Alexander Thompson

Discussion Comment

I have been teaching adults since 1998. In that time I have had thousands of students. Of those, I can count the grade appeals on one hand. This is because my expectations are CLEAR and my grading criteria are FAIR. Do this and you won't have to worry about student conflicts.

Alexander Thompson

Discussion Comment

Synchronous learning online.

In both synchronous and asynchronous learning. My experience has been that it works best in a face to face learning environment and pretty well in a discussion board. I have not experienced good results in a live chat session. I suspect many students are multitasking during chats and not really paying attention. Sometimes I wonder why they are there at all if they are not ready to engage when called on. Thanks for the input Don.

Alexander Thompson

Discussion Comment

Managing Conficts Online

In my 14 years of online teaching I find it EASIER to manage conflicts with students ONLINE than face to face. Email gives me time to craft my response for MAXIMUM impact. Losing control of the situation is almost eliminated because I set the pace. This is especially important when a student is trying to "push your buttons." I can cover all bases and nip potential problems in the bud. While I am good at thinking on my feet, I prefer to use the written word when dealing with uncooperative students.

Alexander Thompson

Discussion Comment

Synchronous learning online.

I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t agree with everything presented in this mod. I have conducted synchronous chat sessions with more than 20 participants successfully. The chat day and time was determined for each section of the course and the student signed up for the section that was convenient for them. It was fast paced, fun, informative and promoted maximum participation for everyone. As soon as this same university changed their policy on chat sessions, allowing faculty to set a day and time, student participation dropped off to damn near nothing and this leaning tool was reduced to a useless waste of time. I… >>>

Alexander Thompson

Discussion Comment

Organized Discussion Boards?

I see posts that are 5 years old. And, there are no instructions on what I'm supposed to do after taking the first quiz. Do the necessary ingrediants for a good online class only apply to students? Or, should they also apply to courses taken by faculty as well?