Mandatory Participation in Syncronous Discussions
Should participation in sycronous discussions be mandatory?
Latasha,
Yes, this is true. People have busy schedules.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
only if this is pertaining to an individual student it should be mandatory. for a hole class to do it may be hard because some will participate and others will not.
Hi Kim, how do you get students to engage in discussions if they are not mandatory? My experience is that most learners will not engage in activities that are not required? Tina
No, I do not believe participation in synchronous discussions should be mandatory. The majority of online students work and have family responsibilities. To make the discussions mandatory would place an unnecessary burden on students. As a result, I believe many students would drop out of the online course.
I think this is fair because many of my student work, travel far to and from work,and school. If I impose a mandatory participation time on them this could be unreasonable. So I make it clear to the students that they need to put forth and effort.
Hello Jennifer, you do make a good point. Sometimes, I do believe that it should mandatory but then I realize that the flexibility will go out of the window if that becomes the case. Many students are taking online college because of its flexibility, and they are having challenges alone trying to balance work/life, and managing time, and or obligations. I do like that our synochronous discussions, if you will, or live chat's are recorded with in itself adds to the flexibility of online education. That way students can (if they choose to), go back and not only listen to the chat but also review it visually, and get the information they that need in order to make their online experience and academic journey successful. The problem is, that I know that many students choose not to even review the archives to the chats, and it is usually a disadvantage for them.
This is a great topic, Debra. I wish it could be mandatory, but my school does not require it. I often find that those students who attend the Live Chats achieve much better grades in class.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to influence the administration to change the rules regarding Live Chats?
Thanks!
You really cant make them mandatory Debra, but it would be great if everyone showed up. I do a lot of practical demo for specific exercises in my chats and I can tell when students don't watch them. Its frustrating and I don't think you should be able to pass the class without at least watching them but I think some instructors use it to supplement information that may be presented elsewhere in the course materials.
I couldn't agree with you more Robert! Students enroll in online learning because of the flexibility, and requiring synchronous chats takes that away.
I think you bring up a good point Lisa. When the syncronous discussions are mandatory, the size of the discussion group is not conducive to successful communication via the online environment. Also, varying time zones, different work schedules, and family obligations make it extremely difficult for every student to attend a syncronous discussion at a specific time. One of the attractive features of online learning is the ability to complete a college education even when the student's schedule is not conducive to a set class schedule. Mandatory syncronous discussions take away from this flexibility.
I have taught at several schools that did require chats. I didn't find them very productive given there were 30 folks in each and it was mandatory. Students weren't always able to voice their insights, experiences, and findings given the brief amount of time and the number of people. Wasn't a fan.
Live chats for courses like math are very beneficial. Math is a very difficult subject for many students, and if having live chats reduces the anxiety of students, that is a great benefit. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic Karen.
I teach an online mathematics course via chat sessions. For those students that are weak in math, attending the chat sessions can benefit them immensely. I provide ample practice of the math content in the chat sessions. Students are strongly encourage to participate in the problem solving exercises and ask questions, when they are confused. If they are not attending, they tend to not do so well in the course, overall. The sessions are recorded, but I find that a lot of students are still not listening to those. I think mandatory participation is essential to a student's success in a math class, especially when they are already weak in math. Freshmen students take a Math Diagnostic assessment to evaluate their basic math skills. In my opinion, if they score a "D" or less on that assiessment, they should be mandated to attend the chat session, either live or archived. Then they are to answer a series of questions that can only be answered, if they viewed the session. I know this may seem harsh, but when students are not viewing the chat session, they are more than likely to repeat the course.
Great idea Jennifer. Instant messaging is a great way to hold your office hours. I find instant messaging to be helpful anytime. Whenever I am on my computer, I log into the IM that I use so that students can see I am available for a question. The only disadvantage is not all of my students are on the IM, so not all of them can take advantage of it.
I believe synchronous discussions should NOT be mandatory. The appeal of the online education is the flexibility with time and participation. I do agree with deadlines and other means of keeping students on task, but requiring a live chat is not a good approach in my opinion.
In the school I teach with, faculty are required to hold 1-2 live chat hours each week. I have been holding these for 7 years now, and see participation dwindling. For example, last session I had not ONE student come to class in the entire 5 weeks. The students are not required to attend, and they can review the archive to see what was discussed. However, I find there are students who worry when they cannot attend, and fear it will impact their grade even though they are assured it will not. I believe it creates some level of anxiety for students if they feel they SHOULD attend but can’t or don’t really want to.
With this said, I do see one other synchronous method that has been beneficial. My office hours are held via a live messaging system (IM). Students can IM me anytime they see me visible in the campus. Although at times that has been challenging for me (if I forget to change my status to show I am busy grading for example) it does provide a means of having a real time one-on-one with students that have a quick assignment question or just need help and are feeling overwhelmed. A two minute instant message chat and I am able to help them get on track and even leave them a virtual smile. :)
Thanks for your comments Shelly. I think there are two primary reasons why students that attend the live chats are more successful. The first is that the good students will do what it takes to be successful in the class, including taking the time to attend the live chats. The second would be students that attend the live chats do better because of the live chats. There is one other option, which would be the combination of the two. What do you think it is Shelly?
I really like this conversation because I too teach for a university that uses syncrhonous discussions (live chats) as well as asynchronous discussions as part of the classes. The chat sessions are not typically well attended and we have no way of tracking who is listening to the archived version. I typically see anywhere from 1-12 students during a chat session. I can say though that the students who attend or listen to them tend to be the most successful in the class so even if there was a way to mandate their review of the chat I think it would be incredibly helpful for students.
I can also share that as an online student myself at one time that I did not attend many live chats. I would listen to them in the archive if needed, but I was not real excited about it.
Thanks for your comments Adib. There are some advantages to synchronus discussions. Do you think students should be required to participate in the synchronous discussion or should it be optional?
I believe that syncronous participation is vital to a student's success in an online learning environment. Although students do not have a physical place to be, each week, students need to have a consistent platform where they can engage with the course instructor.
