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Posts from the ‘Online’ Category

18
Jan

Monitor Online Attendance in Canvas

You’ve created a great online class. Your students have started the semester eagerly digging in to your course content and submitting assignments. Everything is going great, but is it really? Are you students really engage? Are they all even logging in to Canvas? With online instruction it can be challenging to gauge how engaged students are in your online course on a daily basis, especially if you only require assignments every few weeks. What are students doing in between those big assignments? Are they reading? Are they watching your videos? Are they discussion a course topic? Do they have smaller assessments to help keep them engaged weekly in your course? All of these additions would make a good online course and make it easy for you see how your students are doing on a weekly basis.

If you design an online course that requires some of these elements, you will be able to check online attendance in Canvas using the New Analytics tool. What exactly does online attendance track? It tracks posts to an announcement or discussion, assignment submissions, conferences using Big Blue Button, page creation, and quiz submissions. Previously the feature only tracked student log ins, but that didn’t really tell us anything. Students log in all the time, look at their failing grade, get discourage and leave again. That would previous count as attendance. But now they’ve turn on the criteria listed above, so it gives us a better picture of who’s doing what in the course.

Here’s a quick video showing you how to set up New Analytics in your Canvas courses and view online attendance.

An added note about assignments: Does the criteria Assignments: Student submits an assignment include assignments that use ‘external tool submission type’?

It depends. If the external tool is using the Canvas API endpoint for submission, it will count toward that criteria. For many tools that use assignment-level integration, this will be the case. 

However, if you are using a third-party tool that only passes average grades back to Canvas, those assignment submissions will likely not be included in the Online Attendance Criteria.

12
Sep

RSI in the Classroom Video Series

The ecourses committee this year is focused on getting GCC online faculty on board with Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI). The U.S. Department of Education requires that all online courses for which students receive federal financial aid involve “regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors.”

What that means is online courses must demonstrate that:

Instructors engage in at least two forms of substantive interaction during each course. That interaction should be regular, scheduled, predictable, and focused on the course subject. In other words, students should know when they can expect to engage with their instructor, and those opportunities for engagement should happen throughout the entire academic term.

We created a video series to show faculty what that might look like in an online course. These are just examples and not necessarily what every faculty should or can do. It’s up to each faculty member to decide which two forms of substantive interaction work best for their course. What works for me, may not be feasible for you.

Below are the first 3 episodes of the video series. Each week we will be adding to the series and you can check for new episodes here: https://app.screencast.com/collections/g000300JyGwQr0SvdKwgAOmRHaG3s

RSI in the Classroom, Ep. 1 Office Hours

Office hours can be considered a form of regular and substantive interaction in online courses, but it depends on how they are conducted and how they contribute to the overall learning experience. Learn more here: https://app.screencast.com/LybDFzcfI5xyK

RSI in the Classroom, Ep. 2 Facilitating Discussion

To facilitate a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency as regular and substantive interaction, you can start by setting clear expectations for participation and encouraging all members to contribute. You can also use open-ended questions to spark conversation and encourage critical thinking. Additionally, it may be helpful to establish ground rules for respectful communication and active listening. Here are a few examples to show you what that might look like: https://app.screencast.com/1Ztpkj5HUlizJ

RSI in the Classroom, Ep. 3 Assessment & Providing Feedback

Regular and substantive interaction refers to the requirement for online instructors to have ongoing and meaningful engagement with their students. Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework is one way to meet this requirement, as it demonstrates a level of involvement in the student’s learning process. This interaction is a fundamental part of the teaching and learning process and plays a crucial role in the student’s academic development. See some examples here: https://app.screencast.com/gk3W0U9ERi5R8

23
Feb

Do Your Students Have More Skin in the Game Than You Do?

Have you really thought about that as an online instructor? Do your students have more skin in the game than you do? What in the world am I getting at with that question? Well, there’s been lots of discussion around direct instruction and regular and substantive interaction in online learning. If you don’t remember, I shared about: New federal US Department of Education (DoE) regulatory definitions of distance education require that institutions ensure regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between a student and an instructor(s). And I also wrote about direct instruction in online learning here. Read those to better understand where I’m going here.

