Joseph,
I would argue that the learning can certainly be the same and for some students they perform better in online courses. The pedagogy may be different. The design of some of the assignments and activities might vary, but functionally they are very similar. In fact the online tools can be so useful many instructors are beginning to use a "flipped" classroom approach, where they provide most of the routine knowledge content in an online format, and use their traditional class time for more in-depth discussions and "deeper" content.
Herbert Brown III
Tom,
This is a lot of information to share with students up front. Do you ever find that they get "overwhelmed?" Do you use any mechanisms to determine if they actually read and understand the expectations?
Herbert Brown III
Roberto,
I really like your information posted here. This is not just for online courses, I have found myself doing these same things in onground classes on a regular basis. Many students just do not know how to study. They think reading in front of the TV during commercial times is studying. For some this might work, but for most it will not. I also find when I ask students to produce or show me their studying tools (as you mentioned) they can't produce them because they have not done them. This gives me an opportunity to counsel them and hopefully get them back on track.
Herbert Brown III
One of the more important things that I discuss as far as expectations is the difference between a ground class and on-line. With called instructors, we are actually facilitators. The major of the responsibility is on the student - online is really not the same learning as ground classes - many students don't seem to know that.
The following are some of the elements that I share with my students in my initial course expectations. My bio, introduction to the course, Time Management, Weekly Practical Assignments, Late Assignment Policy, Time Zone, Being Proactive, PAPER Format, about Grading, and Academic Honesty. I normally introduce myself to students and even share with them my teaching philosophy, experience, my hobbies, and where I live. I share with them an introduction or overview of the course, number of assignments, duration, deadlines. Since I have students from different time zones, I share with them the time zone to avoid time conflict due to assignment deadlines. I provide some basic time management tips. I provide them with weekly activities that reinforce the course material. It is important that students are familiar with policies such as late assignment, academic honesty, deadlines, paper format standard, grading, rubric, my expectations, and their expectations of me. I provide them with basic support information such as the technical support, library, learning center, tutoring, the learning management system basic navigation, and academic advising. I eventually share with them my email and phone number.
Thanks, Tom
In each course that I facilitate, I generally post what the student can do to ensure they can excel in the course including-
1) Spending about xx to xx hrs of reading and study
2) Outlining each of the chapters read
3) Doing more than the min number of homework questions assigned.
4) Submitting work early if they can
5) Work through any publisher's online quizzes that may be available.
What I do when a student struggles is to ask them to send me a copy of their chapter outlines so that I can see what concepts they are recording or what was their average grades on the publisher's outside quizzes. I've found one area students struggled with is how to study (something that I understood when I was an undergraduate student). Helping them in their student habits is an important process of learning so my expectation of them is to ensure they have a plan in this area.
Marjorie,
From a legal perspective it is imperative that you know any documented special needs, how you might accomodate those needs, and make every effort to meet those needs. We should also make sure that the resources we use for classes are "accessible" to meet the needs of all students - good point!
Herbert Brown III
Marjorie,
All expectations in general have to be MUCH more specific. The set of course expectations you list on your first online course will change completely buy the 3rd or 4th time you teach it (and likely sooner). You have to be very clear on communications: how, when students cna contact you; when to expect responses, etc. You can clearly articulate computer requirements, although you never know unti they can't successfully complete an advanced computer assignment that they don't meet those expectations. Give clear schedules and due dates. Clear expectations reqgarding late work and consequences. Anything you would cover in a regular class plus more on communications and in greater detail.
Herbert Brown III
Dear Jocelyn,
I concur with your list of online faculty expectations. You are also correct in that we need to understand how to support those students with disabilit(ies), too.
Good job!
Sincerely,
Marjorie Thrall Moller
I have found that there are many different elements of faculty expectations in online:
1) Expect not all students to read all instructions.
2) Expect not all students to have a substantial knowledge of their computer
3) Expect not all students to know how to use WORD and/or EXCEL
4) Expect students' personal issues to impeded their success in the online course
5) Expect to help students to connect with the assignment and the course
6) Expect some students to know know the course prerequisite concepts.
