How important do you find using humor in the online classroom environment for establishing good student - teacher relationships?
I ask this because I have found that this is the keystone to many of my chats to make them enjoyable for the students. I encourage them to make humourous (British English spelling)comments too about what we are doing in the class in the chat box. I think it helps with participation and just basically showing up for class.
I have to agree... Humor is a great ice breaker and can bond you with students.
Those are great tips about how to use humor. Thanks for sharing them with the group Lindsay.
I use humor in my live lectures quite often. I find that when students are staring at a computer screen, the tune out unless the lecture is engaging.
I do use the most "G" rated humor I can come up with. I keep it very clean and light-hearted. I intentionally set up examples to be funny and cause humor.
I get many students who reply in the chat window with humorous responses, but because I keep the humor very subject-oriented and a bit self-depricating students enjoy this humor and make lectures fun.
Humor can be dangerous, but it depends on the personality of the instructor as well as the personality of the class as a whole.
Using humor in a classroom, either a virtual classroom or a residential classroom can bring with it a huge risk. It is extremely difficult to anticipate how someone else is going to take your humor. Thanks for your comments Chris.
I would find it difficult to add humor to the classroom. Only because it is difficult to understand how someone means what they are saying. I may type something and mean it to be humorous. Then someone else may take offense to it. So I would probably have to avoid humor.
Making yourself more "human" is a great way to make yourself approachable to the students. Thanks for sharing this idea with the group.
I am a bog fan of humour (yes, Brit) and use cartoons and bing.com images to enhance the chats. I also am self-deprecating because I believe that it makes me appear *human and natural*; not just a *voice in the machine*. I emphasize a conversational tone, not a *lecturer*.
I agree that humor can be a risk in the online environment. As you point out, it is difficult to know how your students are responding to the humor without the nonverbal cues that can be read in the residential class. Thanks for sharing your ideas with the group Frank.
Don't forget you (and your students) have lost most visual cues that might work well in on-ground classes. One look at the classroom will immediately tell the instructor that the humor was a dud, not understood at all, understood by a few, or a real groaner. This on ground feedback can allow instructors to make adjustments, which is missing in an asych set-up.
That is a great suggestion Jen. Thanks for sharing it with the group.
I'm certain that students will have more motivation for logging into chat sessions and discussion groups with humorous clips included. It's something for them to look forward to!
Jen
Yes, humor can be very helpful, as long as it is communicated properly and can't get misinterpreted. Thanks for your post Heather.
I would say humor is important. You just have to be careful how the humor is presented.
I like your approach to using humor in the classroom. As you point out, you are providing real world examples that show students what can happen on the job. Whenever we can provide examples of what it is like on the job, it can be very motivating to the students.
I think humor is a great way to connect with students. I absolutely agree that you should be very careful that it is not able to be interpreted by anyone as offensive. The way I use humor is to inject some of my "stories from the real world" into my culinary management classes. Not only are they humorous and true, they show real-life examples of theories in action.
That is exactly the challenge with using humor. While it can be very effective if used properly, it can be absolutely devistating if it is misinterpreted. Some basic tips would be to stay away from offensive jokes and political jokes.
I think it is great for the instructor to display humor during class time. It shows the student that the teacher has a sense of humor and is not stuffy. It is like an icebreaker where the student realizes that, wow, the instructor is professional, but can have fun also. This helps the students to become comfortable and open up. The foundation is being laid down to build a rapport between teacher and student.
Although I believe that humor is a good idea, what happens if the students don't get your sense of humor (i.e. a dry sense of humor)?
Dennis,
You aren't kidding about the land mines! Using humorous stories about your own life may be one of the safest ways to inject humor. Neutral cartoons, too. It sounds like you have been successful with humor in your own classroom. Kudos!
