To avert Enterprising students’ “technology excuses” insist that
students CC themselves on all email messages pertaining to the
class. This makes resending the document with it’s original date
stamp feasible, which proves if and when the document was
originally sent.
If course document backups are accessible on FACPUB, students
will be able to turn work in on time in spite of technical
difficulties on the official course Web site.
Insist that students use their official St. John’s University
email address for all email pertaining to the class, because
internet savvy instructors as well as classmates delete email
coming from unknown sources due to the many potential viruses.
Students should not be rushed into using unfamiliar technology.
Gradual introduction of successively more complex technology is
best. For instance an appropriate sequence of “introductions” would
be email, chat, then desktop videoconferencing (Yoo et al. 2002;
Veglis 2002, 5).
Because reading is not a priority for students instructions
should be repeated on the course Web site and placed in several
locations (Smith et al. 2001, 9; Fredericksen et al. 2000, 10).
A self-test in the first week of class as a comprehensive check
on the orientation and syllabus documents is quite useful. This
assures that students read that information and eliminates
questions later in the course. It also introduces the testing
capability to students in a less threatening way (Fredericksen et
al.2000,11).
SLN (SUNY Learning Network) Instructors are advised to create
eight orientation documents that are presented to students at the
onset of the course: welcome; contact information; course overview
and objectives; learning activities; how you will be evaluated; my
expectations; course schedule and next steps (Fredericksen et al.
2000, 6).
It is easy to create illustrated tutorials in Portable Document
Format (PDF) that have to be read in Acrobat Reader, a special
readily available viewer that shows images and page layout (Baker
2002, 11).
Screen capture programs such as SnagIt and RoboDemo can also
help in creating directions which can be printed to provide
step-by-step guidance for an online student sitting all alone in
front of the computer screen (Coppola et al. 2002, 177).
The instructor must be aware of all work a student is completing
so that each students’ writing style is clearly recognizable. In
this manner the instructor can spot cheating which is quite
prevalent in the online realm (Eastman 2001, 7).
By posting comments as a contributor to student discussions an
instructor models appropriate class behavior for students. Students
that lurk or read the discussions but never contribute are
“invisible or nonexistent to their classmates. They are benefiting
form the class at the expense of the classmates who keep the
discussion going (Borthick and Jones 2000, 8).
The instructor must warn students to refrain from using flaming
or derogatory remarks in the introductory course materials so that
the course retains its’ professional standards.
Show students that entering a string of words in quotation marks
will lead you to any Web sites with these words (Standler, 2002) so
that they realize how easily plagiarized digital documents can be
detected.
References
Baker , D. L. 2002 Adobe Acrobat 5: The Professional User’s
Guide. Berkeley: APress.
Borthick, A. F., & Jones, D. R. 2000. The Motivation for
Collaborative Discovery Learning Online and Its Application in an
Information Systems Assurance Course. Issues in Accounting
Education, 15(2): 181-210.
Coppola, N. W., Hiltz, S. R., & Rotter, N. G. 2002. Becoming
a virtual professor: Pedagogical roles and Asynchronous Learning
networks. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(4):
169-189.
Eastman, J. K., & Swift, C. O. 2001. New horizons in
distance education: The online learner-centered marketing class.
Journal of Marketing Education, 23(1): 25-34.
Fredericksen, E., Pickett, A., Shea, P., & Pelz, W. 2000.
Student satisfaction and perceived learning with on-line courses:
Principles and examples from the SUNY Learning Network. Journal of
Asynchronous Learning Networks, 4(2):
Smith, G. G., Ferguson, D. L., & Caris, M. 2001. Teaching
college courses: Online vs. Face-to-face. T.H.E. Journal, 28(9):
18-24.
Standler, Robert. 2002. Plagiarism
on the Web
Veglis, A. A. (2002) Web
based teaching systems. IEEE Distributed Systems Online, Vol.
3. N. 4
Yoo, Y., Kanawattanachai, P., & Citurs, A. 2002. Forging
into the wired wilderness: A case study of a technology-mediated
distributed discussion-based class. Journal of Management
Education, 26: 139-163.