I believe my biggest challenge is setting an environment of community within my courses. Students are learning together so they're more interactive with one another; however, showing myself as approachable and the source of information has been some of my main challenges.
~Muriel
Non-verbal communication in the classroom is very helpful.
Not having that tool will make getting to know my students more challenging. However, I can learn a lot by reading students' post, observing when students are posting, and how often students are logging into CMS.
The biggest challenge I face is not being able to see the student's facial expressions and also their presence in the online classroom like the traditional setting. Most of the time stuents struggle with communication with instructors. Another challenge is making sure everyone understands the topic being discussed.
While I agree that one of the biggest challenges to being a guide on the side is the absence of body language, I feel the difference in roles that a "guide on the side" requires is an even bigger challenge. Students who take classes in an online environment need to be more disciplined and self-directed. As such, they will require more incentives to full engage in the classroom. The instructor has to fully understand how to coach rather teach - they have to employ ways of guiding students who may not be comfortable or know how to work in a self-guided environment.
Darlene,
I thought the lack of non-verbal in the online environment would be problematic too; however, over the years of teaching online I have developed a new set of non-verbal clues in communications that help me pick up things like I would in a classroom. It is still not the same, but it is certainly better.
Herbert Brown III
George,
What you describe here is pretty common. I find that I communicate with students MORE online than I normally would in a traditional classroom maybe to make up for potential struggles in communication with instructors. I want my students to feel comfortable talking with me online about whatever they need. There are also many ways to ensure everyone is understanding the topics including quick quizzes, discussions, Q&A, much of what you would use in a traditional class.
Herbert Brown III
I think one challenge would be the lack of faculty-student interaction that you would normally have in a traditional setting. Faculty would have to step up the efforts to maintain contact with students so that the presence is vivid. Online students want to know that they are transparent amongst all other students and as faculty we have to help them through the process and help them to take down barriers instead of putting them up. Faculty should not forget about those students who are doing well just as those who are not. Faculty presence is the key to breaking this barrier for students with constant communication and prompts to stimulate conversation.
Fonzette Leavell
One of the biggest challenges I face is students who refuse to respond, think they can read the course materials, watch the lectures and be okay, but who do not have the internal drive to motivate themselves or the ability o comprehend materials without assistance. These are students who need me most but who respond the least regardless of attempts to "re-engage" them academically. How can you build a presence with someone or establish a relationship with individuals when they refuse to acknowledge you regardless of emails, texts, calls, etc.?
Samantha Eaddy
The biggest challenge will be making sure to maintain an appropriate tone when responding to student issues and concerns in writing, regardless of what they may be. When there is no face-to-face interaction and students are simply reading what is written, they cannot hear the inflections in one's voice or observe any type of body language. All they see is words on a screen. Therefore, it is critical for instructors to maintain a positive tone as they interact with students via written communication to help help the students encouraged and engaged.
Samantha,
You can only do the best you can do to reach them. Use all of your resources to reach out to them. Find a phone number and call them, many times a personal phone call can be enough to turn them around. Some schools have specific advising staff to help you reach wayward students. In the end, it is up to the students to make the effort and complete the necessary work. Your job is to make all reasonable efforts to reach and engage them in the learning.
Herbert Brown III
Brandon,
I would agree with you. One way to help make sure your comments are appropriate is to use the sandwich method when responding to student work. Start out with some positive comments about their work, then address the concerns and wrap it up with another positive comment. That way you buffer the bad news with a little good. This method can help.
Herbert Brown III
Mr. Brown,
The biggest challenge that I find transitioning to being a guide on the side is the non-verbal communication. The communication that is done online is primarily through email, or in the discussion in which there is not a face to face time. If one does not word the message appropriately, then the message can be misunderstood--especially with the lack of facial expression and body language. When one does not communicate with the students, it can cause them to feel alienated, and thus lack participation in the course room.
Cheers
Emry
Most of my students are ESL, our learning environment is asynchronous, and the bulk of them are on the other side of the world. So my biggest issue is being able to clarify student responses in a timely manner. If I do not understand what they are asking or saying then it usually takes at least 24 hours to hear back from a student.
Brian,
That is a unique challenge that I can see would be difficult to overcome at times. How do you specifically find yourself overcoming that challenge?
Herbert Brown III
I think one of the more challenging things that I face is the lack of body language. The live chats video addresses this and gives the students the opportunity to put personality with the name. I think it actually enhances the instructor's ability to connect with the students.
Forgot to add my name! Lyn McLaurine
Lucille,
I would agree that any video element will help with addressing the lack of body language. However, I have also found that the longer I communicate online, the more I am able to pick up subtleties even in email and other communication. Still nothing is as good that face to face when you are relying on body language in your communications.
Herbert Brown III
I think my biggest challenge in being a guide on the side is that the online environment is very dependent on communicating via emails, chats and discussion boards. Some students communicate better than others, so my challenge is to effectively interact with each student and challenge them to do their best possible work. Thanks. Lisa Dunham
Elizabeth,
Communication does always seem to be a challenge in online courses. I try to include discussions that require them to interact with one another any myself as the instructor. I also try to ask them follow up questions that they have to answer to obtain the credit for the assignment. Even then, it is still sometimes hard to do.
Herbert Brown III
Two of my primary content/subject areas are mathematics and statistics. Since these courses often require excessive critical thinking, some students are easily frustrated with content delivery in an online setting. That's been a challenge for me as far back as I can remember--translating what many consider difficult subject matter into digestible bytes in a virtual setting. Many students will simply say, "I don't know what to ask," or say, "I don't want to seem stupid (the students' word not mine)." I have found it exceptionally challenging to get the average student to warmup to math/statistics online.
:-) Ruby
