Cynthia,
Well said! I too worry about the "unreachables". You can only do so much. There is a reason why student centered is student responsible.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
Great post! I am sure that you emulate those expectations also.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kirk,
You are also talking about consistency! Good insight!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Carla,
True! They will look to you to be the "cop". Sound like you know what you are doing :)
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Julie,
Great ideas! I think expectations start with being clearly stated, continue with faculty example, and end with fair assessment. You said it all!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
kristen,
What a great idea to give them examples of a good dialog in discussion and a bad one. I am going to do that!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Steven,
True. Adults do have unique situations that have to be addressed and/or managed
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Becoming good online citizens must begin at the beginning of the course, and thus it is important for the online instructor to post the anything and anything that can assist in this area. In all of my classes I have a Guide to Good Online Manners I have written that includes the basic rules and regs of positive online netiquette, how to give constructive peer review feedback, and other frequently encountered items students need know regarding being a good online citizens.
Two, I have what I call a Mini-Pebble that contains examples of great, good, average, and no-so-good Discussion posts – and reasons as to why each falls into its respective category.
Three, I have many examples from “real life†where students can see how good and bad online citizenship have impacted the well-known and the not-so-well-known: this is important so they know positive online citizenship is not merely for online courses.
Lastly, it’s important I practice what I preach – the students look to me as one who should know, and thus I make every attempt to show them I do.
The first thing I do at the start of each course is provide numerous "helpful tips" to get students started in the right direction. I also explain the importance of good netiquette; the do's and don'ts. Students want to do well but sometimes aren't provided the necessary tools and help to get them headed in the right direction. If I observe poor online behavior, I tend to address it with the student via email and/or grading feedback. The goal is to ensure that the feedback is constructive versus destructive.
The first thing I do at the start of each course is provide numerous "helpful tips" to get students started in the right direction. I also explain the importance of good netiquette; the do's and don'ts. Students want to do well but sometimes aren't provided the necessary tools and help to get them headed in the right direction. If I observe poor online behavior, I tend to address it with the student via email and/or grading feedback. The goal is to ensure that the feedback is constructive versus destructive.
It is very important when teaching in an online environment to have the online area feel like a community. The students should have a sense of who you are and what type of classroom you run. You should always be present in your online discussions and so on. With these skills, you will serve as a role model for your students and they will learn how to be good online citizens.
I may have an advantage over some others here because I teach a student success class in their first term at the school in which we spend some time covering what we call Academic Integrity. I am also the "Library/Research Coordinator" for our school, so I put together the orientation recording for conducting research.
On the other hand, I can discuss this topic in terms of the other class I teach sometimes, and that is Business Communication. It is a course in the third term at our school, so students are expected to understand our school's AI policies and research methods. Yet, surprise surprise, some students forget. In these cases, we give students warnings at first, pointing out the problem and offering them an opportunity to revise the work. After that are two more strikes before they're out.
Generally speaking, though, we try to give the students opportunities to learn from their mistakes. We try to remind them about what they learned in the success class, we remind them that the research tutorial is always available for them to view to refresh their memory, and we also have a wonderful student support department that continually reaches out to offer help.
Errol,
I think you are so smart in your actions! I love that you provide concrete examples of communications. I agree, you have to practice what you preach.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Detra,
You are so right! Students may not have the necessary tools to complete online learning efficiently. Great answer.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Detra,
I like that you are constructive in your feedback. Students may need to be guided more than yelled at!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hi,
This is a great strategy to set the right tone from the beginning. Not all students have thought about the importance of netiquette in the online classroom. I think it's really important to address this right away and set the expectations for a respectful and professional learning environment. Helping students see the importance of little things like writing in CAPS of in red font can go a long way! I like that you address it one on one with students when need be.
Emily
It is amazing how many students have no clue that you cannot cut and paste remarks, information into their papers and not cite the references.
I give them clear instructions to this, I then slightly ding them on the first assignment... let them know that they MUST do this, and how much the deduction is.... then I show them the results of their naughtiness... through the "checkers" on line.... If they do not behave we follow the schools' strict policy... They catch on really quick.
I am direct with the students concerning playing nice on the online discussions; I also remind them that they need to speak to others as they would want to be spoken to. I really like the book; I learned everything I need to know about life in Kindergarten. Reference this book a lot.
One way I try to promote online citizenship is thru my very first post to the class. You can see in the example below the four “Helpful Tips†I offer to my students: Respect, Active, Ask, and Care.
Hello Class!
Welcome to MAT 100 – Elementary Algebra. I know all of you are anxiously waiting to get started with a math class :-), so here is some important information for you to have before beginning.
At this time, you should have access to the math course on the virtual campus. There are several areas I would like you to look over before we dive in to the material. First, look through the rest of the announcements to find details that will be important to the course. Next, on the left Navigation Bar, look at the information within the Course Home section to better understand the course and its content. You will gain lots of information about the course within this area.
After you've read all the material under the Course Home tab, be sure to go to Please Read and Respond within the Academic Expectations link. Post a message there saying that you've read and understand all the materials under Course Home and all policies/announcements related to this course. Remember that you cannot proceed to Module 1 until you've read all the introductory materials and policies.
A few other helpful tips in making this class a success:
1. Please treat all with RESPECT within the online classroom environment. Our goal is to create dialogue without disrespecting others ideas and opinions. We all need to be professional and feel comfortable conversing with one another.
2. Please work hard, stay ACTIVE, and meet all deadlines.
3. Please ASK questions – you and others will learn from questions posted to the discussion areas.
4. Please CARE – if you have any questions about your assignments or grades, email me and we can discuss. Grades are only a discussion between you and myself.
Respect, Active, Ask, and Care -- Let's get this math adventure started!
Professor Gambrel
Hi June,
I do similar in my classes, and typically don't have problems. I feel now that online classes are getting more and more common, students tend to know the etiquette of working online. That said, I still feel it is important to do the many things in the classroom as you do.
Molly
In my online class, the way I help student become good online citizens is to clearly let them know the guidelines for plagiarism and for online netiquette.
