24/7 Instructor
What are some techniques that professors could utilize if they run into issues with students that believe they should be available 24/7.
Stephanie,
Any time you can help students understand when they will/will not receive communication, it let them know what to expect. Thanks!
I also find this helpful in sharing with students my career or "day job" and certainly show how this non teaching position helps with assignments and discussions so when they get my auto reply to their e-mail stating I can respond to their e-mail when I am home from work, they understand that it is not immediate!
Stephanie
William,
I also use the FAQ discussion board for students to post questions/answers on so that all students can benefit from the questions/answers. This also alleviates many emails. Thanks for your input.
William,
Being available for students is a must. We must also be careful, however, not to become overwhelmed and become a 24/7 instrctor. Make usre you use your communication skills carefully to make sure students know when you are available and when you will not be available. Thanks for your input.
William,
We learn from each other as instructors through such professional development and students learn from each other. Thanks for your input.
William,
Anything we can do to get students to know each other and so they can feel like a community of learners. They they feel as though they are not alone in their learning. Thanks for your input.
William,
"Constant" is a key word. It's good to give students time to get the feel for the course, but we have to make sure we're available to them as well. We need to assist them in their decision making, but let them find their own way. Thanks!
I do check my email many times throughout the day but I have discovered that many students are creatures of habit and will post an email for an example and not check back for at least 12 hours so knowing this I do review the emails and prioritize them and orders of response as well as inquiries that are extremely important so that they can complete their assignments which may be due on a particular day. Obviously I do keep my office hours, but pay particular close attention to and on the days that assignments are due in.
One way to effectively reduce the traffic flow and the permit the students to make decisions for themselves is actually allow them to contact you by way of email or whatever means but resist the temptation to respond immediately or perhaps in your response give the direction that they need but leave it open ended for further research. By doing so you give them the opportunity to do what they are here for and that is to learn and not just get answers from you.
That you stated we are not robots and we learn from one another. Class encouragement to learn from one another is actually created in the form situation where many students literally do learn from one another additional information about the topic being discussed based on their fellow classmates research. It is this information that will carry them forward throughout the course. I have set aside the time in the final form discussion where each student can ask a specific question of myself and I respond to them directly in my responses in their end of week grading and often times incorporate their suggestions into future courses work material
Another way in which to alleviate traffic quickly to the course facilitator is to create the environment where Al is the student's and from the beginning of the course submit a biography about themselves so that they know one another and off to exchange email addresses or even their own phone numbers and they can and will lend a helping hand to one another just as would occur in an on the ground school situation
There is no doubt at all that a constant awareness and availability to the studio so when they need you is essential to becoming a very popular instruct. But I feel that a fine line is drawn between who is taking the course and I was instructing the course. Often times we want to jump in and assist the class or the students when they actually need time to assimilate the information and react to it prior to contacting us in order to sort out some of the material. In this time of is technology it is easy to see that a institution that provides all of the media that could reach in and start to that the student would take the path of least resistance and contact instruct your before thinking about an issue and deciding for him or herself. I have instructed my students to do what they think is right thing to do in reference to the assignment and the feedback has been that I have shown confidence in their decision-making abilities.
Elie,
You are so right and describe this so well. Thank you for your input.
Keep it up.
Danielle,
Set the high expectations and hold them to those expectations. It is the only way. Thank you.
Being a 24/7 instructor would be the ideal thing for a student, but as we all know that is not possible. So do we get around it is by setting up guidelines in the course syllabus using what I would call office hours. That will give them an idea that you might not get a response at 3am, but if you do submit a question during that time that you will get a response later that morning. I think there are limits as what constitutes 24/7 and the students need to be aware of that. Timely response is necessary to motivate, but setting limits makes it clear to the student that as an instructor you will respond, but in the over night hours.
I have also run into with students. In addition, the flexibility of online courses seems to encourage students to believe that they need not pay attention to the rules and guidelines of the course. The built in flexibility of online courses makes it easier for students to believe that instructors should be available 24/7, and I do not agree.
Angela,
Be careful not to become a 24-7 instructor. Structure you time, communicate to the students when you will be checking, etc. Don't overdo and burn out, but find a real balance and communicate that to the students. Thanks!
Like many other instructors, I check my classrooms several times a day, every day. If I am away for more than a few hours, I begin to feel a little guilty because I know many of my students work, have families, and are trying to manage school. If they have a question, I know they cannot usually move forward without some direction. I try to be attentive to their needs.
Some tricks that I have found are to provide a discussion board where everyone can ask and/or answer questions. Generally if one student has a question, others will sooner or later. By opening this discussion board, a student can post a question, another student or I will answer depending on who sees the question first and has an answer. This is not intimidating for the students and appears to work well.
Darcel,
Make sure you set the stage with the rules for your class. When you set the stage correctly, you can alleviate the 24/7 approach and let students know when you will be checking email, discussion boards, etc. Thanks!
