Antoine,
Very true. These differences can sometimes create significant challenges. Good point.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Teaching online has several opportunities to have impacts on students. Among these responsibilities are to provide students with a fluid learning environment that offering discussion and collaboration with peers. In today's work environment, employers often work from home or remotely. Online education provides the student with opportunities to learn and master this skill set.
Dr. Vaillancourt,
After some thought I would I have to disagree slightly with those comments. Many of the duties are the same but often online duties are done in asynchronous learning environment and with a traditional classroom responsibilities are often done in real time and face to face.
I would say teaching online requires more than the traditional classroom setting. Although faculty are responsible for providing feedback, grading assignments. They are also responsible for meeting participation via the threads.
Dr. Aron
Barbara,
Well stated. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
James,
Good point. Exclusively text-based communication for a classroom can be very constraining. Is your school implementing any of the audiovisual instructional technology for online instructors to use?
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I agree with this. We have responsibilities to our students but they are not the same responsibilities that we have in a traditional classroom setting. Their is more flexibility teaching online which is good when unexpected emergencies happen that keep one away from the classroom. In the traditional classroom, I had some students driving more than an hour to get to an evening class and came down with the flu very suddenly and had to cancel class. No one was available to teach at the last minute, calls had to be made to administration and students, etc. It would have been easier to deal with this with an online class. Not less responsibility, just different responsibilities.
The responsibilities are actually more and I find them more work than the typical ground classes I teach. The biggest issue seems to be communication, and it takes a lot of writing and communicating with students because they are not there with you like in a typical classroom to ask clarifying questions.
Jim,
All of these are excellent recommendations. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Good point Roy - body language cannot be detected in an email. This is where good writing skills come into play. In addition to that, being aware of certain writing techniques that can add an emotion to the written word can be important. Making keys words bold, italic or larger can help emphasize important points.
Wells,
Good thoughts. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I disagree. In class or online the instructor should treat them both with the same level of intergrity and respect. In my opinion, online classes put more onus on the instructor to ensure communication is clear and understood. In class discussions give students the opportunity to ask clarifiying question immediately if so desired. Synchronus chats allow a similar quick response but the instructor has to streamline the communication so it's clear yeet concise and to the point.
Deborah,
This is very true for most online classrooms, today and the recent past. Do you think the current trend of utilizing more and more audiovisual communication in the online classroom will assist with this workload for the instructor?
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The responsibilities are greater in an online environment than a traditional classroom setting. Not only must you facilitate the discussions, provide course "lectures," provide feedback, counsel, and handle any behavioral issues, but you must communicate using the written word. Students are not aware of emotions, tone, etc. Therefore, the instructor must be cognizant of their way of communicating and using Netiquette.
Les,
Excellent summation and well-stated rationale.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Alana,
Yes, your experience is expressed by many. I believe this is an accurate depiction of today's situation. Happy Labor Day weekeend! ;-]
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Hi Dr. Vaillancourt
Great question for us today.
It does equate to the same responsibilities but more work. For example, online teaching is 24/7, 7 days a week and honestly, there is no online holidays today. My online students contact me on Thanksgiving, 4th of July, New Year's Eve and Day, etc. With my traditional students, they are not contacting me at 3 a.m. or 11 p.m., etc. about questions, etc. Online students expect you to work 24/7 all the time with no breaks or life.
Thanks
Alana
A teacher's responsibilities are the same - both online and in the traditional classroom. The methods by which she or he meets those responsibilities, however, may vary. For instance, a teacher must make every effort to help her or his students succeed. In the the traditional classroom, however, the teacher may ask the student to stay after class or offer to meet her or him for coffee in order to help them with any academic challenges they may be facing. Obviously, this is not possible online. The instructor may, therefore, offer to assist the student by spending time with them on the phone or taking more time to communicate by e-mail. Regardless of the communication methods used, the instructor is always responsible for making sure that the student has every opportunity to succeed.
Susan,
This is an excellent differntiation. In distance education the time factor is a very large issue for the students and the instructors. The asynchronous nature of the class resolves some time issues on an individual basis, but can create other time issues for the logistics of accomplishing the instructional responsibilities.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Rubiela ,
You correctly remind us of some of the very real constraints of the online environment. Very good. Thank you.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
