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!"

Thanks, IDEAL!

Want know more about teaching online?

Check out this podcast interview with yours truly in the IDEAL monthly newsletter.

I don't want to sound egotistical, but I'm kind of proud of myself...

Thinking Along the Same Lines

I just read this recent post on TerenceOnline.

I agree with Dr. Mark David Milliron's thoughts.

My only concern is how to overcome the resistance to online education.

I'd like to know some strategies for helping aboard those who are resistant. Any ideas?

Bad News and Good News

I'll start with the bad news.

Because of low enrollment, there's a very, very huge chance that my online class that I have discussed in this blog is going to be cut from this Fall's Schedule of Classes.

To say the least, I'm not happy. I worked really hard to make the online course multi-dimensional and engaging. My goal was the make this course as personable and challenging as my f2f classes, and I met that goal. My dream is to see it run. I'm saying prayers and keeping my fingers crossed.

I just hadn't thought about low enrollment until I talked with my boss a few weeks ago. In order for students to enroll in the online class, they must meet certain requirements: one is that they must be a.) a student who needs the class b/c his/her schedule doesn't work with a f2f class, b.) an adult learner who is taking classes through Continuing Ed, c.) a commuter or d.) a student who has not taken the class before f2f and not passed it. Once the student's information is verified, then he/she goes through an online screening process to make sure he/she effectively can complete online tasks. Though I fully understand the intentions behind the requirements and screening process, I feel like more students would be enrolled if the requirements were a more open to on-campus students who might have a job and/or activities that an online class would benefit. Heck, it would be great if any on-campus, commuter, and distant learner could easily enroll in the class. I really believe that any student would comprehend the work load and be able to navigate Blackboard after one week in my online class, which makes me wonder if the screening process is completely necessary. Without the screening process, I feel more students would register for the class because it would be one less step to worry about. Again, I fully understand that the intention of the screening process is to weed out students who want an easy way out of a required course. However, I firmly believe any student who registered in my online class b/c he/she thought it would be easier than attending class would find out quite quickly the first week that I expect a lot from my online students, just as much as my f2f students.

I support my department. Period. I just wonder if there are revisions that could be made to the registration of online classes in order to encourage enrollment. Online classes are the way of the future. I seriously learned so much from the online class I took through IDEAL (in order to train instructors to teach online) that I wish my graduate program would have had online classes. I would have taken them. And I bet I would have retained more from my program than I did.

While thinking about the merits of online teaching, I decided that the #1 benefit of teaching writing online is that writing is the main form of communication! How perfect, huh? Students learn even more about writing as they write discussion board responses, collaborative suggestions, feedback to peers, emails to the instructor and peers, etc. Talk about applying what a student learns about audience, tone, focus, etc.! Online classes are a valuable and progressive learning environment, especially those, like mine, that incorporate Web 2.0 technologies to keep students alert and challenged and those that take online learning seriously by clearly stating student expectations and responsibilities. In fact, I bet a lot of students experience more hands-on learning online than in a classroom where the temperature in the room might be too hot or too cold, where a student might be tempted to stare out the window daydreaming about tonight's plans while the instructor writes on the board, where making a good impression on the cute person in the next seat over is more important than the day's lesson, where some students even SLEEP. I remember being a student quite vividly. Hence, I did not retain a lot of lessons from my grad school courses, or more so, my undergrad courses. I had other things going on. I was at class, but most times my mind was somewhere else. Maybe I would be an even smarter teacher and person if I could have had online classes that let me learn when I was focused and ready to learn. At some point students have to learn to be responsible for their learning. Online classes makes them responsible for learning and taking their education into their own hands. How rad!

Online classes are the wave of the future, and I just feel that if my university plans on keeping up with the times, then every department needs to have a few online classes and inform instructors and professors about the usefulness of technology. Otherwise, more and more students are going to be daydreaming and sleeping while instructors try desperately to figure out how they can keep their students' attentions.

I promise to reveal the results once I find them out. Please keep your fingers crossed.

In the Spring I hope to teach the researched writing course online. I'm beginning to work on that course now, so expect more frequent posts. I'm excited about developing that course online b/c it has great potential for tying in multi-medias and even more Web 2.0 applications.

And now for even more good news: My "intro to the essay" videos are edited and uploaded to uTube. Check them out! I'm really pleased with the fabulous work! Thank you so much Terence and Michael!