Meeting Psychological Needs in Web-based Courses for Teachers

Abstract

Two teacher educators describe their efforts to design and deliver online graduate courses for practicing teachers that meet psychological needs for belonging, freedom, power and fun (Glasser, 1999). Strategies to promote belonging include welcome letters, icebreaker and cooperative learning activities, personal Web pages, liberal office hours, private e-mail messages, and personalized responses to student postings, and public acknowledgement of student accomplishments. To ensure freedom for all participants the authors use minimum participation requirements, clear but flexible deadlines, multiple project options, Internet links, and access to all students’ work and projects. To empower their students, the authors provide ample technical support, a course bulletin board, performance assessments, and frequent opportunity to apply course material to experiences. To enhance the excitement of online learning, authors use an inviting welcome page, humor, contests and games, group projects, multimedia, and emoticons.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joan L. Whipp

Joan Whipp is assistant professor of education and Director of the Masters Program in Instructional Leadership at Marquette University. She has been a lead developer and teacher of online graduate courses in education and has also been involved in a variety of teacher education reform efforts for the past 10 years. She earned her doctorate in urban education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Heidi Schweizer

Heidi Schweizer is assistant professor of education and Director of the Center for Distance Learning at Marquette University. She has been a lead developer and teacher of online courses in a masters program for practicing teachers and has directed an online staff development program in instructional technology for teachers in the Milwaukee Public Schools. She earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Iowa.