It is my policy to answer all emails within 24 hours. I usually access my emails twice a day, one in the morning and once in the evening. Also it is my policy to post at least 1 discussion post per day. I try to post at least 10% of all students posts. Asking questions to students give me a presence in the classroom. Thanks Fred K

Class I post a course expectation announcement. This includes my name, email address and office hours. Also I include my cell number, resolving technical issues, course overview, chat sessions, assignments info, discussion board, group projects, late policy, grading, and plagiarism. In addition I include the top ten reasons for success. Course exp[actions is a good way to understand policies and procedures. Thanks Fred K

Hi all, One thing that I find handy, and I wonder if other instructors do it, is to re-use feedback. And by that I don't mean giving the exact same feedback to each student, but by having a general format for each week. For example, I will have feedback that is ready to be personalized. One assignment my students do to help them get used to writing paragraphs is to write two paragraphs about music they like. My feedback includes a comment that tells them that their work is interesting, comments on whether I know the musician or will check them out in the future, and then some general comments on the work (e.g. "clear organization!" or "you seemed to struggle with organization" and "your paragraphs were a bit too short" or "you provided plenty of evidence in your paragraphs"), and then I also provide feedback in the paper itself, showing them where they've made errors or have strong topic sentences, etc. Do others instructors also use this type of "canned" feedback? Thanks, Kate

Learner 1, in my past experiences, when I have felt overwhelmed, I usually take a mental break for a couple of hours to a full day and do the one thing I love to do. Once I have a clear mind, go back into the course and write down your assignments. put a date that you will complete the assignment. Remember you have 7 days to work with, not just the weekend. Space out things like reading and discussion post into the work week and maybe your assignments on Saturday morning. Seek a quiet time when the house is at its quietest. You will be sucessful, just take it one step at a time. I would use this method to give the student a template to get organized. Once they are organized the fear of not getting it done whould minimized.

I have to disagree. The responsibilities, whether teaching a residential or online course, should be the same... which is to ensure that the students achieve the learning outcomes of the course. Although the responsibilities are the same, the method of teaching is different. Even the skills needed for an online instructor versus a residential instructor are different. In a traditional classroom setting, teachers have the immediacy of face-to-face interaction with students. In an online course, however, that face-to-face interaction is not there. Even if the online class is synchronous, that face-to-face interaction becomes very different. In a traditional classroom, an instructor may never have to write an email. On the other hand, on online instructor will have to be an expert in communicating via email.

I would first thank him for his opinion, but would strongly encourage him to make every effort to answer the discussion questions, read other students' posts, and comment on them. I would let him know that by doing so, he will better understand why these discussion questions are relevant. If, after he has fully participated in the discussions and still feels the questions are not relevant, I would ask him to provide what he thinks may be better discussion questions and why.

Hi. Dr Vaillancourt, Below are my responses to each scenario: Scenario 1: I would provide constructive criticism to Mike> I would describe where he did excellent vs. where he fell short. I would also make some suggestions on improvement. Scenario 2: In Kathy's feedback, I would ask if she understood the assignment and offer tutoring assistance. I would also make positive and negative constructive criticism on her assignments.

Disagree. First, they get the grades and the comments in the grade book. Then, midweek, they get the summary showing that they are below passing and they are told what they need to complete. At this point, all but those who are sick, or having some large personal problem happening in their lives, respond. Second, once they respond, usually email, but sometimes texting, I answer their question of what they need to do; they usually need to just complete the work assigned which they have not completed. I tell them, clearly, that here are the assignments and the points involved, and the possible change in grade upward possible if they complete the assignments. Most then turn them in. I clearly point out to them that 45% of the grade is posting and replying to the Discussion Board, which are the easiest points of all, compared to quizzes and assignments. I point out that the assignments and quiz questions are all clearly covered in the live chats with similar questions and problems so it is to their advantage to watch the archived chats or come to the live chats. Third, if they say they need help and don't understand anything, I suggest tutoring and ask them directly if they have tried to do the work. When they say "yes", I ask them which problem did they get stuck on, tell me the steps they took and which step caused the problem? If they stop responding, I repeat the question and copy their advisor, saying that perhaps the advisor can point them to how to use the tutor and work on the material. Fourth, if they respond in detail, I carry on a dialog, via email, with them about getting past the troublesome step in the solution. At this point, these students usually get moving and either get tutoring and/or help from various sources. I also tell all about some websites that might help, tell them to Google key words of the problem to find how others on the web solved similar problems, etc. There are two classes of students; those that need motivation and a push and some help, and those that for whatever reason, don't respond. The approach I take to get at and help the first class is; 1. Explain the points/grades and their paying for tuition or costs. This motivates all but a few. 2. Move students towards tutoring or outside help if they don't have specific questions. 3. Help those left who are responding and can be helped in this synchronous individual exchange of emails. 4. Unfortunately, there are always some who don't respond at all, and they either flunk, drop out or eventually request an Incomplete. All of these students have been reported several times to their advisor, and that person also tries to help with problems by giving support, motivation or advice.

