In the beginning of March this year, I ran a Google search for really great books about post-secondary teaching. I don’t remember why, but I remember reading this list. It led me to borrow the copy of Michelle Miller’s Minds Online: Teaching Effectively With Technology housed in our campus library.
Funny how things turned out.
I didn’t get around to reading the book in its entirety until after the Winter semester and six weeks of emergency mode receded; I probably need to read it again to make things stick better.
My colleagues have (at this point) heard me recommend the book repeatedly, but for all of us who are new to teaching online, it’s a terrific primer on the science and practice of online pedagogy. Miller breaks down online teaching into a series of smaller topics, draws in relevant research from different fields, and provides examples of different ways to apply these findings in an online teaching environment.
There are other books and online courses I consumed to get ready this semester, others on teaching and course design, some on the actual subject matter I’m teaching. But if you’ve got time for one book, I think of everything I read for work this summer, this would be the one.
I sitll haven’t had a chance to return the physical copy of the book (though I did order my own copy from a local independent bookstore), but it’s also available on JSTOR.
