An Observation Worth Mentioning

All of my classes are going exceptionally well this semester.

I seriously hands-down have the BEST face-to-face class ever in my whole teaching experience.

Also, I'm subbing for a class that's shy but sweet and smart.

And the online class is going along smoothly. Except for one complainer.

It doesn't matter the essay assignment, online in-class task, or homework assignment, the complainer complains every chance he gets. And get this: he's one of my my non-trad students, which is rare. Most of my non-trad students are over-achievers who are eager to push their limits and do their best. They might have more questions than a first-year student, but they're also a lot less shy and bit more focused.

The point of this post is not to turn into a complainer myself. (I LOATHE when teachers complain about their students!) My point is to share what I think is the root of the complaining in order to reflect on how to road-block complaining in the future and to honestly share my experience with fellow online instructors.

I'm wondering if the root of the complaining is this: perhaps this student is resisting assignments, particularly ones that involve new technologies because he's not of the generation that is embracing these new technologies. If this is the case how do I bridge different generations of students with different views on/abilities with technology? And are online students who have been distance learning students for the past decade at a disadvantage b/c online classes are changing so rapidly and becoming more interactive with Web 2.0 apps? In other words, past distance learners got the assignments and did the assignments, now they are being asked to interact with classmates through discussion boards, wikis, Twitter, etc.; they're being asked to write blog posts and respond to peer blog posts. They're listening to podcast lectures for the material, not just simply reading it. Are these more interactive tasks a possible cause of resistance? First-year students are used to these technologies and whole-heartedly embrace them. Perhaps the generation gap is making a few non-trad students feel a little "left out in the cold."

Another possibility is that some non-trad students don't realize that online class coursework has to be equal with the course work of a face-to-face class. In other words, my face-to-face students listen to lectures, do group work, do brainstorming, do in-class writing, do material reflections, and much more during the 3 hours they are in class with me. (Ask any of my face-to-face students; we always go the full time and the full time we are WORKING!) On top of their in-class time, they have about 2 hours of homework or more per class meet. It's ENG 112, for crying out loud. They have tons of reading to do to prep for class discussions and essay writing. They have out-of-class writing to reflect on lessons and begin drafting for essays. ENG 112 is an academically rigorous course to prep students for the rigors of higher-level academic writing. This is NO sail-on-through course. I'm wondering if the complainer and a few other online students don't understand that online classes (in order to defend their credibility and worthiness) have become just as rigorous as face-to-face classes or even more so. Online classes must produce and replicate the EXACT same work as face-to-face classes, and that's exactly what my online classes do. Perhaps some distance learners who are used to the "old way" of online learning are having a difficult time understanding the "new way" or the "way it should have always been" (at least in my book).

Finally, I wonder if the complaining has to do with the gender difference. I had hoped those days were long gone when older male students discriminated against younger, smart, spunky women instructors. Perhaps those days are still with us. If so, it truly saddens and frustrates me.

Regardless of the causes of the complainer, I do want to make one thing clear. I only have ONE complainer in my online class this semester, and last semester I had none. Every now and then I do have online students email me that they have a concern with a certain assignment or they're worried about finishing the work on time because of work-related or family-related emergencies. That's life. I always try to help those students by working with them and supporting them. But those circumstances only come up once a semester per student. To have a student complain at least once every week or more is a new experience to me.

What the complainer has given me is a new appreciation for first-year students. They bust their butts and don't question it. At least my batch of students don't. And I think that's because I tell them what every assignment means and how it plays into what they are learning and working towards in our class. Also, full-time students balance so much. Maybe even more than those who are distance learners. I understand we all have our busy schedules and families and work, but full-time students do it ALL ALL of the TIME. I have students taking online classes and face-to-face classes with 19 credit hours who work part-time or full-time AND have families, a strong campus community presence and rich social lives. They're balancing a LOT, and sometimes I don't think students get the credit they deserve. I think all instructors feel their classes are the most important of all. I think we as instructors need to see that students have lots of other classes and obligations that may have kept them from doing that one assignment or participating that actively in one class discussion. I'm not excusing "obviously-I-don't-care" behavior. I'm just arguing that more students do care than we sometimes give them credit for. And we don't need to be lenient in our expectations or grades, but I think we could be a little more understanding and not so quick to complain about them.

