I love the idea of being the "guide on the side." I feel that students can have a much bigger role in their own educations, being more active than passive. This is, of course, possible in the classroom, but online, it is obvious to me if someone is not participating.
Yvette,
Tone of emails is a critical issue. Many times the receiver is the one who adds 'tone' that was not intended and misunderstanding can ensue. For example, sometimes brevity in constructive criticism without ample encouragement and affirmation can seem to have a 'tone' to some students. Very good post. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The biggest challenge in transitioning to being a "guide on the side" is staying in front of the online learner on a daily basis, despite that fact that you are not delivering course content, as you would in the B&M classroom.
Staying in front of the student on a daily basis involves various methods discussed in this module, such as: starting and responding to discussion forum posts on a regular basis, grading papers and providing feedback often in accordance with submission and grading due dates, answering emails and inquiry posts within 24 hours, reaching out to students that do not appear engaged fairly immediately and providing synchronous opportunities for interaction on a weekly basis.
Another challenge is maintaining an effective level of communication. I am very effective in the classroom and one-on-one with a student; however, in the online environment, you must watch the tone of your emails and written communication, be empathetic and supportive even in your constructive criticism and ask the right questions to keep the students engaged and talking.
Deborah ,
The text forums are often a more difficult medium than audio communication when technical communications with student to clarify details are needed. It seems as though your are applying the appropriate mediums to varying instructional situations. Nice job.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Good Morning Everyone,
I must admit that this is a tough question. I think that my biggest challenge is and would be to utilize the discussion boards to their fullest potential.
In the online environment, I tend to rely more on the group telephone conferences but that does not reach the student who is performing poorly in the class.
Deborah Balentine
Joye,
Consistent encouragement is helpful to almost every student. A good friend of mine once wrote, "How do you know if somebody needs encouragement? - - He or she is breathing." ;-] Keep up the great work.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Joye,
Very good. Your dedication will certainly not go unnoticed by most of your students.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Joye,
The research evidence is what you have indicated. In a properly constructed, blended class the students often experience the best of both traditional and online instruction. Nice job.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Tina, you hit the nail on the head! I find that some of my students do need the e-mails and reminders I send, but most don't. Some of my more shy in-class students (I have these same students for 6 hours per week in my classroom) are actually my more "chatty" ones on line. Either way, I am a big proponent of encouraging them any way I can.
Arijana, I am interested in your input since I am fairly new to the online instructor position. I too log on several times a day and comment on every single direct post. I do not receive too many e-mails but when I do I try and answer them same day. Your students are fortunate to have such an available and experienced instructor!
At present, the students I instruct on line are also in my classroom for about six hours weekly. They have been able to get to know me and my professional experience and educational back round and I have gotten to know theirs as well. I feel that I have an advantage in being their "guide on the side" because of this.
John,
This is a good summation of many of the 'first level' challenges. Much of the effort toward solutions to these issues resides in the data collection and analyses being developed behind the scenes, at a deeper level. Over the next several years we should see academic analytics having a positive impact toward helping online instructors assist their students in immediate and tangible ways.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Interactions between instructor and student learners have vastly different approaches in the online environment compared to that of the on-ground environment since there are no face-to-face encounters.
It will become a challenge to transition from the on-ground environment, where you have the face-to-face interaction and the ability to view nonverbal types of communication such as body language, in contrast to the online environment, where face-to-face interaction no longer afford one the comforts of observing these nonverbal forms of communication that can be an informative assessment of whether the student learner mastered the course concepts and objectives.
As a guide, the online instructor must now face a myriad of challenges while attempting to guide the distant learners to a successful transition and an early submission to learn.
Renee,
The challenges you identified are very common to new online teachers. Creating a vocabulary and refining your use of instructional dialogue for the textbased environment is an effort for almost everyone. Nevertheless, many teachers have found this medium to be just as exhilarating, but in different ways. Hang in there.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
As a novice to online teaching my biggest challenge will be not seeing students reactions with the information being disseminated so to challenge them will be a challenge. Not being able to place a face to the name makes the disconnect even wider.
Elaina ,
Excellent point. Balance is a key component. Thank you for your insight.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
My biggest challenge with being the "guide-on-the-side" in the online environment is being succinct. If the written information that I want to convey to students is perceived as too lengthy, then they are likely to skim or skip it. Yet if the information I convey is too brief, I risk omitting key information. Neither is helpful.
Finding the right balance with length of communication is my biggest challenge.
Michelle,
Adobe Connect is a great tool for online instruction. It provides a great many of the advantages of the face-to-face classroom within the online setting. More and more audiovisual and screen sharing tools are coming into the virtual classroom. As they do to expand the instructors abilities to communicate more robustly with students. Great example.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
We use Adobe Connect at my institution and I have weekly online chats. I feel like I can tell when students are “getting it.†Throughout my presentation I ask questions to reinforce or double check that my point is being understood, I also use some of the chat tools like poll pods to have then respond to multiple choice questions, I do a lot of screen sharing—where we may work on a paper/project together. I feel this keeps those who are attending awake and listening, and involved (especially when we’re working on an assignment!), and it helps me keep track of where people may be getting lost.
Justine,
Yes, the quality of interaction between student and instructor is very different and less personal through the limited channels. It tends to require teachers to rethink their approach to student issues - and sometimes find very effective instructional 'tricks' that are also useful in the traditional setting.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
