I think the confusion may lie in what people traditionally associate with teaching versus what actual learning is. Teaching has often been seen as an expert transmitting knowledge to another person. The "learner" is a blank slate, ready to be filled with the knowledge from the sage on the stage. This approach works for basic concepts, but it only goes so far. Yes, an elementary student needs to have a teacher "teach" him or her how to add, subtract, spell, etc. That represents basic knowledge that must be mastered first.

However, after the basics are learned, a "teacher" really needs… >>>

I like your idea of giving students the option of either attending the Live Chat or completing an additional assignment, Marina! Usually there has to be some type of incentive for students to attend chats, even though one would think that graduate students, in my experience, would have intrinsic motivations to attend chats and improve their understanding of the assignments and the course content. 

I have often offered "bonus" material to students who attend the chats or at least listen to the archives. If they bother, then they'll get some extra help that I don't offer through the classroom in… >>>

One of the issues I encounter is that students use online sources to develop citations and references, but often those sources are incorrect. The citation generator will create a MOSTLY correct APA reference, for example, but it's not quite right in terms of actual APA standards. I'll make the corrections, and students are confused as to why a generated reference is not acceptable.

How do you handle this? I tell students that the definitive guide is the actual APA manual, but I know that not all students are going to purchase that manual, and frankly, undergraduate students probably don't benefit… >>>

It is interesting that this course is focused on retention of students online, as that is directly tied to the issue of enrolling students who, frankly, have no business in an online college course. I have had a number of students who are using a computer for the very first time, who have no knowledge of how to use a word processing program, save a document, or attach a document, much less how to use the Internet or the other resources available to them. I want to contact the person who enrolled them in my class and ask them what… >>>

Live Chats are mandatory for the instructor at an institution for which I teach. I have to hold at least one 1-hour live chat per week. I have used music, interactive quizzes and activities, lecture...I have even offered "bonus" material in my live chats to attempt to lure students in. I rarely have a student attend a live chat, regardless of when it is scheduled.

I don't mind conducting the live chat and recording it, but it seems that if instructors are required to hold them, there should be some accountability on the part of students as well. They should… >>>