The joys of office hours
My biggest hurdle for creating office hours with my students is the fact that, with 18 students all living in different parts of the country, it can be a bit of a problem finding the "right" time to best accomodate as many of the students as possible.
So what has ended up happening, is I get calls late on Saturday night with questions. Sigh.
Brian,
Good point. We may not reach all students, but those who want help know how to reach us especially if we post our office hours.
Shelly Crider
I teach online and have the same issue. In my case I could have students anywhere around the globe. We also have a significant number of students in the military who have crazy schedules. While I do get a few students who visit during scheduled "office hours", most of my students end up e-mailing their questions. It is not as efficient, but at least I'm able to help all the students who request help.
I have told my students that I only receive phone calls during certain hours but if they need help outside of those hours I give them the alternate option of emailing me. I tell them that I will return emails as soon as possible. I normally try to check emails regularly, but this just fits for me. I have found this works fairly well and limits the intrusion on my family time.
That is why you should always let the students know what time zone you are in. Post it boldly so that they know.
This sounds like a great idea!
I have received a lot of feedback from students saying that it is hard for them to call me during my business hours since most of them have full time jobs, so if I were to offer them an hour or so later in the evening that would help the student to connect more often.
And I have to say that getting to talk to them makes a huge difference. It is not the same as when you are teaching on the ground. Building a relationship with your students in an e-environment takes time and effort and it is easy for things to fall through the cracks if you do not stay in constant communication with each individual student.
Great points - I agree! - Jon
What a well-written response- I wholeheartedly agree. If students realize you will accept their calls and need for assistance at any day or hour they will certainly not bother to consult you specifically during 'office hours'. I like this policy of availability- still offering much assistance to students but respecting the instructor's guidelines and perhaps also teaching time management skills as well!
My college does not have specific required office hours for online faculty, but we are required to provide a phone number, our campus e-mail and a personal e-mail to our students with general hours of availability. I let my students when I prefer to check into the online classroom, and also give them firm hours in which they may call or text message me. One of the best tools I have is my Blackberry--the students know that they can e-mail my Blackberry and Mon - Fri, 9 - 9 EST and Sat 12 - 7 EST, they will have a response within an hour. I always copy that message and my response to their private forum the next time I go to the classroom. I let them know that all messages and phone calls will only be accepted and responded to during those hours; otherwise, I will respond in the classroom within 24hrs to all posts.
My old boss had a sign in her office "Lack of planning on your end does not constitute an emergency on my end." When I post my availability at the beginning of the session, I remind students that they will often work with deadlines and limits, and while I am happy to help them, they should not procrastinate.
You have to set firm guidelines and own your personal time. You are not a surgeon; no one will die if you are not available for immediate response within minutes!
I try to set up office hours based upon students locations. For instance the east coast would have hours 7pm to 9 pm Monday and Wednesday
Central same times just on Tuesday
The difference with west coast is west coast time but on Monday and Wednesday.
Now if there are no students in a certain time zone I keep it simple.
Toni,
Great points!
Thanks,
Jon
Whether on campus or online it seems as though the students who need help and the instructor's time have trouble connecting. It is a good practice to attempt to be available. I agree that help might be needed before the time you are available. I also agree that most folks would contact you Sunday night.
Hello Michael,
I think there are several ways I've found that can assist with that - in my courses I have a discussion thread called "ask it basekt" where the students put in "questions" and I "answer" them - it could be about the assignment, the syllabus, the content, etc. This is a great place to answer a queston that perhaps other students have as well....
In addition, I offer "chat" times - day, evening, weekend - and those are the 3 times - if they ask me a question that I've already addressed in chat or ask -it basket - I will refer them to the proper place to get the information (but ever so gently.)
Thanks,
Toni
Donna,
Good points! I agree, in most settings office hours don't work well - one of the benefits of online learning is flexibility, and this just creates a "locked-in" time. When I've done office hours, I've generally had poor, if any, turnout. The only time it might work well is Sunday from 9PM-midnight (assuming that is the assignment deadline) - but I'm not sure how workable that would be!
Best,
Jon
I see advantages and disadvantages of office hours in the online environment. Students who are able to preview their assignments and work on them long before they're due, can utilize office hours to ask clarifying questions. Other students aren't as organized or are forced to complete assignments at the last minute and find that the official office hours might not align with their need for answers.
For the most part, I see office hours as a disruption to the instructor's week. No matter when the instructor promises to be available, that time won't be convenient for many of the students; therefore, he or she will still need to be "on call."
Vicki,
It will depend on the LMS. In some cases you will get a message in the LMS from the student - in other cases, it will show up in email.
Best,
Jon
Fanny,
I agree, generally not much activity!
Jon
I like this idea..Can you explain more about how this works? For example, if you are not on your computer, except for the posted office hours, how do you know they sent you a message? Sorry, if this seems elementary, but I am new to teaching online.
We use "Instant Messaging" for our office hours and it works very well! When I taught "on the ground" classes, I rarely had a student walk up to my office (which was on the third floor!) to visit during "office hours." It was the single-most frustrating part about teaching because I felt like that was such "idle" time. However, with the online classes that I teach, my students actually "contact" me during my hour that I am "online." Plus, I am always available by phone, if they need immediate assistance.
I have experienced the same problem of conducting office hours and no one even show up. But I make good use of the time anyway and grade papers.
