Kimberley,
You make a valid point. After all, such professional communication is necessary beyond the classroom, as it will effect their future professional lives.
It is important to ask online student to complete a self-analysis inventory, as the information that is provided by the students helps instructors to provide content to help students achieve successful learning outcomes and the analysis helps instructors to understand their students' learning needs.
However, instructors must keep in mind that when students complete such a self-analysis, the instructor must provide students with feedback, strategies, and techniques to help them improve their weaknesses and use their strengths to their advantage.
It is important for students to know themselves well enough to know if an online class is right for them or not. Some people simply learn better in a face to face environment. It takes a tremendous amount of self discipline and self motivation to do well in an online course. If a student can evaluate themselves before they take the course, they will serve themselves better.
It is important for students to know themselves well enough to know if an online class is right for them or not. Some people simply learn better in a face to face environment. It takes a tremendous amount of self discipline and self motivation to do well in an online course. If a student can evaluate themselves before they take the course, they will serve themselves better.
Edward,
What a great point!!!! When you work can be as important as with what! I hadn't thought about that. . . .
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Understanding when I was the at my best to learn. The old adage of being a morning person applies to me whole heartedly and I figured out to do my work first thing.
Edward,
Great post. Research shows the best way to learn about teaching online is to be a student online. So, what do you think made you a successful student in the online environment?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I don't teach any online classes, but I have taken some.The analysis that I took help me determine the areas I was strong in and the areas I was weak in. Time management was a big one, but through the guidance and knowing when I was at my best to absorb the information allowed me to be successful in the course.
Cynthia,
It will change your life! :)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cynthia,
That is a great idea. You might ask your students to post their perceived strengths and weaknesses as part of their introduction.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Wilkinson,
Thank you! Great idea about Outlook. We use Microsoft Outlook mail, and I use the calendar often. I do remind students of the tool, but have not considered directing them to an app. I will do this thanks to you!
Cynthia
Dr. Wilkinson,
The student profiles do not provide enough information. What I do is ask students to post an introduction to the discussion forum which often provides some hints of the time management challenges students may have due to family, work, and personal responsibilities. Overall, their work shows whether they are allocating time to complete work over a period of time rather than at the last minute.
Cynthia
Cynthia,
Do you get to see the profiles of your students? That would be helpful for you. Agreed about the time management. It must be
a priority. We can help but the have to take it to heart.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cynthia,
I have to tell you I LOVE your post. You have a great insight and the comparison to a budget is spot on! I actually provide my classes with an Outlook calendar they can upload in their phones and/or computer. This helps them start to think about managing time. I don't always go back to readjust, I think I need to add that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Mike,
I, too, think a key to students understanding how to budget time is to provide the budget analogy. A balanced budget of time is needed to succeed in an online course, but like our financial budgets, sometimes we have to readjust, especially if we do not have a back up savings account. Thus, I ask students to do a quick assessment of each week at the beginning of the week of what needs to be allocated in the budget -- family, work, personal, and school areas. I remind students that they chose to attend college to earn a degree, so they should keep their focus on that goal which will benefit all these other areas. Thus, completing research that week may be more important than watching television, socializing online, going out with friends, or going on a vacation, etc.
I found sharing some of my own experiences in graduate school with time management and how I had to allocate my time also helps. Like them, I was once a student with similar to their own responsibilities, and like them, I sometimes balancing school, work, and family was intensely challenging, but it is manageable.
Cynthia
Students are asked to complete a self analysis inventory in their orientation course; thus, they already complete a electronic self-analysis prior to enrolling in the courses I teach. In addition to self-analysis of technology skills, students are taught time management skills in the orientation course. However, they continue to struggle with time management in my courses. To assist, I offer resources on time management in the class learning materials section. I also discuss time management in our live chat sessions to provide additional tips specific to staying on task with writing assignments in my course. Motivating students to stay on task is one of the key objectives I strive to meet each week in all live chats, discussions, and Emails.
Overall, I believe that students who lack the technology, time management, and study skills need an orientation course before taking an online class. However, it is also the responsibility of the online instructor to continue to support these areas in the classroom; otherwise, students will fall behind fairly quickly and give up. This is what I want to prevent because I truly want them to succeed, but ultimately it is up to the students to be resourceful and to use those resources provided for them in the classroom.
Faryl,
I agree with you. Students need to be able to effectively evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses in context of a set of knowledge and/or skill. They are not perfect at everything despite all of the trophies!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Vimlarani,
What great points! Yes students don't develop the tools to evaluate themselves in their thinking. We do have to guide them in developing their standards. This can be done through ethics discussion. It is a great way to start.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think this is an important step because often students do not know what they are getting into with an online course. Very often they learn how hard online schooling can be and give up. However if the difficulties can be shown with solutions provided, students are more likely to continue the course.
Critical thinking is thinking that assesses itself. To the extent that our students need us to tell them how well they are doing, they are not thinking critically. In such instruction, students rarely develop any perceptible intellectual independence and typically have no intellectual standards to assess their thinking with. Such learning
• Offers a user-friendly interface on a Web-based platform
• Is self-administered by your students
• Includes a rich feedback report that is simple to understand and completely computer-generated
• Helps students to determine actions that will improve their learning skills
