February 26, 2006

• Michel suggested that I should write about the online classes that I teach. This is my first quarter teaching online, and I have to say that it is different than I thought it would be.  The thing that I enjoy most about teaching is the student contact, and that is what I was afraid would be missing in the online classes. I was wrong about that. I think that I actually have more contact with my online students than I do with my onsite students. It’s a different kind of contact, of course. In a classroom, I see the students’ faces, and that gives me a certain connection to them that I don’t have with the students in the online classes. On the other hand, in the classroom, all of the students are there together, so they compete for my attention. I have to control the amount of time each one gets, or we won’t get through the lesson in the allowed time. I may have to cut off discussion before one of them gets to make his/her comment or ask a question, and that may affect his/her understanding of the material. Classes meet during certain hours on certain days of the week. While students may choose to come early or to stay after class to talk to me, for the most part, my contact with them is limited to the scheduled hours and days of the class.

  Communication in the online classes takes place on a discussion board, so when I am reading a student’s work, I am dealing only with that student. I also have frequent email contact with students, again offering them my undivided one-on-one attention. I find that I check the discussion boards of my 3 classes a couple of times a day every day, plus I check my email at least that often. Students, therefore, have the opportunity for my attention nearly every day. They seldom wait more that a few hours for the answer to a question or for feedback on their work. Everything is much more individualized so students should be able to get their needs met.

  Notice that I said should. Of course, success does depend on the student. While I have many students who participate very actively in the discussion board and email me with all kinds of questions and concerns, like in an onsite class, I have students who want to do the minimum amount of work and who only contact me if they feel that they have been wronged in some way.  I do not think that those students fare as well online as they would in a regular classroom. If they were in a class, they would hear the discussion whether they wanted to or not. Even if they did not pay much attention, they would likely absorb some of it. Online, they can successfully avoid learning anything at all if that is their choice.

  Another concern about online instruction is testing. Students are told that they are not to use their books and other materials during tests, but, since they are in the privacy of their own homes and can take tests when they are alone, there is really nothing to stop them from doing that. The tests are timed and I know if they exceed the allotted time. That, hopefully, means that they cannot look up all the answers unless they can do it very quickly and efficiently. I have had students who took as much as 3 times the allowed time on tests. I have informed them that that is not acceptable and their times are now closer to what is allowed. Still, I do not really know how they are taking the tests or even who is taking them.

  I think that to be successful in an online class, a student has to be very disciplined and very dedicated to learning. Just as in a regular class, not all of them are. I think that cheating is easier for those who want to do that, so that perhaps students get grades or credits that they do not really earn. On the other hand, I think that online learning offers a wonderful opportunity for a really dedicated student.

  • 5:37 pm
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