Get Your Students Hired
Ralph,
Yes, it takes time and many times through before you find your own preferences and styles both as a learner and an instructor for online. This is the same really, for F2F as well...teaching and learning is ongoing and takes commitment.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Ralph,
This is a great idea...I first used Skype several years ago now and for one student who wanted to take my course but had to move away just 2 weeks into it. As it was a F2F class she "attended" via Skype. I spoke with the other students and asked if they minded and when they all said they were fine with it, we continued and it worked really well.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Upon reflection I think that is true. Our current curriculum does not allow for true face to face, but soon we will be offering "skype like" sessions where we can at least converse computer screen to computer screen. Students have told me that they would enjoy and think they would do better if there was some real classroom time.
Ralph Fornari
I agree. I am new to academia. After 30 years as a health care professional I began teaching online practice managment classes. I found that students new to the online environment did not know what to expect. I myself was surprised at the difficulty in conveying my thoughts and achieving the objectives of the course. The text formed the foundation for the courses but my interaction with the students through discussions, chats and live labs was where I thought I could provide "real world" information and put the didactic information into context. Having a meaningful exchange with a student was more difficutl than anticipated. I think my early attempts were not satisfying to me or the students, which just reinforced their hesitancy to take more online classes.
Ralph Fornari
Sandra,
Very true. We take a lot for granted when we see students F2F but, actually, we should invest as much time in constructive feedback regardless of delivery,
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Sandra,
I agree and this, of course, is the same even for on ground classes; as students invest in the journey, they learn more :)
Dr. Ruth Reynard
Hi,
I find the time required to conduct an on-line class successfully to be more than an on-ground course as it is daily interaction and checking in rather than a once or twice classroom meeting. I find grading also takes longer as constuctive evaluations must be carefully written out rather than shared face to face.
Hi Robert,
Overall I agree with you. Students must have a high level of discipline to succeed in an online environment. I too have found that successful students perform often better than on-ground students because they really invest themself in the learning environment.
I find most of the students who do poorly do not take the time to utilize the available resources. For example Live Chats, additional website resources etc.
mica,
Very true - in fact, I am finding increasing numbers of students choose hybrid over fully online. That is, they can still benefit from some flexibility but they still have the F2F time they like. Also, true that students and faculty are often "shocked" at how much time an online class can take in terms of time on task and self study. I do think, however, some fully online classes are not designed very well and can be very tedious for students. That would discourage them faster than too much work :)
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I often have students, at the end of the first unit of any online class I’ve taught, e-mail me commenting on how much work the class is. More than they were expecting. Most of them find it refreshing when I explain to them that it feels like a lot of work because—well, it *is* a lot of work.
I also try to explain this in terms of contact hours. If we’re taking the exact same class on-ground, we would have about *30 additional hours of contact* as opposed to the abbreviated, accelerated schedule we have online. That 30 extra hours is kind of on them. There’s a fair amount of self-direction and self-teaching that needs to take place over those five weeks. The good news is that most students “get this,†and they can handle doing this work on their own.
So, yes, I think students are expecting it to be easier—and I also agree that the “technology†aspect of that can make it seem so as well. That is, everything is easier when we can do it on our computer or on our phone, right?
Best,
Mica
Harry,
I agree...the idea of not being in the same place as an instructor can give a sense of "less rigor" when actually the intensity of an online course can be greater.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I sometimes get a sense that some students think an online class will be easier than a traditional classroom class. Technology itself seems to be a part of this attitude.
Robert,
Interesting ...my sense is that students expect a difference with online learning in terms of time and effort - they can be drastically surprised !!
Dr. Ruth Reynard