Online course components make students more organized. Students
checking one online component often opt to peruse other online
components:
- assignments
- syllabus
- grades
- discussion boards
Consequently online documents are accessed/reviewed more
frequently than the corresponding hard copy versions (Poindexter et
al. 2000, 3).
Emails can become a crutch and compel students to email trivial
questions about class status and other issues that they could
easily answer themselves (Poindexter 2000, 7).
Recognizing that students can and will help one another is an
important classroom management skill (Dr. Barbara Signer, personal
communication, November 20, 2003; Harasim 2000, 46).
Instead of resorting to instructor intervention when
problems/questions arise insist on the “3B4 me Rule” which
stipulates:
- Whenever a student emails a question, it must include evidence
of at least three other attempts to solve the problem, before the
instructor will respond (Dr. Steve Hornik, personal communication,
November 18, 2003).
Electronic office hours during which email will be answered
immediately let students know when their email will be read
consequently they will try to make the deadline, (Poindexter et al
2000, 3).
If an instructor promises to answer all email inquiries within
48 hours, and occasionally does not respond quickly, that
instructor will be criticized even when email is answered within 12
hours.
A student’s request for clarification often prompts the
instructor to write a response that is worthy of sharing with the
entire class via a Frequently Asked Questions database for the
course (Ricketts et al. 2000, 143; Dumont 1996, 197, Coppola et al.
2002, 178).
Students typically check their email daily, so class email taps
into an already active medium, a class announcement Web page is
less effective (Poindexter et al. 2000, 3).
Virtual office hours free instructors from rigid schedules and
enable students to obtain information with little waste of time
without sacrificing the fundamental close knit quality of the
student-mentor relationship (Baker and Gloster 1994, 2; Ellram and
Easton 1999, 10; Serwatka 2002, 3; Partee 1996, 4).
Holding conferences with students online assures that all comers
will have an opportunity to receive the instructor’s attention. If
eight individuals are waiting to see an instructor after an onsite
class, three of them will typically give up and go away (Coppola et
al. 2002, 185).
References
Baker, W. J. and Gloster, A. S. 1994 Moving Towards the
Virtual University: A Vision of Technology in Higher Education.
Cause/Effect, 17(2) 4-11.
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.
Dumont, R. A. 1996. Teaching and learning in cyberspace. IEEE
Transactions on Professional Communication, 39(4): 192-204.
Ellram, L. M., & Easton, L. 1999. Purchasing education on
the Internet. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 35(1): 11-19.
Harasim, L. (1990). On-line education: An environment for
collaboration and intellectual amplification. In L. Harasim (Ed.),
On-line Education: Perspectives on a New Environment, 133-169. New
York: Praeger.
Partee, M. H. (1996). Using e-mail, Web sites and newsgroups to
enhance traditional classroom instruction. T.H.E. Journal, 24,
79-82.
Poindexter, S. E., Heck, B. S., Ferrarini, T. H. Hybrid Courses:
Determining the Effectiveness of Using the Internet. Eric Number:
ED 456 801.
Ricketts, J., Wolfe, F. H., Norvelle, E., & Carpenter, E. H.
2000. Asynchronous distributed education: A review and case study.
Social Science Computer Review, 18(2): 132-146.
Serwatka, J. A. 2002. Improving Student Performance in Distance
Learning Courses. T.H.E. Journal, 29(9): 46 - 52.