Title: Teaching Modalities
Course: Dev_TOPKIT_SAMPLE_COURSE_Bauer_S_67

Teaching an online course shares similarities with traditional classroom instruction. However, the differences require us to consider new instructional strategies to manage the unique challenges of teaching online, while taking advantage of new opportunities to engage students. Below are some of the key characteristics of each method.

Teaching in the Classroom

- Synchronous - Students and instructors must be present at the same location and time.
- Instructors can use non-verbal queues (body language, eye contact) to assess student understanding and convey messages.
- It is easier for the instructor to establish social presence and rapport with students.
- Interaction is easier when everyone is at the same location.
- Instructors can more easily adjust a lesson on the fly to meet the need of the students.

Teaching Online

- Asynchronous - Students can learn and instructors can teach at different times from any location with a computer and Internet access.
- Teaching online requires more pre-planning than teaching in the classroom.
- Online courses can accommodate larger groups of students, if appropriate for the subject matter, and are not limited by physical space.
- Shy students are more willing to participate in online discussions than in face-to-face discussions.
- Discussions are not limited by the class meeting time.
- Interaction can be a challenge.
- Student's self organization and motivation may be a challenge.

TOPKit Sample Course created by Sue Bauer, John Raible, and Jessica Tojo. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.