In terms of how to revise my online classes to avoid complaining, I think in my intro screen caption lecture I could clarify that the work load is the same as face-to-face classes and explain how each assignment builds on the next to work towards a final, spectacular BIG Researched Paper. And I could more clearly state the the Web 2.0 apps help us interact with one another to create a writing community. As for the gender difference possible issue, I don't know. I just have to keep being myself and demanding the same expectations from ALL of my students. And I just need to forgive and forget negative comments so I can keep on doing my job.

As Rob and Big say, "Do Work! Do Work!"

I've Hit My Stride

Here we are in the beginning of Week 12, and classes are going great, especially my ENG 111 Online Class.

The Online students and I are working well in our class weekly routine, and I'm excited to report that they have figured out the wiki and are posting to it.

Also, I've noticed lately that the Online students have been having stronger and stronger online discussion via the Discussion Board. I'm really proud of the way articulate their own thoughts and respond to one another by addressing specific ideas in a response or raising thoughtful questions to the post.

Two weeks ago, my f2f classes had an online discussion regarding a sample essay, and I found that their responses were more thoughtful and articulate (probably because they had more time to think about the essay and respond to it when they were ready--right after or a few hours after reading, not when I beckoned them in class...), and they responded to each other in more detail than they do during our in-class discussions, which I assume is because students feel less shy with a computer screen facing them rather than 22 students and their instructor.

Based on this info, I'm leaning towards using the Discussion Board for reading discussions in my f2f classes. I would assign them for homework and use the free time in class for working more with audience and counterargument or in-class writing. I've heard that quite a few teachers use the DB for reading discussions, so I feel kind of behind the times. I guess I just had to come to that realization on my own.

As for planning for ENG 112 Online, I say, "Bring it on!" My ups and downs with ENG 111 Online have really helped me see what is feasible for future online classes and what I can expect from online students. I really want to take 112 to the next level, though.

On top of doing screen capture lectures of my course expectations, wiki directions, and blog directions, I really want to create assignments that take advantage of our online medium. For Essay 4, the big 8-10 page researched essay, I'd like students to do some kind of online presentation at the end of it. I'm thinking something along the lines of a blog post, wiki presentation, or, if students have the devices, a YouTube video or a You3B compilation.

Check out this great video on YouTube:


(Thanks to Terence for showing it to me!)

Of course, whatever medium a student chooses to use, I'd like to see a written text accompany the visual text. I don't want the paper word-for-word, but rather a summary of the paper and a reflection on the writing process and how the essay has affected the student or what more work the student sees ahead of him/her in regards to this topic--some kind of extension of the topic or connection of the topic to the student's life.

I'm still working through the details of this ENG 112 presentation assignment. I'll be excited to see the end result.

Reflection on Week 2

The ENG 111 Online Class is going really well!

This week's Discussion Question regarding possible topics for Essay 1 was outstanding! My students not only thought of really interesting topics, such as the kindergarten birthday cut-off dates and how it affects children with disabilities in addition to policies regarding sexual predators, but also they responded quite intelligently to one another's ideas. It was fabulous!

Despite the progress reports I sent last week, still I have two students who are not pulling their weight and doing the coursework. I'm not sure if this is because they are first-year students and haven't taken an online class before or if it is because they don't understand the tasks I have asked them to complete.

I've been sending personal emails to both of these students to "check up" on them, but haven't heard a response from either. I'm concerned for them because I don't want to see them fail just because they didn't do the coursework but they did do the essays. As a last resort I have "First Alerted" them--a program we have a BGSU to inform advisors of students' behaviors during the first few weeks, so they can help the students.

Rough drafts are due next week, so I shall see...