The amount of time an online faculty professor should spend teaching an online class can vary depending on various factors, such as the course’s level, complexity, and the number of students enrolled. However, in general, faculty members should expect to spend a comparable amount of time teaching and preparing for an online course as they would expect a student to spend learning in the course. Now is that a bold statement, a personal opinion? Let’s see. The official credit hour definition states:

A credit hour is an amount of student work defined by an institution, as approved by the institution’s accrediting agency, that is consistent with commonly accepted practice in postsecondary education and that reasonably approximates no less than
-One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different period of time;

HEA Definitions – Distance Education (GCC Institutional Effectiveness Office of Compliance Regulatory Reference Series

So basically that means we’re required by HLC to deliver 3 hours of direct instruction and a minimum of six hours of out-of-class work (homework) each week. That’s nine hours for each course. If they are a full-time student taking 5 classes, their skin in the game is that this is a full-time job at 45 hours per week. That’s probably why they call it full-time.

Now for faculty, according to the Quality Matters Program, an organization that provides standards for online course design and delivery, a rule of thumb for the amount of time needed to design and teach an online course is 8-12 hours per week for a 3-credit course. This time includes developing course content, facilitating discussions, providing feedback on assignments, and grading. But let’s break that apart because we’re not always designing and teaching at the same time. And let’s use direct instruction (DI) and regular and substantive interaction (RSI) as our baseline. Much of our DI can be done during the course development phase. We create videos, caption them and sometimes create quizzes to go along with them. No doubt this is time consuming, but once it’s done, often there’s not much design work to do once the class begins. There’s also lots of other engaging content that we develop and provide in an online course that doesn’t require weekly work once the course begins. So we can’t always factor in time for that for time needed to teach an online course.

Now let’s consider the RSI factor. Faculty members should also consider the time they spend communicating with students and providing support outside of class time. This may include answering emails, hosting virtual office hours, posting announcements, and responding to questions on discussion boards or via email. And we have to add in the time spent grading student work. Grading student work is a fundamental component of the teaching and learning process in a college course, and it is critical to assessing student progress and achievement. Providing clear feedback on student work is essential as it provides students with feedback on their progress and helps to guide their future studies in the course and beyond. The best type of feedback for student assessments is one that is specific, timely, and constructive. Specific feedback is clear and detailed, highlighting particular aspects of a student’s work that are well done or require improvement. And it should also be timely. That all takes time.

One major way to ensure RSI is happening in your online course is to make sure you are providing feedback that is specific, timely, and constructive. Auto-graded assessments are not the best example of that if that is all you provide. So would you say you spend at least 2 hours per credit hour or 6 hours a week doing RSI for your online course? Just one course? Well, that is the expectation we have for our students. Nine hours each week. And that should be the expectation for faculty as well. That would mean that your minimum load of 5 courses each semester would require you to spend 45 hours each week. That’s something to consider, but let’s pretend you say, I’m not doing that much RSI in my online courses. Okay, but you are spending that time in other ways that support students and the college. We have required office hours, committee assignments, department meetings, and 4Dx. All of that supports students in some way either directly or indirectly.

So, do you have more skin in the game than your students? Or are you dialing it in? Setting it and forgetting it? Here are some characteristics of bad online teachers: lack of organization, poor communication, limited engagement, inadequate feedback, unavailability, and technical difficulties. Overall, a bad online teacher can negatively impact the learning experience for their students and hinder their academic progress. Don’t be that guy. Get engaged in your own online course.

13
Feb

Robot-Proof Your Writing Assignments

It’s difficult to estimate the exact number of students who are using AI to help with their homework. However, with the increasing popularity and accessibility of AI technology, it’s likely that a growing number of students are using AI-powered tools and applications to assist with their studies, as well as cheat on their assignments. However, AI use is not all bad. For example, some students may use AI-powered learning platforms or tutoring systems to help with specific subjects. We use one for our students in our English composition courses to help students with grammar and punctuation. Others may use AI to generate reports or summaries of academic articles. Additionally, AI-powered writing and grammar-checking tools like Grammarly are also becoming more common for students to use when working on essays or other written assignments. But not every student is looking to AI for support. Some are looking for an easy way to get their assignments completed without much effort on their part. But there is something we can do about AI. We can either embrace AI and create assignments that utilize these powerful tools to help students learn, or we start robot-proofing our assignments so it’s not so easy for AI to do it for them.

