I have found that procrastination is the #1 area that students have struggled with in my online courses - and one way of the ways I have had to mitigate this issue with students is to send out two announcements per week reminding students of upcoming assignments and also personal emails to students who are more falling further behind in the course.
You need to check all behavior just as you would in a traditional classroom. Make the online environment inviting to where you are alleviating any blockages or concerns
I loved how the student who is avoiding work is identified as the one who always has technical difficulties. That is so common. The tips to handle these students were great. As a teacher in a high school, who may be teaching more online, I don't think true attrition will be my problem, but identifying those things that make students want to leave a course is important.
Daily participation is vital and communication daily is necessary to make students feel a sense of belonging.
Maintaing records by assignments, rather than students, can provide a quick glance at the different levels of participation and level learning.
The ideas expressed in the module made me think of my current students navigating the Remote learning process brought upon by the Covid-19 crisis. Normally, I keep paper records but have had to change to electronic record management and adjust the methods for monitoring student progress. I also thought about the efficacy of the suggestions to increase student participation for all the types of learners mentioned and realized, that as a school district, we need to provide better tools to help all of our learners navigate electronic learning formats.
Classroom management is essential in an online learning environment just as in a traditional classroom setting. You need to have clearly defined rules and grading rubrics. Make reference to these throughout your course work. It is important to handle disruptions as professionally as possible. You should always handle these situations in a manner that protects a student's identity and personal integrity.
It is important to keep organized class records and to develop a system of organizing emails, discussions for each assignment or each student. It is also important to understand that there are multiple kinds of behaviors that learners exhibit. Some learners are noisy and will dance around classroom discussions and need to be redirected. Some will have anxiety about participating and may need to be contacted privately and motivated or offered alternative assignments. Teachers can counsel students, but it is important to set parameters of what you can address and in what amount of time that you can be expected to respond.
This module is very important and helpful in managing emails and behavior during elearning
Email is the best mechanism to handle confidential matters.
Creating an environment conducive to personal learning is always the challenge. It seems there's much similiarity in f2f with those difficult situations as is online. Finding a place where students feel empowered and invested is the key in both settings.
There are many factors that can discourage students and make them want to drop out. Being there for them, understanding their need to succeed, managing their behavior and making sure their success is YOUR NUMBER ONE priority is essential.
There is a lot involved in attrition management!
The organizational matter of online instruction seems to be mostly determined by the course management system, discussed in module 1. The CMS and the school’s email system would mostly bring the material together in some type of database or searchable format. Knowledge of the CMS and email system would help the instructor in this case.
Often advice given to students, as in giving time management advice, makes them go on the defensive. I have done this in the past and had the student say they do not procrastinate, even though they often turned in assignments late. Then the excuse that there was just too much work while at the same time stating they had other responsibilities (work). Counseling some students though online channels is a difficult task as they prefer to create excuses instead of listen to advice. I believe the best way to avoid these types of conflict is to have expectations and consequences layout clearly at the beginning along with a FAQ page so that students are able to look to past problems and see what the outcomes were.
Keeping organized records and being involved in discussions are important in e-learning. Knowing your types of learners and how best to support them on-line is important. Discussions can bring conflict, but can be managed by the instructor and can provide a rich learning experience.
Keep an organized system either by the students name or make categories. Organize your emails to learners: Confidential, public, urgent, junk.... dont put personal email messages on a public forum.. Answer student questions in a 24 hour period. You can counsel a student through private chat sessions and automatically save in a text
The main thing I learned in this module is how to distinguish between the different types of online learners, and how to positively engage them into online discussion. This is useful in everyday online learning.
Communication by email is very important, with communication between the student and instructor, the student will feel that the instructor is working with them towards a goal. If the communication is kept open the instructor will know if the student starts to show any issues.
Just like a traditional classroom each learner is different and these differences might be evident online too.
Always keep records of behavioral issues. Set up a work email with folders that will be easily navigatable and keep diligent with file management.
