Getting to Know Your Students
Has anyone used an initial synchronous discussion to set the tone for the upcoming class, answer general questions, and get to know the students a bit?
Excellent Question Patricia. I encourage other students to share their experiences on this Subject. This can be a good strategy to achieve the goals set out in the Question under consideration provided that the Synchronous sessions are scheduled and managed properly.
Satrohan
I have tried it and also been a part of one such case as a student. I have found that it doesn't work. First students in other time zones do not really get to participate and second there does not appear to be a record of such discussion that people can go back to.
I like using asynchronous discussion for this as the student can then go back to the discussion board if they want to know more about anyone or want to look for a specific area of expertise.
-Chris
Chris:
Asynchronous Discussion forums lend themselves well for the reasons you mentioned in the last paragraph of your response. Students can review the entire Discussion thread, and absorb and reflect on all responses to the topic as theyhave much more time than they do in a Chat session.
Satrohan
I have tried this method and was unsuccessful. I think because of the time zone differences and the students regular schedules this is why it has not worked for me. However, what I have done that has worked well has been when I lecture, (that is when most of my students are there)that is when I take the opportunity to get a discussion going about five minutes prior to class or if I see that I do not have all my students in session when I start then I wait until after class when they all had a chance to arrive and invite them to a synchronous discussion at that time.
I have been in an on-line class and we were needed to do live discussion. The first thing the instructor did was to fine the best time since everyone was in different time zone, the first couple of discusion was rough, but by the third is was great
We have discussion forums like this with general "getting to know you" questions weekly for the first 10 weeks of our course. Students can reply at any time during the week to get credit and usually end up generating a lively discussion and building relationships. This allows the instructor to also get to know the students as well as participate, so the students get to know him/her. As far as the instructor getting to "know" the students more deeply, a caveat! We have had instructors who have wanted to get to know their students and ended up getting enmeshed in their personal problems and emotional issues to the point where the student did not progress in the course and the instructor was not effective. Keep the line drawn between instructor/student as opposed to buddy/student. diane
Diane:
Your recommendation is well taken. To maintain fairness and integrity, Instructors should maintain a "pure" Instructor-Student relationship.
Satrohan
It is always good to never have a buddy/student relationship. I have witnessed this many times and the comment regarding the instructor not being effective is correct. The instructor knows too much about the student and their personal life and this interfers with teaching and learning.
Tammy Foles
Tammy:
I believe the buddy/student relationship can interfere with the Instructor being objective. Not every Instructor can have that level of involvement, and be able to subdue their sympathetic nervous system when it comes to making decisions.
Satrohan
Yes, I do. Some might consider all that a waste of chat time, but I disagree. I find that students begin to "bond," even online! They tend to want to help each other when they have a sense of each other. And the atmosphere is always upbeat when students perceive that they can ask questions and get a live answer on the spot! It is well worth the time.
I am new to online teaching, however my Masters degree was done completely online. We used an asynchronous discussion board in that program to get to know each other in every class. It seemed to work well. Although as we moved upward together it became rather repetitive.
Trying to keep students interested in the discussions is one of the challenges the instructor has with teaching an online class. Thanks for your comments Tim.
I think asynchronous discussion is a better way to get student feedback about the course as you go along in the modules. The students can tell you what they like and don't like about the course--in terms of who they are and what works for them--and it's less confrontive for the instructor than in synchronous chatting.
