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Going online

UTAS Home ›  › Learning and Teaching Online › About teaching online  › Going online

What does 'going online' mean?

There are many different ways to 'go online', so 'going online' can mean quite different things to different people. For example, going online can mean:

  • posting administrative information
  • providing lecture notes/summaries and/or other teaching materials
  • communicating with students electronically, or having students communicate amongst themselves
  • using online tools for assessment purposes.

At the unit level

At the level of a subject/unit, there are three general models of online engagement:

  • The web is used to support and/or supplement the normal face-to-face teaching program (the 'web supported' or supplementary model of web usage)
  • The web is integrated with other teaching delivery strategies, and student engagement with the web is a necessary aspect of their studies (the 'web dependent' or blended model of web usage)
  • The web is the primary means by which the unit is taught; i.e. the unit is fully online (the fully online model of web usage).

[See MyLO at UTAS for an overview of these three models of engagement.]

Within a online unit

No matter what general model is followed, there is a range of possible web tools to incorporate within your online unit. Some units may only use a few of the tools available; others much more. Which tools you use will be determined by the purposes for which you are going online. Clarifying those purpose(s) will assist you in choosing the right tools for the job. It's a good idea to discuss your needs and intentions with an experienced colleague or educational developer/designer.

Remember, there is no one 'right' way to go online, or one 'right' set of tools to use—it all hinges on the purpose(s) you have for going online. Hopefully, those purposes are both educational as well as administrative, and about 'adding value' to the student experience.

Ten reasons for going online

Going online can provide both you and your students with greater flexibility in teaching and learning, and generally add value to your classroom teaching. It allows you and your students to do things more effectively or differently. Going online can:

  • Enhance communications with and between students
  • Improve administration and learner support
  • Make more accessible high quality learning resources
  • Aid in assessment and facilitate timely feedback (through, for example, incorporation of online quizzes, self tests, with automatic feedback, posting of past exam questions and sample answers).

Importantly, online unit delivery is one powerful way to introduce more student — centred learning — where students are given greater control over, and responsibility for, their own learning. It allows teaching staff to move away from a focus on presenting information to a more supportive or facilitative function.

Here then are 10 reasons for going online (PDF 86KB)

For consideration

Before deciding to go online, you should consider the following:

  • The time you will need to master MyLO and other software you might need.
  • Support you can access. You may need technical assistance at the beginning and, depending on your planned use of MyLO, help from other professionals such as colleagues who already have some experience in using MyLO in their teaching, an educational developer, and/or desktop/web publisher. Launching a media-rich, content intensive web site is usually a team enterprise and may take considerable planning, design and development time. CALT can provide some support. What people are available in your school/faculty?
  • Student access to the Internet and appropriately configured computers, as well as their skill levels and likely willingness to adopt the technology. (See Support for student learning.)
  • Restrictions that bandwidth places on the use of some tools and media (particularly when access is from a home dial-up modem).
  • Most importantly, just how your proposed use of the Web will add real value for students (through improved learning, more efficient administration, and so on).

Some examples

University of Tasmania online units are password protected. You should seek permission to access a site from the unit coordinator – for contact details, see Current units online. MyLO support in IT Services can then arrange for your access.