All Those Questions

In an web-based classroom, the tendency is for learners to ask any question of the person they "see" the most often—that's you, the instructor! This means that students will ask questions of you that far exceed inquiries about the course content. In short, if a learner has a question, you are expected to have the correct answer.

You don't have to necessarily have the answers to every question, but life will go a lot more smoothly for both you and for participants if you know where to point them for the correct information. These "traffic cop" activities can drain a lot of time and energy from you that is better spent teaching content. Rather than address them individually, make sure you keep a good FAQ up-to-date that you can refer learners to for institution-related information. Don't waste valuable time writing instructions for resources—find the website and link to it. Be sure to remember to check each link during your pre-term development time to verify that the addresses are still accurate.

An Idea for your Course

If you've been teaching for a while, think back on some of the common questions you have been asked repeatedly about institution resources. Think about questions that required you to refer learners to a different office for the correct response. If you haven't been teaching long, talk to a colleague—we have all had the questions!

Create a FAQ specifically related to university or institution resources.  You may want to annotate your response in addition to including the link, but don't go overboard. Refer learners to "the source of truth" so that when information is updated, you won't be left scrambling to update your FAQ. Here are a few examples:

Q: Can you change my name in the roster? I got married.
A: The registrar's office handles request for name changes; see Request for Change of Name.

Q: Internet Explorer keeps shutting me out of the course. What do I do?
A: The consultants at the IT Help Desk will be able to help you troubleshoot. Check this information page for several ways to contact them.

Q: Where do I park on campus during the intensive?
A: The building we will meet in is closest to the Harvard Garage. Review the parking services page for a map and cost information.

Now that we've got those generic non-course-related questions addressed, let's talk about how long it takes to teach an online course.