I have learned that I will have to deal with students who have different personalities and sometimes conflicting personalities. I will have to be able to identify those particular personality traints and deal with them accordingly. I will also need to keep records of my interactions with students, and keep copies of school guidelines on hand in case I need to use them or share them with students.
There is the potential for conflict/angst in online learning as well as in person. Understanding your institutions policies regarding these types of conflicts will help you move forward.
The instructor must be alert to a lack of participation in online discussions by students and attempt to diagnose the cause in order to provide effective guidance.
I have gotten ideas for handling issues online with students that can help me.
- reminder emails to students of the level of commitment necessary to complete your course. Provide them with guidelines for setting priorities.
I will be incorporating the recommendations for managing inquires from students. Like in a traditional classroom environment, more outspoken students may ask a question that other students wish to know the answer as well. By utilizing discussion boards or a FAQs area, students are able to help themselves and see if their question has been answered previously.
My students I taught last year and am surprised how I was able to fit every one of them into the different categories.
Personally I find the best way to manage the system is to provide clear strucutre.
For every facet of the LMS( or CMS depending on word choice) I include a set of clear guidelines and rules.
I also let each student know that if they follow these rules they will succeed, otherwise I have a clear policy in place that will be folowed.
I've learnt that effective communication is key to resolving conflicts, managing attrition, counselling students and managing the learning environment.
Is there any research on styles of teachers in the online environment? I was wondering, as I was reading about types of students and potential interventions, if any thing like that was available for self-awareness as an instructor. I think I probably would be a procrastinator. Well intentioned, but busy and so doing things at the last minute. I'd love ideas for how to avoid doing things at the last minute.
COMMUNICATION....REGULAR, FRIENDLY, ENCOURAGING, and SUPPORTIVE COMMUNICATION is very necessary for student engagement. Providing students with the necessary resources or at least providing them with info on where to get help is critical. As an instructor we need to create a supportive and shared learning community for the students.
I teach nursing where the student must have good learning or in Excellent skills. The program is long and patience is a quality each student must have. As for different types of personalities one must be able to adapt and follow the student handbook. It will be challegening.
Though I have yet to deal with as much conflict in the online learning environment as I did with students at a physical campus, there are similar methods to deal with disruptive students. The worst thing I have seen so far from my online students has been plagiarism. Of the three I caught recently, and yes, I did mention three, all were dealt with to varying degrees since all were separate incidents. One student ended up being suspended until the pending meeting with the judicial review board because this student had committed plagiarism multiple times in the past in other classes. The other two who had not been caught cheating in the past were allowed to resubmit their assignments while also receiving a stern warning from me that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Though I gave them this stern warning, I was also encouraging of these students to ask me for help in the future when they need it. Some of the other issues I have encountered in the online learning environment are similar to what I found with my students at a physical setting. There were work obligations and family issues that stood in the way of their pursuit for an education. This module has addressed how to handle situations like these, though I threw in the plagiarism incidents to make this a little more interesting. We will face many issues like these as online faculty members, and with the right techniques we can overcome them.
Even when you are not physically in front of students, you will have students that rebel against the system.
Students may face many challanges when taking online classes. The instructor must be aware of those students and be proactive in assistanting the student with issues they face in a timely manner. Students need to know the resourses they have available to them.
I find it takes great patience and time to deal with students who are dependent and irresposible. I have students who don;t read the syllabus or assignment instructions. they either email to ask questions when answers are obvious in the instruction or turn in a wrong assignment. I usually direct them back to where the instruction lies, even to the point to copy and paste the instruction in my reply email to them and remind students they they need to read the instructions.
Teaching online can be challenging and having good management system in place is important.
I have learned that it is the teacher's responsibility to help students navigate technical issues.
Keeping records, communicating with and conseling students, dealing with undesirable behavior, and resolving student conflict is normal in the day-to-day work of a high school teacher. It is now done online instead of in person.
Karen,
You have half the battle won! Great so share some of your organizational skills with us. Categorize what and how? How long do you keep information stored in your folders? Do you have one classroom? I teach special area with K - 5th students. How would you organize the grade levels?
Thank you
