to verify that all assignments are present.
- Avoid the use of scanned PDF documents as the pages are merely a series of images. As a result, a screen reader is unable to identify the text within them, and they will not meet WCAG standards for accessibility. In addition, scanned documents are typically of low quality and can be difficult for all students to read.
- Use the built-in Panorama app to verify that all content, including uploaded documents, are digitally accessible.
- Use the Announcements feature to post a welcome message to the class.
- Select the Student View button in the upper-right corner of the screen to evaluate how the course will appear to the student.
- If choosing to use Zoom to hold synchronous student/office hours, please be sure to turn on Closed Captioning.
Instructional
- Gain modality specific knowledge by attending professional development sessions offered through the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation and VTSU Online. For example, joining a workshop on adult learning theory can be beneficial in understanding the needs of this demographic of online learner.
- Do not be a passive observer of discussion board activity. Facilitate the discussion as an active participant who shares supplemental resources and encourages student-to-student as well as student-to-instructor interaction.
- Clarify how and when students can reach you as well as a window of time (e.g., 48 hours) in which you will respond to their inquiries.
- Grade assessments within a time frame (e.g., within a week of the due date) that is known by your students using detailed feedback that is tied to a grading rubric.
- Follow-up with students who are falling behind encouraging them to re-engage, especially during the early stages of the semester.
- Record video content, such as topic-level lecture material, welcome messages, and recaps of previously covered concepts. In doing so, keep the recordings within 5-10 minutes in length so that it is easily digestible.
VTSU Online Resources
VTSU Online oversees Vermont State University programs that are offered 100% online. Although individual online courses taught by full time campus-based faculty members do not fall under the purview of VTSU Online, instructors are encouraged to make use of the resources listed below in addition to following the recommendations above.
VTSU Online Open Office
VTSU Online maintains an Open Office SharePoint site that is accessible to all Vermont State University faculty members. It includes the contact information for key staff, distance education best practices, and much more.
VTSU Online Canvas Template
The VTSU Online Canvas template, used by VTSU Online faculty members, is intentionally designed to use Pages rather than Modules, streamlining navigation and reducing the number of clicks required from students. By presenting all weekly content at a glance on a single Weekly Overview Page, the template minimizes cognitive load and helps adult learners stay organized and focused. Additionally, the template incorporates Federal, NC-SARA, and NECHE standards and guidelines—including regulations regarding substantive and regular interaction—allowing the institution to demonstrate compliance with key regulatory and accreditation requirements for online learning as well as best practices for the delivery of 100% asynchronous courses.
The VTSU Online template is aligned with the Vermont State University Online Standards, which delineate requirements across five broad categories: course design and readiness; faculty presence in the course room; learning management system, digital tools and navigation; interactive learning strategies and instruction; and assignments and assessments.
The VTSU Online Canvas template is available for you to copy into your Canvas course site(s). Instructions to the faculty are included within the template. Log into Canvas to familiarize yourself with the template before copying it into your course!
VTSU Online Exemplar Course
VTSU has an exemplar online Social Science course for you to explore. For new online instructors, or experienced online instructors teaching at Vermont State for the first time, it is a beneficial resource.
Self-Paced VTSU Online Teaching and Learning Course
VTSU Online offers a self-paced online course for instructors who are interested in learning more about online teaching and learning. This is an entry level course that is one way for a faculty to fulfill the university’s baseline standards for online teaching. This course includes a study of adulty learning theory and application. To participate in this course, please email Associate Vice President of Online Program Administration, Lisa Hayward.