The Joyful Online Teacher with Flower Darby

In 'Small Teaching Online,' Flower Darby (coauthor with James M. Lang in the known edition) adapts the small teaching approach to the online context, presenting brief but powerful strategies informed by learning science. The book focuses on low-effort, high-impact techniques—such as brief retrieval practice, focused feedback, and effective structuring—that instructors can implement without major course redesign. It balances research findings with concrete examples and templates for online activities and assessments. The work aims to help busy faculty make iterative improvements that cumulatively enhance student learning. Its pragmatic orientation makes it popular among educators seeking evidence-based but feasible online teaching practices.

Flower Darby's The Joyful Online Teacher draws on decades of teaching experience and research on learning, emotion, and motivation to help instructors find satisfaction in asynchronous online courses. The book focuses on building rapport, designing organized and accessible courses, and using emotion-informed strategies to foster student engagement and persistence. Darby presents pragmatic, small-teaching tactics—warm announcements, brief welcome videos, meaningful discussion prompts, timely responses—that make online students feel seen and supported. She emphasizes instructor well-being, boundary-setting, and designing for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to boost motivation and completion. The book positions joyful teaching as a lever to improve both instructor fulfillment and student learning outcomes.