You really are not in control of their learning. In distance education, there are requirements for self-directed learning. The learner must take learning in their own hands and take the necessary steps to acquire the necessary information. It is sometimes difficult to transition from teacher-led learning environments to one that is learner-led.
Lisa,
I agree that students have to be self-directed learners. However, we as instructors still have a strong role to direct their learning and help them to connect their new knowledge with their previous knowledge. This can be accomplished through the activities we create, the examples we use, and how students interact in discussions and other content.
Herbert Brown III
The biggest challenge I have faced in online classes I teach would be the fact that there are different learning styles from students as well as different levels of competency in regards to the use of technology and the assimilation and understanding of course content. The way I have dealt with this challenge is to offer support as best as I can to those students who are having a difficult time with either managing the course delivery system or grasping the course content and in some cases both.
As an online facilitator your main task is to assits students in the creation of their own knowledge using all the tools and materials available in our online classes.
A strategy or best practice I recommend to minimize the challenge described is to have a stromg classroom presence from the very first day of class so that students feel supported and engaged. As we have reviewed in this module a strong facilitator presence leads to higher levels of student engagement and better retention of course material.
My challenge to transitioning from "sage on stage" to "guide on the side" will be translating my body language communications to verbal communications. I'm referring, for example, to the encouragement that I believe is an important element in successful learning. Hopefully with experience, I will pick up electronic clues in students' exchanges, like I do in their body language, that gives me guidance as to how to best faciliate their learning.
My biggest challenge when making that transition was the issue of students not responding. In a traditional classroom, if a student is not responding, I could speak to him/her directly either by calling on the student to answer a question/provide input; or on a one on one basis by catching the student before he/she leaves class, etc. When students do not participate online, as an instructor I can email or if I have a phone number I can call but many students do not share their phone numbers and it is not part of our roster so unless the student gives it to me I do not have a phone number. I can follow up with the student's advisor but sometimes the students are not responding to their advisor either and so we are left not knowing what is happening and why the student is not participating in class. I have found that making contact at the beginning of the class before any assignments are due can help because the students realize I am not just chasing after assignments but truly trying to provide them with support. There will always be students who are not receptive to these interactions and simply ignore my messages but more often, the students will respond with a "thanks" or to ask a question, which opens the door for continued interaction throughout the course.
Tanya,
There will always be a few that might "fall away" and every effort we make will not help. For those there is not much we can do. As long as we make the strongest effort possible (and reasonable) to connect and communicate with them then we have done what we can.
Herbert Brown III
Teresa,
I think some of that will come with the transition. Online learning is a continual learning process for the instructor. We have to reflect on what is working and what is not and continually make adjustments so that we develop the best course we can for our students.
Herbert Brown III
My biggest challenge has been and will continue to be trying to engage those students that simply choose not to participate. Early identification of these students is essential to their success. I have been successful in assisting students that are struggling by reaching out, offering tutoring services, and providing additional resources for them.
I struggle with those that do not respond to my attempts to reach out to them. Working with them in a face-to-face classroom would be more effective. In an online environment, they simply do not respond to emails, telephone calls, or feedback I provide.
The biggest challenge to me is being available as quickly as needed when a student needs help Our Policy allows us 48 hours to respond. I wrote the policy for the school and wanted 24 hours but they changed it. Personally I want to be as handy as when they raised there hand in a classroom. If the time span is too long the students may forget what it was they needed. My school outlook email is always up at home and is set to let out a Tarzan yell when I get school email, My response time therefore is minutes. The students usually thank me for getting back so quickly. Last night at midnight, I got up and handled a student email. I try to give the students the feeling that I am in the room with them.
Edwin,
It is nice when you can provide this level of feedback, but many can't. The 48 hour rule matches a traditional course schedule...you meet classes every other day so it can normally take students 24-48 hours for get a question answered. I try to respond as quickly as possible as well, and get similar feedback from students.
Herbert Brown III
I think one of the biggest challenges to being the guide on the side is properly interpreting student’s tone in discussions. In a traditional classroom, you can easily pick up if a student is struggling with a concept or idea. You can use visual cues from the students to gage how well they are grasping a concept. In the online environment, these visuals are not present and as an instructor the tool that you can use best is the student’s words including their tone.
Maintaining a relationship with each individual student is key to their success. Attending class has been shown to be "key" also. My biggest challenge with my students currently is when a student is absent. There is a protocol to follow which is to make a phone call to the missing student immediately after class. Getting them to answer the phone when they know it is me and they do not wish to speak to me is frustrating. I can visualize the student looking at the Caller I.D. and weighing whether or not to answer my call. This has been and remains my biggest challenge.
Angela ,
I agree. Writing can certainly have "tone" as well. The more you work online the more you will read in to the students' work and be able to gauge some of these mannerisms. If you do anything with video conferencing and even audio conferencing you can gauge more from students behaviors as well.
Herbert Brown III
P.,
It is hard to communicate with students when the don't want to communicate. Online students can be that much more difficult. You can provide them with every communication means available and if they don't want to communicate they won't. E-mail can at least document that the communication was made.
Herbert Brown III
A challange for me being the "guide on the side" is that the student's are essentially teaching themselves. I feel this is most evident in the math section because it is hard to get a clear idea of where they are getting lost and it is hard to get them back on track once they are lost.
Daron,
You are right, that is what it appears like. It is certainly more difficult to assess where students are in the online environment. We need to get more creative. Maybe have students complete more, shorter assignments that allow us as instructors to assess more often and in shorter steps in the process to try to establish where we lose the students and where their problems arise. It also might be even more important to get the students to connect with us in a LIVE session as soon as we see they are having issues and get them back on track before they get too far in down the wrong path in their learning.
Herbert Brown III
Accounting is a difficult subject to teach as the "sage on the stage" and becomes more difficult when you are the "guide on the side" primarily due to the difficulty in judging a student's desire to learn the material. In an on-ground environment, the instructor can easily recognize the students that are struggling through body language and responses. In an on-line environment, the body language is missing and the instructor must be more crafty in identifying struggling students. My biggest challenge in the transition is identifying the struggling students early on and supporting those students through the course.
I think the "guide on the side" is a great analogy! I am preparing to teach my first online course and was thinking the same thing myself. I think the biggest transition for me will keeping abreast of the "pulse" of the class without being able to read any non-verbal communication from the students. I typically stay very aware of non-verbal cues to tell me when students are bored, confused, stressed, or any other emotions that are going on. I am then able to change what I'm doing or talk with them to get things on a better track before problems develop.
In an online environment, I imagine I will have to look for other signals. Lack of or level of participation in the discussion forums will surely be one way to gauge how a student is doing. Also, if there is a signigicant change in a student's level of participation, or the quality of their assignments drops, it might be a red flag that something is going on. I like the idea of sending an email or even phone call just to "check in" with each student individually to make sure they are comfortable with everything in the class. Surely, keeping tabs on my students in an online class will be even more of a proactive process than it is in an on ground class.
I feel like the non-verbal’s in a traditional classroom tell me if I’m losing a student or a group. I can quickly recover and change my method if that happens. In an online environment, the recovery can take days and the student re-engagement is not always successful for this reason. It’s also easier for students to hide in the online environment. You aren’t looking directly at them so they have the luxury of engaging (or not engaging) at their own leisure.
Stacy,
Are you able to offer live video conferencing sessions as help sessions that allow these struggling students to connect with you in a more personal way? How have you found to identify the struggling ones, mainly through grades?
Herbert Brown III