These are just some of the faculty expectations that immediately came to mind.
What are some expectations you now have as an online faculty member that you did not initially have ?
Sincerely,
Marjorie Thrall Moller
Tammy,
These are all great items to include. What level of detail do you feel you need in these items in an online course, relative to an onground class?
Herbert Brown III
Jason,
Although you have many tools at you disposal, you have to do a critical analysis of the course and breakdown what it is that you want to do, maybe something that has been really successful in an ongroud course, and then imagine how it could be accomplished online. You may also need to re-vision aspects of the course that can be accomplished differently and maybe better online. For example, if you want to incorporate extensive discussion, you need to break down what you normally examine in these discussions and determine how best to reach that goal - maybe discussion forums with specific questions and leading prompts; maybe some of the discussions become student reflective writings; maybe other discussion content becomes part of a large intergrated project. The tools are almost endless. Synchronous tools can still give you the "looking at them" piece and still provide you with that realtime immediately interaction. Sometimes it means a revisioning of the course from a pedagogy perspective. Shifting from the sage on the stage to the facilitator role. Shifting to a project-based learning model and project-based assessments. Any course going online should go through these steps in my opinion.
Herbert Brown III
Hello,
I usually include the following information in the announcement section of the course.
**What to expect from the course.
**My contact information.
**My live chat sessions and office hours
**Late work policy
**Academic Honesty guideline
Also, an email will be send to all students welcoming them to the class.
I'm taking this course to prepare for an online class I'm teaching soon, and I'm really interested in the ways in which online classes are analogous to on-ground. For example, teachers should always clearly express their expectations on day one and do constant checks for understanding; the only difference here is in means. Online teaching, it seems so far, offers different tools for this--e.g., taking a short quiz v. looking at them and asking, "Do you understand?".
I'm interested: what are other such analogous tools online teachers use?
William,
This is a very common problem. Some strategies to get them to read the expectations and demonstrate they understand them is to have the students write a short reflection on them, complete an assignment with them, or take a short quiz to demonstrate that they have read and understand the expectations. Then you also have clear documentation that they understand the expectations as well.
Herbert Brown III
Good day Tonya, I like your analogy of the roadmap but I "get lost" even with my Mapquest and Garmin in hand. I do provide exactly the same list of expectations; and I follow through by posting these expectations in several places and throughout the course.
However, I do not require a formal response in a prepared statement. I ask them to contribute to a forum called Community where they introduce themselves. I contribute to Community and review their comments. I find a reason to send an email to those students who did not contribute. (I often find acceptable reasons for their lack of contribution, but I also find those students who have not made a serious commitment to fully engaging the course. I am proactive in attempting to predict future issues.)
Hello
I have been teaching online for 11 years now. Almost from the beginning I have posted “Class Expectationsâ€. On it I discuss my expectations for the assignments, the discussion boards, the group project and the weekly chat sessions. The problem I find is that most students or a majority of them do not read the announcements. This is evident from some of the questions I receive throughout the duration of the term.
Bill Becker
Jocelyn,
It is important to make sure the students have thoroughly reviewed the expectations for the course and you have record of it. Have you found that online syllabi require more specific details than a traditional on-campus course?
Herbert Brown III
HI
It is important to consider the level of course and set expectations appropriately.
Items that generally need to be included would be:
Attendance/timeliness expectations - as well as penalties involved.
Policy on plagiarism
Grading expectations including a general rubric is applicable.
Points on how to research and write
How to communicate and reach the instructor
And finally any thoughts related to disability.
This should be something that the student has access to from day one. Ideally they should "approve" it upon starting the course.
Jocelyn Dervis
Tonya,
I like the detail you have in your expectations for the students and the requirement that they address potential issues that may arise as well as articulate that they comprehend the expectations. This statement you have them generate, how large it is typically? Just a few sentences or pages? I would also concur that roadmaps, schedules, and expectations must be clear. That clarity is often different for different people. I find myself adjusting my "clear" expectations each semester as new experiences arise.
Herbert Brown III
