Here’s the summary, at one level, no surprises. The typical issue of technology is that it is ‘fetishised’: it becomes an end in itself. We need to keep in view that it must assist good mathetogogy.
What does the research in instructional immediacy and the practical suggestions innate to Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles tell us about effectiveness in web-based instruction? Just the things that most (good) instructors already know: encourage students to think and learn, give prompt feedback, provide guidance and support, and consider what new and different ways technology may add support to current strategies and help to induct new ones. Worley (2000) stated it best that what faces an instructor teaching a web-based class is really “age-old questions that have always plagued the classroom, technically enhanced or otherwise” (p. 101). Rather than focus on how useful or comparative the specific technology is in web-based instruction, research should focus more on how such technology can support and enhance specific teaching and learning goals in web-based classes.
via Instructional Immediacy and the Seven Principles: Strategies for Facilitating Online Courses.
Oh and the seven principles:
Table 1. Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Chickering and Gamson (1986)
1. Encourage contact between students and faculty: Frequent student-faculty contact both in and outside of class is an important factor in student motivation and involvement.
2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students: Faculty should create and encourage opportunities for collaborative learning among students.
3. Encourages active learning: Faculty should require students to apply their learning in oral and written forms.
4. Give prompt feedback: Faculty should provide appropriate and prompt feedback on performance. Students need help assessing their current competence and performance, and need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestion for improvement. Such feedback should be an ongoing process in collegiate settings.
5. Emphasize time on task: Faculty should create opportunities for students to practice good time management. This includes setting realistic time for students to complete assignments as well as using class time for learning opportunities.
6. Communicate high expectations: Faculty should set and communicate high expectations for students. Such becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for students and they often will rise to meet the challenge.
7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning: Faculty should create learning opportunities that appeal to the different ways students will process and attend to information. Varying presentation style and assignment requirement will allow students to showcase their unique talents and learn in ways that work for them.