One of the strands of the Refreshing e-learning initiative has been to promote the sharing of good practice in e-learning.  As part of this we are capturing e-learning practice from different parts of the university in short, two-page case studies.  As the case studies become available we will include them here on the blog.  Below is an overview of our first case study.

Question mark. by Ségozyme

In this case study, the module leader found that many students separately asked her questions about the assessment, which led to duplication in responses and wasted time.  To solve this a discussion forum was added to the module’s Blackboard site, creating a shared space in which questions from the cohort focussed on the assessment topic and submission guidelines could be answered.  This approach led to a decrease in individual student questions and a shared place for information about the assessment, an approach the tutor will enhance in future cohorts by including an FAQ-style document.

You can read more about this approach in the two-page case study entitled: Facilitating Question and Answer Sessions Online

If you are willing to share your experiences in teaching online in a similar case study, please contact Brian Irwin in the Learning and Teaching Institute.