As an extremely passionate and enthusiastic person, my biggest challenge will be transferring this enthusiasm to my students through an online setting where they can't actually see me being "emphatic" or "waving my hands" to stress importance. I've always assumed that students learn best if I simply explain in to them in person, however, I'm learing that the online learner can still receive the benefits of learning if I use appropriate strategies to "personalize" my course and continue to infuse my enthusiasm. The bio is a great idea.
Amir,
Excellent process. Thank you for sharing with this forum.
Dear Dr. Vaillancourt,
Interesting information indeed from the Department of Education you shared. Regarding to your question on my specific communication channel. I do not have any problems communicating with a student via texting or phone. However, I prefer to use the e-mail communication method to maintain a thread and to avoid the possibility of hearsay. When I do communicate with students via texting or the phone, I always follow-up with an e-mail on what we discussed about it.
Amir
Hello Amir,
You are in good company with this perspective. The student-centered approach with as much individualization for each student as possible has been well documented in research to provide significant advantage toward student success. The U.S. Dept of Ed published a meta-analysis of ten years of empirically-based research that strongly evidenced this finding. This includes the implementation of a facilitator-led orientation so the student may gain mastery of the learning environment before attempting credit courses. Do you have specific communication channels (texting, phone, email, etc.) that you prefer for the one-to-one dialogue?
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Dear Dr. Vaillancourt,
There are the technological challenges, especially when it comes to basics as understanding how to navigate the Course Management System and the virtual classroom. We would include the fears and anxiety students bring in on the expectations of the assignments from the instructor, especially when it comes to understanding a software application that they have not had prior education or training. This is why the instructor must be student-oriented and providing one-on-one student focus. As we know, each student are different on prior education, work experience, and an understanding the materials that includes learning methods.
Amir
Edward,
Excellent approach! The audio/video components of the online classroom can 'personalize' online instruction far beyond the usual text-based class. The advancement of technology is a key component to enhancing the online classroom experience. Additionally, the technological analyses that will be avaialble promise to add an analytic component to instruction that has not been available before. As many teachers agree, teaching is both an art and a science. The future of academic analytics may help bolster the 'science' side of that equation, as we increase our utilization of computer technology as an instructional medium.
Hi Tim,
I think technology is so amazingly catching up with the online teaching arena that it will not be long before we can be a "sage on the stage" again! In Skype style rooms right now and video conferencing the students can actually have an almost face to face experience. For the moment as technology forges ahead I try to be as creative as possible to support the students and aleviate their concerns of not having direct face to face presence. I embed some youtube presentations in the class module and use the interactive capabilities of the software.
Sincerely,
Ed
Jerrianne,
Your outreach to students, especially those who don't 'raise their hand' for help, is a critical factor for some students. Keep up the consistent outreach. I expect there will be a few of those "You made a difference" letters from graduates, when you least expect it.
Dr Vaillancourt,
My biggest concern with this transition was the loss of interaction with the students. I worry that they do not get the course content, and they do not always 'raise their hand' for help. Honestly, this is the reason I now do weekly contacts with all of my online students.
Jerrianne
Amy,
You are not alone. Some of the most powerful mentoring tools for individualing the instruction are the corrective, and confirming, feedback you provide via submitted assignments and assessments. Individualizing the responses that takes each student to 'their next level' of understanding requires more time and effort, but it is clearly an avenue of enhanced learning for each student as you master the art. You will also see an enhancement of the quality in individualized email and phone communications - and maybe a diminishment in the quantity.
I enjoy face to face interaction. When you are face to face with a student you can get a feel for comprehension of the material by verbal and non-verbal cues. When you are teaching in an online environment this becomes a challenge. It is a challenge to make sure your students understand the material by the feedback you get in discussion forums and any communication they may have outside the classroom, such as email or phone calls. This is what I feel the biggest challenge is in online teaching.
Jake,
Agreed..."Guide on the Side instead of Sage on the Stage" does have many andragogical advantages, but takes a great deal more skill to accomplish. It is an important first step to getting the students more interactive with each other (to overcome the 'solo' feeling), so they can get more benefits from the diversity of their learning community within the class.
Nice going - to implement it in the f2f environment.
I've actually been working on lecturing less in my on-the-ground courses and becoming a learning facilitator instead. Allowing students to be more self-directed in their learning increases retention and allows the class to be more active. I think the biggest challenge to doing that online comes from making the students feel like they are part of a group instead of solo learners. When students can work together to learn, there is a synergy that allows more to happen than would be the case otherwise.
Steven,
Individual outreach is a key factor in getting to the root of student engagement. Private emails encouraging class participation can set expectations without embarassing the student. Then when the student makes a good showing in class, public acknowledgements can often get them to continue. This is just one of many techniques to help overcome the 'lack of face-to-face feedback' in this online environment. Any other thoughts of ways to engage the students and increase likeliness of continued engagement?
My biggest challenge is the lack of face-to-face feedback I received in the traditional classroom. I can see if the students are "getting it" by looking at their faces and postures. In the online environment, I have to look for different cues if there are any. I have had students drop the class but I don't know if it for reasons other than not getting the course material.
Steve
So very true! The art & science of teaching come together in those careful repsonses to keep the students progressing toward the desired outcomes.
Excellent insight! Keep meeting that challenge - it is a worthy endeavor.
Dr. V,
For me, the biggest challenge as a student and instructor is choosing carefully the words and phrases used in communicating with the class and instructor. Nuances in language – particularly in a diverse environment- can lead to misunderstandings that can hurt the learning process and cause students to “withdraw†from the class, emotionally if not physically. Conversely, being attuned to the meaning conveyed by student posts and assignments – reading between the lines, if you will – are important to understand the depth of a student’s knowledge of the subject matter and comprehension of the concepts the course is striving to achieve.
Thanks,
John F.
Thank you for the words of encouragement. I will continue to press forward.
'Exploiting' those tangential learning opportunities from the students is a a classic strategy also used in face-2-face instruction. Continuing to "stay with it" and being creative is key. Sometimes googling the topic, or taking it to ASK.com can provide you with some of those tangential opportunities. Hang in there!
I have noticed, there are weeks that I know I can excite some great threads from the students. But unfortunately, it is not a constant occurrence. I have been working harder to find real life ties to the discussion questions posted by the curriculum dept. Sometimes, the topic is too weak, but I know I need to stay with it.
Here is an example. The topic talks about making folders and how to how to develop naming conventions. There is only so many ways to say " I organize my folders by doing this" I think it might have been too restrictive.
I was able to revive the subject a bit because a student mentioned that she backs up her files. I exploited the opportunity to tell the students on how important it was to backup all their folders. This did help inject new blood to the subject. Some students said, yes I have lost files while others said, we have a routine to make sure we do not lose our data.
