Weekly Live Chats
The colleges I teach for require weekly live chats, but do not require the students to attend, so needless to say I have very few students attend. Has anyone else had the same experience?
How do you entice the students to attend if it is not a requirement?
OH YES, I have experienced this dilemma as well. I teach for an online university that requires 2 one-hour chats per week if more than 10 students are enrolled in the course. My attendance is usually represented by one or two die-hard students who attend religiously. Good point of this is that I really get to build a solid relationship with these students--finding out more about their preferences and challenges. Bad point, I'm sure the students who listen to the archived versions of the chats get a bit weary of the personal chatter, and may even turn them and the audio "off."
I do keep aware of when the communication gets "off point" but where is that fine line where you cut students short without impunity?
I call it "university radio hour" when no one logs on to the chat. That's a challenge to get used to -- no dead air, not permissible.
I keep a list of short topics next to the computer in case I run out of chat. I do use a powerpoint presentation and I broadcast at a live camera. I could go on and on but would like to hear someone else's experiences . . .
My college is the same way. I am required to give a live seminar each week, but the students are not required to attend. I do post notices in the Threads letting everyone know that I will be holding this seminar, and I try to entice them by saying that I will be discussing topics directly related to their weekly projects, and that does seem to encourage a few students to attend. One thought that I had about getting more students into seminar has to do with teaching multiple sections. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to be able to combine these sections. For instance, if an Instructor taught two sections of the same course, it might be a good idea to give only one seminar, and to invite the students from both sections to attend. At the least, this might help to have more students at each seminar, thus increasing the level of feedback you get from the class.
My college is the same way. I am required to give a live seminar each week, but the students are not required to attend. I do post notices in the Threads letting everyone know that I will be holding this seminar, and I try to entice them by saying that I will be discussing topics directly related to their weekly projects, and that does seem to encourage a few students to attend. One thought that I had about getting more students into seminar has to do with teaching multiple sections. It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to be able to combine these sections. For instance, if an Instructor taught two sections of the same course, it might be a good idea to give only one seminar, and to invite the students from both sections to attend. At the least, this might help to have more students at each seminar, thus increasing the level of feedback you get from the class.
Hi Martha, we are dealing with that issue right now. One of the ideas we have considered is allowing learners to earn extra credit for attending the sessions. Tina
Hi Frederick, that is what we are doing. Faculty are taking turns teaching the weekly sessions and they invite learners from all sections to a single live meeting. Tina
Martha, this is truly an ongoing issue at many schools.
The school "sells" the idea of live chats to prospective students but the reality is that very, very few attend.
I have tried multiple ways to encourage folks to attend these chat sessions and after 7 years the attendance rate is still less than 5%.
Quite frankly I would vote to eliminate these altogether as my fellow instructors have similar issues.
One thing I do to increase student attendence at live chats is I will post a reminder in the announcement section. The reminder must catch their attention and give them a reason to attend. Then once I can 'hook' them into attending, I do my best to make it worthwhile.
Hi Carla, we are going to start weekly live lab sessions and have been worrying about learners not attending the sessions. I think you are right on about making sure the sessions are worthwhile to get them to continue to attend! Tina
I tried to motivate my students by email and by posting announcements and I still only have one student per session. To continue, many of my students tell me in advance they struggle in college algebra yet they do not attend the live chat sessions. What ca we do? Do you think the live chat is a waste of time? I would like it for instructors to be able to post the required live chat at anytime.
Hi Charles, I think you need to make it a part of the requirements for passing the course. I have found that learners will not do anything without an incentive! Tina
Martha,
I too work for an online college that requires 2 hours of live chat per week. I spend much time preparing and updating my lectures when I know that not many students are participating or listening to the live chats. I think that they are important and I wish that at least one was mandatory a week. But alas, that does not get to your question! :) I try to make them a bit light and fun at first all while getting to the nitty gritty of the subject matter. I also hold quiz reviews which leads to more students attendance.
Best of luck!
Emily
Emily ,
Very good approach. We must set it up so the cognitive activities are reinforced at the affective level in a positive way. Terrific insights.
Dr. S. David Vaillancourt
