Is teaching online more time consuming and stressful than traditional classroom teaching?
I work full and part time at a couple of universities. Is teaching online more time consuming and stressful than traditional classroom teaching? It feels that way to me.
What do you think?
This is true Charlie. Many instructors give up brick and mortar teaching for online course formats, thinking that online will be less stressful. Instructors need to keep in mind that when you teach online, there are greater expectations about your availability.
I think it depends on a number of factors and what kind of "stress" you can deal with and what you time means to you. When I was on campus I drove to the school, taught the class, went home and there was not a ton of interaction between then and the next class date. Working online can be a 7 day a week requirement!
Great points Cheryl. I think the most important thing you are saying here is that your administration can really set the stage for any teaching arrangement, on or offline. Before we make commitments to teach, we should carefully consider how our schools/colleges/universities structure our courses.
I love this thread and feel compelled to comment.
First, let me say that I teach both online and in the classroom. I patch together a living with several adjunct jobs, and most of the times, I am very grateful for the opportunity to teach online. The convenience is wonderful, and I can work on my own time, after the kids go to bed, and yes, in my pajamas, if so inclined.
But as was mentioned by other faculty, I feel that online teaching can be a 24/7 endeavor.
It is up to the school/college/university to set the stage here. Depending on the school's policies, teaching online can be very rewarding, or it can be a nightmare.
For example, schools that provide a voicemail for the online adjunct are always preferable (in my opinion) to those that do not. One school requires that online faculty provide their home phone number...well, you can imagine the abuse that occurs! Yes, I do receive phone calls at all hours of the day and night, I am left with offensive messages about grades, and am hounded each term by at least a few students who call several times per day with questions that are answered on the course site.
So in summary, I would say that it can go both ways, depending on the standards and policies of the school.
Thanks for reading!
Your response is exactly what I have been going through. I'm glad that it's not just me! I haven't taught in the traditional classroom but have been teaching online for over 5 years. This past year, I have been teaching online as my full time job. Stressful situations have arisen such as: students contacting me all hours of the night, e-mails demanding that I accept an extremely past due assignment, students demanding that I don't deduct points for late assignments, and very detailed grading. I currently have over 110 students and am required to post grades twice a week - every 3 days requirement. We also, as faculty members, receive survey's from our students. Unfortunately, it becomes extremely stressful trying to "please" my students. My motto is "students first" but some students can really wear you out!
I don't think that students would call you in the middle of the night or send demanding e-mails if they were to see you face to face.
I think it is a bit more time consuming. True, we do not have to go to the brick and mortar institution. I feel I am constantly working on task after task, emails, grading, prepping, emails, grading, etc. There are days that I feel it never ends.
Rachel
Julie & Simone,
I agree with you both 100%. As with anything there are pro's and con's. While online learning is very convenient the grading is much more intense.
I also think the behavior of the students stems from having different expectations of online learning. I think many students have the false impression that it will be easier or less involved for them.
They are often unpleasantly surprised. :)
Teaching online is more time consuming and stressful than traditonal teaching for many reasons. It is necessary to respond to numerous requests from students in the form of e-mails, phone calls and instant messaging. They need additional training and clarification of the educational topics not understood. They need to communicate about their personal, computer and educational problems which cannot be discussed in person. Grading online requires ability for students to learn about their progress and give them ability for understanding for the future
Yay Julie!
I could not have said it better myself. The online environment, although convenient, does not allow for satisfactory communication and coping skills.
I teach both online and on campus and I have to say that it also depends on the school. Some schools do not tolerate any type or level of insubordination with an instructor regardless of online or on campus. I have never had an on campus student respond in some ways that my online students do. It is as if they do not think you are a real person. What is worse is that some schools do not adequately support the faculty.
As far as written communication, I can readily correct my students in a classroom environment and they expect this. Online, many students question why I am concerned about their grammar rather than what they are trying to say even if the information is unclear.
In the classroom, you can implement various activities which actively engage students in the learning process. Many times, online students expect to be given the road map to the answer rather than following the process of learning the material. Many do not want to utilize the other tools available to assist them in learning the material. Also, instructors are sometimes limited in how and what they can adapt in the online learning environment.
Grading is also more time consuming in that each student has to be provided written feedback and depending on the student and my comments an email might be brewing to question the grade again. On campus, in addition to selecting how to formulate graded assignments, instructors can give an in-class overview of some prevalent errors - which basically eliminates questioning emails. If emails or questions come, they are never as rude or threatening as emails from some online students.
With all that said, teaching online is convenient and I do place a high value on that.
Deborah,
Absolutely!
Reasons why:
1- Students in a classroom don't have the gall to send such horrifically written and rude emails.
2- They get immediate feedback which means I spend less time answering emails telling them to read the book.
3- Classroom students don't call me at 3am yelling at me because they are unhappy with their grade.
4- I actually get to teach instead of being a professional grader in front of a computer for hours on end every day.
5- The students tend to dictate whether or not faculty keep their job instead of faculty being evaluated on their performance-at least this is how it was at a former college I was at.
I think that the online environment while good; is also a detriment to people learning effective communication skills, how to work in groups, and how to operate as functioning adults.
For the instructors who are single it's very isolating and trapping because of the hours required for training, meetings, etc.
I think I covered everything although I am sure there is more to say! :)
I think it is, because you have to learn to budget your own time. For some reason if you know you have to do something between say 5 and 6 it is less stressful than knowing you have a task to complete today that is going to last one hour, but you get to pick the hour to do it. In this case I have a tendency to put things off and end up doing the task rather late at night.
Wow, nice response.
I know we'er not supposed to respond this way, but you said everything I was thinking.
nice job.
I love the flexibility online gives me to set my own schedule.
-- matt
To me, teaching online and teaching in a tradition classroom are totally different. I somewhat agree with you that teaching online is more time consuming, but it might just "feel" that way. When you are teaching in a traditional classroom, attendance is required and a lot of student's answers are addressed there. In an online environment, there are a lot more individualized communication happening. --This is why I think it feels this way. --Answering email can be so time consuming!
I love this question and have thought about this often. I completely agree in that there are both pros and cons, but I don't think the trading of "time" is an even exchange. Yes, you may be sitting in traffic for an hour, but what would you be doing that hour if the class were online?
I think it depends on a number of factors and what kind of "stress" you can deal with and what you time means to you. When I was on campus I drove to the school, taught the class, went home and there was not a ton of interaction between then and the next class date. Working online can be a 7 day a week requirement!
