Snapshot
Type of Course: All
LMS Used: TRACS
Tools Used: Lessons
The buildup before semesters can be daunting. The list of tasks to complete is often extensive, causing what I call PSB (Pre-Semester Blues). Symptoms of PSB can include:
- Having an overtaxed memory because you are trying to remember what settings you must adjust in your course each time the course runs.
- Waking up in the middle of the night worried that you have forgotten to publish an important first-week assignment.
- Panic upon hearing news from your Chair that you will be inheriting an online course developed by another faculty member.
- Frantically reviewing notes from the last time you taught the course trying to remember what revisions needed to be implemented.
Don’t panic! Let’s talk about how to implement some possible techniques to help manage your Pre-Semester Blues and get you on the road to Pre-Semester Bliss.
Our Technique: Instructor Start Here (ISH)
The Instructor Start Here technique starts with a straightforward premise: document your online courses inside your Learning Management System (LMS). This documentation can be used before the semester starts to help you remember what is in the course, what settings need to be set up, and what adjustments to make based on the last time the course was taught.
Here’s how to create your own Instructor Start Here page:
Step 1: Find a location for the tool
The first step to take is choosing the best location for the documentation to live. The best location to place this is on the main navigation of the course. This means that you will see that the tool exists upon entering the course site for the first time or the hundredth time. In addition, this tool should be hidden from the view of students and others you do not want having access to the information contained inside.
Step 2: Name the tool
Our name for the tool is Instructor Start Here (ISH). Much like how software often has a “readme” file, this naming convention made it obvious that important, instructor-focused course information lay within. You can name this tool any name you desire so long as it is readily apparent to you what is contained inside.
Step 3: Create a section on the page for an overview of the course
This section provides you with a high-level overview of the course. This could include a breakdown of the number of assignments, assessments, forums, etc. in the course or how the course aligns in a program. In addition, this section can include the name and email for the faculty member who developed the course. This would give non-developing faculty who inherited the teaching of this course a point of contact in case they had questions about the site’s content.
Course Overview Example
Step 4: Make a section in the ISH page to house checklists
Using a tool in your LMS, create a series of checklists that allow you to track the completion of vital tasks. These tasks are often generic to all courses. If you have multiple courses, this checklist could be copied over and reused in each course. In addition, include relevant links to outside webpages in case you run into difficulty completing a checklist item. Some examples might include links to your web-conferencing tool’s support page or to your institution’s tech support.
Course Set-Up Checklists Example
Step 5: Construct a section in the ISH for unique features in the course
Often, courses contain unique settings that do not overlap with other courses. For example, many courses contain announcements that need to be released at specific times throughout the semester. Establish a place to house outliers that the generic checklists would not catch. As an added bonus, this allows you to give others who did not build the course more information about how specific tools were used in the course.
Unique-Feature Notes Example
Step 6: Create a section where you could document issues with the course (Course Field Notes)
The Course Field Notes section is created to track bugs, errors, or changes in your course while the course is being taught. Instead of tracking them outside the LMS where they can be easily lost, errors are tracked inside the course itself. This allows for less communication overhead and streamlines the fixing of problems.
Course Field Notes Example
Next Steps
You do not need a team of Instructional Designers to help you reduce your Pre-Semester Blues. The Instructor Start Here technique can help you get undisturbed sleep, reduce stress, and streamline communication and memory. You can adjust these steps to work for your situation and LMS. The important part is to document your course inside your course using a tool that allows you to track tasks that need to be accomplished each and every time you teach the course. Managing your PSB can be a difficult endeavor, but you are on the path to bliss when you use the Instructor Start Here technique.