Evaluating online teaching: a portfolio approach

There are a number of outlines emerging as templates for lecturer/teacher characteristics, lecturer/teacher actions and course design features which contribute to excellence in online teaching and learning. This poster presentation examines several of these templates and suggests a portfolio approach as a practical and unobtrusive way of evaluating online teaching and supporting good practice in this ‘virtual classroom’ environment. There is a range of literature identifying the characteristics of an effective teacher (for example Feldman,1988). Effective online teachers are a subset of this group of effective teachers, with extra skills, attitudesand actions which are uniquely required by the online learning environment. Several profiles now exist ofthe effective online teacher (for example Illinois Online Network, Graham et al, 2001and Hayes, 2002).These profiles are useful in evaluating online teacher/lecturers, but the problem remains of how to collectthe data. Where an effective teacher/lecturer in a face-to-face setting may have their teaching processesobserved and evaluated by a colleague or professional development staff by ‘sitting in’ on a class, thismay be obtrusive in an online environment. The software capabilities of some VLE software means that itis possible to produce a portfolio of printed material – discussion postings, chat session logs, emailmessages. This portfolio, together with a short questionnaire on how the lecturer/teacher uses the designof the course to engage students, provides a comprehensive overview of the teacher/lecturer and can beevaluated. These evaluations can then be cross-matched (if required) with student feedback to give aprofile of the lecturer/teacher’s performance in the online environment with no intrusion or disruption tothe online learning process. ReferencesFeldman, K.A. (1988) Effective Teaching Research in Higher Education, 28(4), 291 – 334.Graham, C., Cagiltay, K., Lim, B., Carner, J. & Duffy, T. (2001) Seven Principles of Effective Teaching:A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses Available:http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id;=839 [online] 18 August 2002.Haynes, D. (2002) TheSocial dimensions of online learning: Perceptions, theories and practical responses. DEANZConference, Wellington New Zealand.Illinois Online Network: Facilitator Profile. Available:http://www.ion.illinois.edu/IONresources/onlineLearning/instructorProfile.html [online] 10 August2002. Copyright  2002 Stephen Bright. The author(s) assign to ASCILITE and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this documentfor personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement isreproduced. The author(s) also grant a non-exclusive licence to ASCILITE to publish this document in full on the WorldWide Web (prime sites and mirrors) and in printed form within the ASCILITE 2002 conference proceedings. Any otherusage is prohibited without the express permission of the author(s).