I agree. That is one of my greatest challenges too. Many learners post the minimum requirement and what's worse, they don't bother to come back. So even if you, as the instructor, have posted the most dynamic or most interesting follow-up question or additional information, that student will never read it. One of my roles is to facilitate and guide the discussions. If students are already engaged with each other in the discussions, I minimize my participation. If discussions start off slow or stall, I expand on the topic or ask a follow-up question. Sometimes, I would break up the discussion topic into parts or reword it differently altogether. I also provide a grading rubric so that my students know what I'm looking for in the threads.

I don't think it will ever totally replace traditional classroom delivery. I think it may offer opportunities for students that otherwise may not have the learning opportunity. I do think it is becoming more traditional because of those who are returning to school and enjoy the flexible schedule. I do think that it's going to take a change in the minds of people to accept online degrees along with those of the brick and mortar colleges and universities.

It will definitely be a big challenge, for both the online instructor and the online student. It will be even more of a challenge if your students have never taken online classes before. I think the biggest challenge as an instructor is in getting my students to be comfortable with the online modality. They must get used to the idea that the "instructor/student interaction" is going to be very different. Interaction will radically change from a "face-to-face" modality to interaction via email, threaded discussions, phone calls, etc. Getting used to this kind of interaction (and taking it seriously) may take a bit of getting used to.

In the online courses I have taught the class usually consists of 35 students in the beginning. Usually that drops to about 25 by the time the course actually gets started. By the end of the course there are about 15 that have maintained the requirements of the course. I think I would have been all right with the 35. I think as long as the instructor can efficiently work with the students and respond and be available then the ratio can work.

One important element is to request that students be vigilant about checking for announcements pertaining to the next class session. I ask them to check 48 hours before the class session, to see if any items have been added, deleted, or adjusted from the course syllabus. Often, due to holidays and the pace of a particular class, the course syllabus is modified throughout the term... by checking on announcements the class participants can keep pace and avoid feeling like the instructor has "surprised them" by adding or deleting class content.

Is there a format that could be useful for a person who is doing course evaluations and wants to interview students as to their observations? Would this normally be in a computer-based closed-ended format, or is there a reasonably useful way to get actual narrative from students? I'd be interested to know the experience of others.

I have always thought that encouraging the students by intructing them in hands on activites helps bring the topics to the surface. It makes it seem more real to them.

I would love some experiences from my fellow educators on how they resolved any online conflicts. This would help me a great deal.

I feel that being entertaining without being a distraction is another way to get students to focus on the topic at hand. Using some amusing stories about field experience keeps them both focused and also gives them a chance to raise the bar about what they can do with thier education.

The institution that I instruct for is wonderful and there are very few things that I would change. However, it seems like every session I have at least one (or sometimes a small angry mob) of students who see Psychology as a major barrier on their way to the completion of their certification/diploma program. These often vocal students like to communicate their disdain immediately--in any public venue--seemingly with the hope that I will be able to wave my magic wand and release them of their requirement. I do understand their concern and can appreciate that to a student who is working on a dental hygiene certification--Psychology might seem to be a waste of time. However, as we all know, they keys to a well-rounded education lie in exposure to those topics outside of our specific career path. To deal with this issue, I do everything in my power (literally from day one) to infuse humor and understanding into my repertoire in the hopes of helping them to understand why human behavior is so important. But I have often felt as though the campuses that we serve could do more at a programmatic level to help students understand (and field questions/concerns) prior to their enrollment. I have brought this up many times over the course of years and the response is always an enthusiastic "sure--we'll help!" then no action... Has anyone out there been able to bridge this gap or worked successfully with their corresponding campus administration to help? Or perhaps any additional suggestions? Thanks so much!

Although I understand the need for feedback from multiple sources, I also note that sometimes course developers (in my limited experience) really only look at objective feedback. It is easily quanitifiable and therefore preferred. Any ideas on how to ease them into the idea of more comprehensive evaluation?

Another technology tool that I find easy to use and keeps a log of your previous recordings is Screen-O-Matic at http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/. I use it as a means of motivating students and clarifying select and key points when necessary. I find weekly encouragements using video to be more personal and better received. I prefer Screen-O-Cast to Jing because it is super simple. There is nothing to download, the tool captures whatever is shown on your screen and verbals captured through the computer's mic, you can create video that allows for student comments, and password protect content. To store more than one video at a time, unfortunately, you will be required to pay $15 a year. However, I find this to be a small amount compared to the big benefits of using such a tool. I find Screen-O-Matic to be easier to use than many of the features inside of the LMS systems. Compare the Screen-O-Matic tool to other screen capture tools, such as Jing, and let me know what you think. If you have other suggestions, please share them with me. I am always trying to improve on processes.