Tips for understanding online student expectations
#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
It is important that you take time to address students who may not have the skills to complete basic tasks necessary for online learning. Granville, your ideas are excellent. I have also found that some students do not have note-taking skills or do not know how to organize the content so that they can later review and remember the material. It is helpful to provide these students with additional materials on note-taking and other skills.
Great tips Granville. For the creation of flashcards, there is a great website that students can use to create electronic flashcards. It is: cramberry.net
Michele
Thanks for the helpful link. What do you do if the problem is not comprehension but the tendency to hurry through the assignments, very often disregarding support material altogether? Do you know of a way to monitor/control the completion of assignments until all support material has been accessed?
Thanks Dr. Ernst for you information on the flashcard site. Granville gave us some very useful information!
How about having them respond on the forum to the support material? I utilize an electronic forum in my regular classroom teaching, and have support material in the syllabus that they are to access for each unit we cover. The way that I have monitored this was to set up an electronic forum where they were to comment only on the support material as a topic for that week. No comment means no credit for the forum that week. After a week, I lock the topics and we move on to the next week's module.
That is a good suggestion Vicki. Thanks for sharing it with the group.
The major problem is timing from my perspective. Once student's get the message that the Live Chat is valuable attendance goes up, but, this also has to do with how and where they can access and their time frames with work and other family activities. I have yet to find an online student (or any student) that doesn't have multiple responsibilities to take care of - Live Chat goes the way of a not essential to their life.
Very well said Donna. Students that are attracted to online learning are students that have many other things that are going on in their lives and simply don't have the time to attend class in person or participate in a live chat. Thanks for your post Donna.
Granville,
I liked your flash card concept which is great if you are teaching a subject that has a lot of foreign words to students. I think I could use that concept in economics. I find students who take part in the discussion forums and other interaction they get more out of the class.
Thanks,
Nick
Yes, I heard on National Public Radio some time ago that in general, students do not read their texts. This was a discouraging statement for me to hear. I realize students usually have busy lives, but if I can do something to encourage them to engage in these online courses, I will have accomplished much. The chat component certainly helps students to recognize the value. I appreciate any ideas to help with this issue.
In terms of the issue of students not reading the text, I think it depends on how effectively the instructor incorporates the text in the class. As a student, if the instructor provided all the information I needed via lecture or classroom activity that prepared me for the tests, I didn't spend a great deal of time on reading the text. However, if the text was used in a way that requied me to read it to be successful in the class, I read it.
These are excellent points about online learners. Everyone has their own learning styles and I think it is important to let the students know what tools there are to assist them in basic skills. For example, some people are not familiar with computers and I let the class know that I will walk them through any skills or learning processes that are needed.
Yes, you are right Kimberly. Letting students know what the tools are that can help them is a great way to provide them with the assistance they need.
I would agree Kimberly; there are many students that don't have the basic computer knowledge when starting an online class. It makes it harder for them to navigate in an online format and harder for them to figure out how to properly post assignments and communicate with instructors and classmates.
Would you agree that every online school should have a basic Office and Computer Applications class that students can participate in at the start of their program?
