Documentation
The module recommends saving a transcript of remediation chat sessions. Do you also recommend saving video files of these sessions, if that is a capability of the system?
Really enjoyed learning about the most effective ways of managing all the information when instructing an online course by keeping either folders for the individual students or folders by subject. Also the proper way to communicate with the different personalities of online students was very interesting.
We don't use videos but if we did and have the capability, I would save them. They can be used not only for conflict management but also for coaching of the teaching techniques. I encourage other staff to review my archives and provide feedback. I want to do the best job for the students and obtaining some feedback is a good start.
Hello Andrew,
Good for you. Student retention is definitely a hot topic at my university. I always copy my supervisor and student outreach on communication to students that are missing classes, not progressing etc. That way if they drop out of the program it is documented that I reached out to them and offered assistance. It also keeps student outreach in the loop, so if we can save them we will.
Janis,
Excellent procedure! I know what you mean.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
I document everything, and I mean everything. It has come in handy so many times over the 12 years that I have taught online. I keep a copy of my own grade book, the grade the student received, the copy of my comments, a copy of their paper, any papers I returned to them to show them proper formatting or corrections as well as all emails for one year. After the class ends I burn it on a disk. Students, in some of my schools, can appeal up to 60 days after the course ends and this information really comes in quite handy. If you had a student 3 months ago, are you going to remember everything you said and did with this student? Probably not. This is a good tool to keep.
Walt,
Maintaining documentation is helpful sometimes when you least suspect it. "Always" is a good policy/practice.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Always a good idea to keep copies of everything, even after the course is over. Its rare, but I have had to rely on it a couple of times to verify some facts. I also review it to give me insight on areas of instruction weekness so I can put more focus on that next time.
Hi Andrew,
I've had similar experiences in tutoring. The policy at the campus where I tutor is that we may demonstrate examples to assist with the homework, but, for obvious reasons, we will not complete the homework in the session. Some students developed this expectation when another tutor did work on the homework with the student and one student became very angry.
Having a recording of the interaction is a great advantage of the online environment. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to engage in contradicting accounts of the details involved in a conflict in a face to face setting. I feel fortunate that most of the record keeping is very easy to keep up.
Andrew and Fellow Faculty,
Have you encountered any challenges in maintaining your records or developing a workflow to keep up with the record keeping?
Jennifer ,
The "electronic papertrail" is very useful, as you point out. Additionally, it is an excellent way to prepare students for the professional world in which they will need to function with a high proficiency. Much of the communication they will encounter depends on the same type of "electronic papertrail" that is established in the educational environment. Very good point. Thank you for your contribution.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
The information presented on documentation was the most interesting part of module 4. In a way, it seems nice and neat to be able to simply store any and all student communications. Unlike the traditional classroom, the student can not say you did not tell them when an assignment was due. :)
Additionally, I agree with the module's information about email being the best way to communicate with the students. With my traditional class, I tell my students to email, not call, me. An electronic papertrail is nice to have, just in case a student decides they want to "change the date" the assignment is due.ha.ha.
Andrew,
Documentation is another reason why some instructors/institutions keep all student communications within the documented LMS classroom and institutional email. I have had instances where students indicated something was not taught/stated and was able to retreive it from the archived class. If that information had been conveyed in an external forum, it may not have been available for retrieval.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
Reading this is the study notes I said "Amen to that" in my head. I had a student in a tutoring session fly off the handle and quit school because I wasn't automatically the person that tutored her previously. I tried to explain that it was out of my control, but I guaranteed I could help, but she flipped out. Thankfully I saved the transcript of the chat and handed it to my supervisor. He told me I did everything I could so not to worry about it.
Matthew,
Yes, allowing students to "participate" in the instructional dynamics as well as having access to content can greatly increase the value of the learning experience. Hearing other students questions and the instructor's responses can provide a great deal more depth to the information for many learners.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