The two most interesting facts about this week is that almost all of my students did NOT do the Wiki assignment I included in the coursework. I'm thinking my directions weren't clear enough or they could not access Writeboard. (I tried from many other computers and it was hard to access...As of now, I much prefer PBWiki!) I emailed my class to figure out the problem so I could right it and we could continue to use Wikis in our class. Also, 2/3 of the students did not post to their blogs this week.

Full moon or laziness?

An Online Library Assignment?

Background info: BGSU's General Studies Writing Program teamed up with the Jerome Library to better assist first-year students with finding sources for their essay. Therefore, first-year students are required to complete a Library Tour and quiz, in order to demonstrate they know how to do academic research.

My challenge: The ENG 111 Library Tour is to be done in person at the Jerome Library, and I want to keep the requirements of the online class exactly the same.

My solution: I refer online students to the Jerome Library's Virtual Tour and Distance Education page then using the same tour created by the acting chair of the Library Teaching and Learning & First Year Experience, I replaced questions to be answered in person with questions that can answered by viewing the Virtual Tour and Distance Education pages. At the end of the activity, students are to complete a multiple choice test in Blackboard that is very similar to the bubble sheet f2f students must fill out and hand-in to their instructors.

I'm a little concerned there may be too many steps for students to follow, but my rebuttal is that the f2f students have many steps to follow as well, so actually the online Library Assignment does replicate the same work level as the f2f Library Assignment.

I plan to report my findings on this assignment once it is completed in the online class.

Starting at the Beginning

The intention of this blog is to document the creation of an online class for BGSU's General Studies Writing Program. I'm using this blog as a reflection on how I set up the course and then how the course works during its pilot session this coming Fall Semester 2006. The online class is being developed on Blackboard, a university sponsored internet program that allows students to check their personal information at the university as well as course information, such as announcements, course documents, etc.

For starters, I sought help from IDEAL, a team who aids faculty in creating successful online classes, at BGSU. My first meeting with IDEAL staff member Terrence Armentano was Wednesday, May 9. During this meeting we collaborated on an effective key for the ENG 111 online course as well as ideas for how to conduct lectures (powerpoints, wikis, or blog with abilities for podcasting), keep track of passing/no passing grades, and collect rough and final drafts.

At this meeting, I chose to lecture through a blog on WordPress that is sponsored by IDEAL. I was attracted to the possibility of being able to post just text or text and a video clip, or post a podcast for students to listen to. Additionally, students will be able to leave comments on the blog, so they will be able to participate during lectures. Finally, having a blog for lectures will show students that blogs can be used for educational purposes, and it will be a nice tie back to the students each creating blogs for reflection on the material being taught.

Also, I decided to keep a grade book, but instead of having points for the work completed, online students will receive "complete" or "incomplete" grades, which translate well with GSW's ENG 111 grading system, which is "pass" or "no pass." I will ask students to email me their rough drafts to my gmail account, and I'm using the Blackboard feature "Assignments" to collect the final essays. The grade book in Blackboard allows me to comment on grades, and in the comment boxes I will post the end comments on final drafts with the grade. (Grades cannot be seen by the whole class, only the individual student who is logged into his/her personal account.) Complete will equal Pass, and Incomplete will equal Almost Pass or No Pass. This code will be explained in the Achievement Requirements, the document that explains the course and my expectations as the course's instructor.

I divided each week into several activities that online students will complete. These activities are very similar to the ones in my face-to-face (f2f) classes. Each week online students will have lectures to review, readings relevant to the material being taught in the lectures, discussion questions to answer on the Discussion Board, blog postings of their reflections regarding the material of the week, and other exercises to help them develop their argumentative writing skills. At the beginning of each week, I am going to write a short note of how the students should proceed. This note also will include any important due dates for the rough drafts, final drafts, or Library Assignment.

Starting tonight I'm going to begin to fill in the skeleton of the class with assignments and readings and discussion questions. My plan is to work on each week one at time. This evening, then, I will be working on Week 1. In future posts I will document how much time it takes me to create one week's worth of course work.

Please feel free to leave any comments with questions or ideas that can help me during this creation process.

My goal is to post regularly to this blog regarding the creation process in order to effectively document the creation and execution of an ENG 111 online class.