I have found that many students do not realize when they are plagiarizing because they have not been made aware of the many situations they put themselves in with research and writing. Are your students aware of these various implications?

It is important that the instructor should keep checking his or her email now and then, and shold set up adefinite schedule for the students for their assignments. Alas

I think the responsibility to teach online corses is very critical one. The instructor should possess the quality of authority, close relationship with the student and the presense of the teacher at all times. Alas

What is the best way to pick these hours?

#1 Ask a series of questions (gentle probing) to get them to talk. Some students do not like to participate, even online. Some just want to listen. So how do we get more students to participate in the live chat discussion so we can get to know them. Some students will participate if you ask them to sent their questions via an email for discussion during the live chats. #2 - Another problem is many students do not read text books, course materials and etc. At best they just scan the information. How many times have we heard a student say, “I have read the material three times and I still do not understand it”? They will not tell you that they are the product of a poor educational system, or they came from a family environment that did not support their educational goals. You have to get to know them first. They still need to understand the contents so they can complete their assignments at a university level. Some of the things I do is teach them how to create a Mind Map, which is a flexible outline of the contents in a pictorial layout of the contents. Another thing they can do is create questions/answer Flash Cards of key topics and concepts. This way they can have their spouse or a friend, ask them the questions. Or they can take them to work and use them to remind themselves during the day which will help re-enforce the topic or content. Granville Jones

Question? What is the skill level necessary for college success? I teach 5.5 week accelerated leadership courses, project management courses and computer courses. Most of the students understand the course platform, they understand how to navigate it, and most of them understand the instructions for how to complete the assignment and do a great job with the assignments. But every now and then there is a student was obviously adding more basic level than the other students. In most cases the students are at a very elementary level with English grammar, computer skills, and research skills (Library and Internet). Question? How do we help the students before they get to a point where they are for totally frustrated and want to drop out of school? What can we do as a university, as a faculty to help these students succeed in college? Granville Jones

The course mentions giving time management ideas to students. What would you consider to be some useful and more importantly, workable ones?

In your opinion, does the facilitation of online courses take more time than facilitation of the traditional classroom?

Question: What types of threads work best -- multiple threads by topic or one super-thread for all to converse in? I have have tried both I prefer the multipe thread approach for discussion content purposes but the super thread is good for socializing.

Have tried adding or enclosing video clips etc many times the issue becomes the bandwidth avaible to the student. If they do not have the bandwidth the student becomes easily fustrated.

The question how critical is technical support to online learning being a fulfilling and successful experience. I have found if tech suport is not top notch the learning experience can really suffer.

I ask this because I have found that this is the keystone to many of my chats to make them enjoyable for the students. I encourage them to make humourous (British English spelling)comments too about what we are doing in the class in the chat box. I think it helps with participation and just basically showing up for class.

Should participation in sycronous discussions be mandatory?

Have you found that students are becoming more demanding and challenging when one earns a grade less than anticipated? If so, how should we use our authority to handle these students.

I feel that my biggest challenge will be the technology support for my students. This will be my first online class that I teach, and since the program is different than the one I use at my present school, I hope I will be able to assist my students in a timely manner when they are confronted with a problem. I have already dealt with the technology group for gaining access to my class because they were having trouble for some reason in putting me into the system. I must say that the technical support has been very supportive; therefore, I feel pretty confident, I will be able to lead or guide my students in the right direction. I definetly need to look into the student orienation class for CMS.

My experience has indicated the importance of the discussion threads within the online format. As a rule, I reply to every student within a given course at least once per week. The level and complexity of interaction is vital, but ensuring all students are recognized for their individual contributions is key to retention. Lisa

As this module pointed out it it wise to keep students engaged in the classroom in the virtual world the same as the physical classroom for retention. I find that having a high presence in the classroom; being involved in discussions giving feedback on assignments and launching further questions all help the students to be more engaged. If I want students to be active then I need to model that behavior.

I have a passion for and love teaching online courses. I know that the online environment can be daunting for some students and like to make the CMS as easy as possible to navigate. I like the fact that our institution uses the same design for all of the courses that are offered to our students. The content is obviously different but the navigation of each course is similar. I have found that once a student is familiar with the CMS and has a professional relationship with the instructor that they (the students) gain the confidence to be successful in all courses.

In my findings, giving students as much flexibility as possible while still holding them to the constraints of the class breeds a more positive, encouraging experience. What do you all think? Do you think that you need to "rule with an iron fist", or do you think that some leeway is a better idea?

Though I am learning to appreciate the online posting of points received for written assignments and the reflection of "model" responses, I do wonder about posting feedback. I have sent individual emails to students about corrections and feedback (like written feedback in traditional classrooms), to avoid "losing face" or embarassment, though this is quite time-consuming. My training regarding confidentiality may also be playing a large role in my reluctance. Any suggestions offered regarding how best to utilize online, public feedback?