Ed,
You use the same analogy I do! I am not sure where students get the idea that being online is easier. I do try to get them to use calendaring and work at putting the calendar in their phone. They check that first!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
There seem to be several pit-falls that seem fairly frequent but they can differ between younger and older returning students. Generally speaking:
1) Commitment -- Some students may not have ever made a commitment to a job or task. A 5-6-8 week class seems long-term to many and the level of focus seems to drop about 1/2 way through. All the excitement and initial plans of getting an A becomes more of "how much longer is this?". Other students seem to really engage. They put in 110% and they want 110% out of the class.
2) Time management -- Students may have the perception that online is easier than F2F and not like really not going to school at all. Students often don't have a realistic plan of how to juggle kids, a full-time job and a life with class.
3) Self discipline -- It's difficult for some students to know that there is no one there to make them sit down and do homework, read a chapter or take a test. While we can encourage the student it really is up to them. Older students may have the advantage here as they have learned self-discipline over the years.
4) Knowledge of using a computer – Students may mistake that by using email, FB and Twitter they have knowledge to navigate a LMS or upload/download documents. Students, even though they use computers at work they may never have performed some of the basic functions (eg name and save a file, upload/download) which others can take for granted. They may never have written a paper or had to format a paper with margins, font etc. much less cited APA.
Sueanne ,
You make really good points. I agree with your and their views on grades. They don't always see improvement. All they want to know is what to do to get the A. You may want to develop for all students a plan to be successful in your course.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I find the biggest pitfall is time management. Students have a tendency to be "out of sight, out of mind" with their online classes or something comes up and their coursework falls by the wayside. I like to reach out to these students and develop a plan of action once we have worked through whatever the time management issue is. That plan includes the time they will devote to class and what needs to be made up with specific deadlines. I also like to check in to make sure they have a good time management process and, if not, build one with them.
-Stephanie
Stephanie,
What a great strategy. Many of them don't understand time management. I know that sounds stupid but they underestimate the time it takes to learn. Learning takes time!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Students have a lot of responsibilities in their lives and sometimes when they decide to start a online class they underestimate the time it will take to complete the class . The hard fact is life comes at you hard and fast sometimes and classwork will take a backseat to family most times. You must encourage your students to set some time aside without all the distractions
so that they can succeed in achieving their goals
The biggest pitfall is probably time management and organizing their time to meet deadlines. I usually suggest that the student keeps an active calendar ready and available to help them keep their time managed.
The biggest pitfall I see my online students fall into is burning out right before the final weeks are approaching. I usually keep them motivated by reminding them weekly about few tips:
• Build study time into your schedule.
• Don’t over-schedule yourself. Allow for time to deal with the curve balls of life.
• Engage in hobbies to give yourself some down time.
• Exercise (even a walk around the block) to clear your head.
• Nap when you can.
• Schedule down time for yourself.
• Sleep eight hours a night if you can.
• Take breaks so you don’t burn out.
• Turn off the phone and email so you can focus.
• Work when the children sleep.
Underestimating completion time. I let them know to plan double the amount of time when starting an new course until they get used to it.
The pitfall that we all see over and over again is procrastination. If we could teach all online learners the keys to success when it comes to time management they would all be far more successful. In my humble opinion.
Is it our role as instructors to encourage students to find these support structures?
That is a good point...we often do not look at the option of reducing the students course load...
Procrastination!! The students wait until the day a project is due to start.
I motivate them, help them set up a time management plan and help them focus on staying current with their assignments
Not staying on task and forgetting to submit items when due. I do reminders by creating announcements and email students who have yet to submit items.
(Sorry if this is a repeat, my previous post disappeared).
I see students struggle with time management and meeting the requirements of the course. I teach a composition course, so many students believe they don't have to learn new skills, but they are incorrect. This is a higher level writing course than they have completed before, but they rely on their previous knowledge.
To help with this, I spend time in the first live chat going over the essay requirements and the rubrics. This way students who view the live chat or the archives will get assistance with the requirements. I also have created "check lists" that students can use to be sure they have included the required elements.
For time management, I spend a significant amount of time in the live chat discussing the assignment and helping with brainstorming so that they are motivated to start early.
By far the most common pitfall I see is underestimation of the time requirement. Many students use the online campus because they manage a family and career alongside education. This does not mean, nor is it an excuse for, believing that the course requires or deserves less time than the face-to-face version of the same course. That is why many campuses only allow students to take a maximum of two online courses.
One of the biggest factors in success that I have seen is spreading work throughout the week in order to think about the course material and ask questions. Most students are not exceptional enough to continually procrastinate and do well. Although the online classroom allows them the luxury of procrastination, they must bear the consequences when it goes wrong. Developing strong time management skills really prevents this problem from coming to fruition.
Best,
Brian Stout
Hello,
This is too common of an issue (in my opinion) in the online environment. In Module 4, we were introduced to a variety of pitfalls. In my years of experience, the most common that I've seen are: 1) Underestimating the amount of time necessary to complete assignments involved in an online course, 2)Overestimating their technology skills, and 3)Procrastination. These are pitfalls that often leads to a student sending his/her instructor an email in week 5 of a week 6 course asking for help. One method I use to help "get out of the pit" is constant communication. For the procrastinator, I tend to send email reminders throughout the week stressing the importance of submitting in a timely fashion. I also try to use my response time to grading work and/or responding to emails as an example of diligence. For the student who overestimates their technology skills, I try to suggest the importance of verifying that all work has been submitted properly. Usually, seeing a decrease in an assignment's score due to improper submissions help get the student out of the pit. Finally, for the student who believes they have more time than not to submit the assignment, I encourage them to set goals for each assignment and stick to it (this typically starts with a week to week schedule of what he/she plans to accomplish). I find this method to work.
Procrastination coupled with underestimating the amount of time to complete assignments is the pitfalls I have identified as trends that negatively impact the students’ academic success. The students will wait until the weekend to attempt to complete weekly assignments that are due on Sunday; as opposed to implementing time management skills by completing tasks throughout the week. Then the students realize certain coursework requires them to actually register with a partnering learning module by logging onto a web base training course; successfully completing it and submitting the certificate of completion as part of the rubric requirements for that particular assignment.
I always post an announcement and or provide a scaffold to inform the students of the requirements yet there is always a few students who simply wait until the last minute to review the announcements and or attempt the assignment.
I believe that continuous communication using various communication channels has helped reduced the student pitfalls.
