Kara,
You make great points! It is important that they may not even know their weakness (or strengths) You can help them work on their weaknesses and they may not even realize it!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree students think online is easier and it won't matter if the wait until the last minute to do assignments and that ends up being a mistake.
The course I teach I give students a chance to resubmit only if they are completed on time.
Dr. Crews/Faculty, it is essential students take this analysis to fully understand where they are in terms of abilities to be successful in the online environment. A self review will give them the baseline from which to develop their online learning skills. Without an analysis many are certain to struggle in this environment.
Regards, Reginald
Encouraging a student to perform a self-analysis inventory is one of the most critical steps a student should take to improve his/her ability to adjust and adapt in the online environment. In particular, using the results of the self-analysis inventory enables the student to identify his/her strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the online learning environment and then enables them to employ proactive techniques and measures to help them to build on their strengths while addressing their weaknesses. In the end, completing a self-analysis inventory could make a difference in a student succeeding or failing at fulfilling his/her objectives in the online class.
Students may come into an online course with many different thoughts of how they will complete the tasks. I think many think it will be easier to complete than a class that is on the ground. When they begin to get into the course many of them may struggle, not because the material is too hard but they have not experienced this format before. When students take an assessment they are able to see where their strengths lie and adjust their study habits.
I have been teaching online for 10 years at two different universities and neither one of them has a process in place for students to complete a self analysis inventory. It is a great idea and really should be institutionalized.
My major concern would be those students who are not aware of their deficiencies. Although I teach graduate students who have already earned a BA degree, we find that many of them have severe deficiencies when it comes to written communications which are so important for success in an online program.
These students have never received feedback in all their years in High School and College that they need to work on their writing skills. They think that their writing skills are fine. They are not aware that they are using incorrect verb tenses, dropping necessary articles, and confusing use of singular and plural nouns. Having them complete a self analysis would be one more opportunity for them to declare themselves as skilled to only have the faculty member come back after the first assignment to disagree with them.
I have been teaching online for 10 years at two different universities and neither one of them has a process in place for students to complete a self analysis inventory. It is a great idea and really should be institutionalized.
My major concern would be those students who are not aware of their deficiencies. Although I teach graduate students who have already earned a BA degree, we find that many of them have severe deficiencies when it comes to written communications which are so important for success in an online program.
These students have never received feedback in all their years in High School and College that they need to work on their writing skills. They think that their writing skills are fine. They are not aware that they are using incorrect verb tenses, dropping necessary articles, and confusing use of singular and plural nouns. Having them complete a self analysis would be one more opportunity for them to declare themselves as skilled to only have the faculty member come back after the first assignment to disagree with them.
I have been teaching online for 10 years at two different universities and neither one of them has a process in place for students to complete a self analysis inventory. It is a great idea and really should be institutionalized.
My major concern would be those students who are not aware of their deficiencies. Although I teach graduate students who have already earned a BA degree, we find that many of them have severe deficiencies when it comes to written communications which are so important for success in an online program.
These students have never received feedback in all their years in High School and College that they need to work on their writing skills. They think that their writing skills are fine. They are not aware that they are using incorrect verb tenses, dropping necessary articles, and confusing use of singular and plural nouns. Having them complete a self analysis would be one more opportunity for them to declare themselves as skilled to only have the faculty member come back after the first assignment to disagree with them.
I think that when students take a self-anaylsis, they learn a great deal about themselves. This can help them to understand how and why they learn. For many students, they can learn how to study better for their online classes. They can figure out things to do that will enhance the ways they learn better, which can cause greater success in the classroom.
Self-inventory tells if student is ready and can continue an online class. Online requires elements that may not be necessary for face-to-face and if students do not have these elements, they cannot continue. At the same time, the self-inventory can be used by instructors to guide students to manage their time. For example, if the self-inventory reveals that most students lack writing skills, then instructors can provide resources for students to take advantages of.
Asking your students to complete a self analysis at the beginning of the class will help the instructor get to know their students better.
I am a online instructor for a collage. I do get to see my students, so this would help me a lot when it comes to getting to no my students better.
Dr. Wilkinson, I believe that the time requirements based on the new federal guidelines are a good thing… Because they will help the procrastinators be more structured, in terms of how they approach their online coursework.
Mike Crowley
Amos Lewis, I use the budget analogy to help my online students think about their time… I remind them that so much of their day is already budgeted to their work, and family life, so they then have to be very careful about making sure that the balance of their time is dedicated to their online learning, in order for them to be successful.
Mike Crowley
Having students take a self-analysis helps them think about the course expctations, and what they have to do in order to be successful.
The analysis will also identify the student's respective strengths and weaknesses, in terms of the skills required for online learning.
Mike Crowley
Melissa:
I love the idea of having the students take some type of self analysis. I am going to use this in my classes as something students can use to obtain a better understanding of the challenges they might have. I think awareness is the first step. If students understand what they can do to improve they can take action.
This is an important misconception which, perhaps, a focused inventory could diminish by clearly putting forward the preparations needed to take on online study.
Having online students complete a self-analysis inventory prior to engaging in an online course is important because, if constructed well, will allow students to focus on the general conditions of online study and the specific tasks and issues they will confront in their actual coursework.
Students may not have been aware of certain of these issues in order to consider their preparedness in advance. A successful inventory assessment will give students the chance to prepare appropriately for the upcoming work and allow instructors to garner information which will allow them to construct the best teaching methods possible for their students.
I agree wholeheartedly about the reality crash that often happens with online courses. The students do not really know what to expect and have to reorient their thinking.
Students need to complete a self-analysis to ensure they are ready for the online environment. Different competencies and approaches are needed online than on-ground. Time management, technological proficiency, self-directedness are among the salient differences.
Yes, well, aside from doing all that, I guess the next thing is do the work for them...lol, just kidding...
I appreciate your thoughts and will continue to think of new and creative ways of encouraging them to review the chat. If only, they review the archives...
You know...I will start emailing the archive link...hmmmm, let's see if we have any success with that. :)
