How approachable is the instructor?
One of my biggest issues is how approachable is the instructor for the online student. Personally, I have heard and seen how the instructors don't want to supply contact numbers for the students. I feel the students may feel isolated enough while in the online platform without further alienation by not be able to verbally communicate with their instructors? What are your thoughts on this?
All instructors, regardless of online or traditional, should be there for their students. Students have paid to get the help they need, and instructors should honor their commitment.
I agree. At the beginning and end of every online class session, I encourage my students to contact me via email if they have any questions or concerns. I also schedule "office hours" online, each week, so that students can ask me questions via instant messenger or call me.
I agree with all the comments and I believe that there has to be a middle ground. You can be there for your students, but without letting them rely on you too much. Some students will became passive as they want you to direct their every move. Other students just need some guidance that they'll take to improve their performance.
I work from home so I do not want to give out my phone number. I encourage my students to email me with detailed questions. I check my email several times a day so I can promptly respond and address their questions.
In an online environment, the student has to feel that their questions will be addressed in a timely manner. Because there may be 24-48 hours of turn around between when the question is asked and the answer read by the student, the instructor has to be certain that they were able to answer the student effectively. The student also needs to work independently and therefore be comfortable with trying to figure out the issue on their own initially. The student should not spend too much time without making forward progress. The instructor will need to help the student find that balance between independence and asking for assistance in a timely mannner.
Online adjunct instructors who work from home will not likely want to provide their home number. Past experience has indicated that students rarely respect the boundaries of calling the home at appropriate times.
That is so true about students calling at any given moment! It is a good practice to have "office hours" even online.
I agree with this and perhaps we make this a bit too difficult for the student, given the fact that we are concerned that we will develop too much of a pattern in which the student may abuse this. I have seen many aspects of this, where once we allow ourselves to answer calls or emails after our time periods, students get too comfortable and start sending questions via text. this needs to be controlled as we want to document all vai classroom Q&A or email, so we have trails of anything, just in case. What do we think?
Marco Albarran
I think supplying contact numbers and office hours should be an expectation for an instructor teaching a course. During an online course, the instructor should remind students that she is available for tutoring or questions.
Cathy,
Office hours are very important especially in an online environment.
Shelly Crider
