Peter,
What a great post! I agree that we have to evaluate our courses and have others look at it. I think this process should be done in ALL courses not just online. It only makes us better!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Aida,
You are right! Organization is such an important part of the course!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Margarette,
I think it will become more "required" for students. We just had a higher ed institution in our geographical slapped with a large (over $1M) fine because the federal govt found that their online courses were really not online, they were correspondence courses. Because there was not more group and one on one communication within the course, the course could have been done by mail with no loss. It was devastating and it is making all of us reevaluate our online courses.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Margarette,
You make a great point! We do need to reflect on how we communicate to the student. How many different ways to we provide information to the student? Is that overkill?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Margarette,
What a great idea! You break up the expectation in different ways than the syllabus. I think I am going to create an interactive syllabus that will allow links and connections. I hope this will work better. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Student needs - in the lecture, it mentioned that patters such as due dates and consequences are important to establish. I definitely see that point. But I have also learned the benefit of understanding individual student needs from time to time and stretching those patterns for that purpose.
Consistency in responses. I know that my best responses on my evaluations are in this area. My students learn to trust that they will have quick responses to their posts - especially questions or concerns.
Dear Dr. Wilkinson,
Much of how we teach is how we are perceived.
1) Instructors should be evaluated by a professional administrator and also he / she should do a self evaluation. While we may think we are delivering a quality product, we may in fact be failing our students with inadequate instruction. The evaluation process should be of constructive criticism and a method of changing negative performances.
2) While I support and understand an instructor’s right to “academic freedom†there should be an institutional mission statement all instructors should follow. We need to bring both to the classroom. Once the classroom becomes about the instructor, learning fails to take place. Courses have objectives; the instructor’s objective should be to meet those objectives.
For me, the students and organizing the information so it is relevant and understandable to them.
Aida,
What a great post. You are right, when we become to verbose, student don't read the details. It doesn't matter whether we are talking or writing! "KISS" Keep it simple, Students ( sometimes I add stupid)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Aida,
Do you put this information in multiple forms in multiple places?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
LaBoore,
Agreed. Students want to know that they are not being singled out but they want you to personally identify with them and develop an one on one relationship. Great point.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Angela,
I think that comments a good well developed rubric nicely. Good comment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Wenda,
You have made great points. You have to design a workload and a work plan that works for the success of the student and for you. That does take preplaning. Great comments
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Theran,
Isolation due to uncertainty is the "kiss of death" of an online students. You are correct about communication has to be clear and consistent.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Theran,
Both of you are correct. I have had a fear that bad rubrics contribute to grade inflation. We have to be specific.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MeriAnn,
Do you measure all communication; not only student to instructor but student to student?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MeriAnn,
Engagement is the key! You have to continue to remind them about your expectations of them and continue to hold them constant. As instructors, students cannot wear us down!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
James,
YES! I was taught to post in three areas. I think this is part of quality matters. This is important.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Chat is required at my institution. For professors, but not for the students. It is invaluable. I post to my students that statistically speaking, students who come to live chat have better outcomes than those who don't.
Students who are regulars almost always comment on how much it helps. I find it a wonderful resource. I can understand why it's not mandatory for students, but I wish more came!
I find this a difficult question! I could also interpret the question in different ways.
Option one would be looking at my strengths and weaknesses to consider when thinking of my own pattern of teaching. I'm a clear (and verbose) communicator. And the longer I teach online, the more I break down my thoughts while communicating them. My own weakness is my verbose communication. It can eat time when I write voluminous responses to discussion boards and emails. Finding a balance, then, is key.
Option two would be to address what do I think are the most important goals to consider. That would be learning outcomes and clear channels of communication for both me and the students via a variety of methods to accommodate people's learning approaches.
