Chat Sessions in an Asynchonous Environment: Should They Be Mandatory
In my current position of instructing, we teach in an accelerated, asynchronous environment. Included in the courses are "live chat" sessions. Student can attend the true, live chat session on its presentation day or choose to access and review the archive of the session at their leisure 24/7 within the weekly parameters for a given topic. I have found that few people attend the live chat session at its initial taping. I have experimented with various times and days to hold these sessions, but never have more than 20% of a given class attend. All of the student must either attend the live chat or review the archive because there is an assignment associated with each live chat.
The questions is: Should one or more of these sessions be mandatory? This is a difficult question because there are pro and cons on both sides. AS the instructor, it can be disheartening to give a "lecture" with so few in attendance. On the other hand, one of the primary reasons students take an online, asynchronous course is for its flexible schedule.
What do you think?
Raymond Lombardi
I also teach in the same type of structure, and the Live Chat sessions are not mandatory. The students have access to the recorded Live Chat session, so they can listen to to the recording and contact me if they need any clarification.
The Discussion Board is the asynchronous part of the class and participation in the Discussion Boards are mandatory.
Jerry
Donald,
Very good points about the constraints imposed by synchronous chats. Are there classes (specific situations) where the benefit to the student may outweigh the imposition? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Patrice,
Your points are well taken. Synchronous or asynchronous (or what balance of mixture) is one of those conundrums of current online instruction. I think the 'right answer' is different for different circumstances.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The problem with making chat sessions mandatory is that it violates an old adage: You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. People are independent individuals capable of making up their own minds of what they want to do and what they do not want to do. Making a chat session mandatory violates a students free will, and that is a distinct disadvantage.
In my opinion, I agree that chat sessions should be mandatory. In my chat sessions, I go over the homework extensively. I toggle to Excel spreadsheets in order to clearly state how each homework should be done. Students who attend my chat sessions ask questions, and get a better understanding of what is required for the homework assignment. Those students who attend the chat usually get the highest grades. Those students who listen to the chat archive also do well. It's the students who don't attend or listen to the chat archive that ask questions at the end of the week such as "I don't get it", "I don't understand." Very often, the same student falls behind in their work. I would love to implement mandatory chat session attendance, or mandatory review of the chat archive.
Thank you for reading this,
Patrice Nybro
Kimberley,
Good question about the cost. It may be (or may shortly become) a non-issue because the compatibility of older hardware is having issues with newer LMS systems. Additionally, audiovisual hardware is now standard on even the lowest cost systems. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Yes I think that this would help student alot with asking questions and gaining insight on the course from their instructor.
However for the audiovisual meeting room students would have to get some training as to how to use the software and then there is also the issue of cost for students. Can this cost be imposed on them?
Kimberley,
Yes, chat sessions can have a tremendously positive impact for many students. However, I have found that some students have a very difficult time maintaining a Cognos and conversation via typing. With the ease of access and low-cost availability of audiovisual meeting rooms, is there a possibility this could replace chat and enable more students a positive gain of a frequent, real-time conversation? Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I think that chat session should be mandatory. As instructors we have to hold chat sessions to be accessible to our students. Therefore students should be urged to come.
When I hold my chat sessions I always have information prepared to discuss the assignments and the assignment format but many times students don't attend. Then I see poor assignments at the end of the week.
Chat sessions are beneficial for students and provide another avenue of help for the student. Therefore why not make it a mandatory requirment.
Deborah ,
Thank you for sharing your insights. Very helpful. Using chat sessions from multiple class sections is a good way leverage the flexibility of the online environment for student benefit.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Raymond,
I agree with you on many of your points and personally, I would love it if Live Chat sessions were mandatory. I usually only get about a 10-20% attendance rate in my live chats and there is a big difference in overall performance in the class between those student who participate in the live chats and those who do not.
I have given more than my share of what I consider "dead air" lectures and I have experimented with holding live chats at different times to the point where I was doing up to three "supplemental" chats per week.
Yes, we should strive to make our live chats a positive learning experience but the old adage of "If you build it, they will come" does not necessary hold true in this case.
So the bottom line is that it boils down to accountability, we have expectations given to us as instructors by our learning institutions and the students have expectations as well. As long as I know that I am doing my job to the best of my ability, I just try not to get so frustrated.
BTW - Does your institution allow students to attend more than one live chat if several sessions of the same course are running at the same time? Using this strategy has helped to raise my attendance rates a bit.
Deborah Balentine
Deborah,
Very good point. My experience has indicated to me that the majority of students who enjoy the asynchronous learning do not find a great deal of value in the synchronous chat sessions. Nevertheless, some of the students find it motivating and it helps them with the remaining portions of the class. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Because online learning offers flexibility and is geared to the adult learner, I do not believe the online Chat Session should be mandatory. I am a ground medical assisting instructor; however, I am taking online classes in Business Administration. I have found the Chat sessions not to be helpful. It is important for course facilitators to make the Chat session interesting and sbject matter should assist the student with their projects.
Raymond,
Your assertion that "...one of the primary reasons students taking online, asynchronous course is for its flexible schedule," is at the center of the issue. My position would rest more of the ability of the course objectives to be met taking first priority in this decision. In my experience, the chat sessions have proven to be a supplemental enhancement for some students but not in the social component to the accomplishment of the course objectives. Therefore, I would tend to not support a compulsory attendance at the live session and maintain attendance at the recorded session as an alternative. Nevertheless, I may be overlooking a situation where the live attendance may be critical to the accomplishment of a course objective. In such a case it may be warranted. Excellent topic to consider. Thank you for sharing.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