Making assignments that are “AI proof” can be challenging, as artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly sophisticated and can potentially be used to complete assignments on behalf of students. However, there are some strategies that instructors can use to create assignments that are more difficult for AI to complete. Here are some tips:

  1. Use personalized or creative prompts: Assignments that require students to draw on their own experiences or creativity can be more difficult for AI to complete. For example, instead of asking a question with a clear answer that could be found through a search engine, ask students to write a personal essay or create a piece of art that demonstrates their understanding of a concept.
  2. Randomize questions and answers: Rather than using the same set of questions and answers for each student, consider randomizing them. This can make it more difficult for AI to predict the questions and prepare answers in advance.
  3. Use short answer questions: Questions that require a short answer or explanation can be more difficult for AI to generate. In addition, you can change the questions from year to year to make it more difficult for AI to find pre-existing answers.
  4. Use open-ended questions: Open-ended questions require students to think critically and engage with the material, which can be more difficult for AI to complete. This could be questions that require students to analyze a case study or explain a concept in their own words.
  5. Use plagiarism detection software: Plagiarism detection software can help to identify assignments that have been completed by AI or copied from other sources. This can serve as a deterrent and help to ensure that students are completing assignments on their own.

Overall, making assignments that are completely “AI proof” may be difficult, but by using a combination of these strategies, instructors can create assignments that are more challenging for AI to complete and promote student learning.

Robot-Proof Writing Assignments

Here are some examples of how students might be using AI to help with their homework but don’t have to be considered cheating:

  1. AI-powered tutoring systems: Some students are using AI-powered tutoring systems to receive personalized feedback and guidance on specific subjects. These systems can help students understand challenging concepts and improve their problem-solving skills.
  2. AI-powered writing and grammar-checking tools: Students often use AI-powered writing and grammar-checking tools to improve the quality of their written work. These tools can catch spelling and grammar errors, suggest word choices, and provide feedback on writing style and tone.
  3. AI-powered study aids: Students may use AI-powered study aids, such as flashcard apps or educational games, to reinforce their understanding of specific subjects. These aids can provide customized learning experiences based on the student’s progress and performance.
  4. AI-powered research tools: Students can use AI-powered research tools to quickly summarize academic articles or search for relevant information on a particular topic. These tools can save students time and help them focus on the most important information.
  5. AI-powered language translation tools: For students studying foreign languages, AI-powered language translation tools can help them understand and translate written material and other sources of information.

These are just a few examples of how AI is being used to help students with their homework. The use of AI in education is still in its early stages, and new applications are being developed all the time.

Reading:

Here’s an article with some more strategies to prevent students from using AI tools. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2023/01/19/ways-prevent-students-using-ai-tools-their-classes-opinion

28
Jan

Do You Have Direct Instruction in Your Online Class?

Direct instruction is a teaching method that emphasizes the delivery of clear and explicit information, instructions, and explanations by the instructor. This method has been widely used in traditional classroom settings and has been adapted for use in online learning environments. This post will explore the research on direct instruction in online teaching and learning, including its advantages and limitations.

One of the main advantages of direct instruction is that it provides a consistent and structured approach to teaching. This can be especially beneficial for students who may struggle with self-directed learning. Research has shown that students who receive direct instruction perform better on assessments of content knowledge compared to students who receive less direct instruction (Rosenshine, 2012). Additionally, direct instruction can provide clear explanations of complex concepts, which can be especially helpful for students who are struggling to understand the material.

Another advantage of direct instruction is that it can be easily adapted for use in online learning environments. For example, pre-recorded video lectures, slide presentations, or written resources can be provided by the instructor for students to watch or read at their own pace. This allows for flexibility and convenience for students who may have busy schedules or live in different time zones. Additionally, assessments or quizzes can be used to check for understanding and provide feedback to students.

However, direct instruction also has some limitations. One limitation is that it can lead to a lack of student engagement. When the instructor is the primary source of information and students are expected to listen and follow along, there may be less opportunity for students to actively participate in the learning process. Additionally, direct instruction can limit opportunities for students to apply what they have learned. Research has shown that students who have opportunities to apply their knowledge perform better on assessments of content knowledge compared to students who do not have those opportunities (Bransford, et al., 2000).

To overcome these limitations, online teachers should consider using various methods in addition to direct instruction. For example, problem-based learning, discussions, interactive activities, and self-reflection opportunities can be incorporated to promote student engagement and application of knowledge. Additionally, online teachers should provide opportunities for students to interact with their peers and instructors, as research has shown that social interactions can lead to improved learning outcomes (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005).

In conclusion, direct instruction is a teaching method that has been widely used in traditional classroom settings and has been adapted for use in online learning environments. While it has some advantages, such as providing a consistent and structured approach to teaching and being easily adapted for use in online learning environments, it also has some limitations, such as a lack of student engagement and limited opportunities for application of knowledge. To overcome these limitations, online teachers should consider using various methods in addition to direct instruction and provide opportunities for social interactions.

The following is a list of examples of “direct instruction” in online teaching and learning

  1. Pre-recorded video lectures: The instructor records a lecture on a specific topic and posts it for students to watch at their own pace.
  2. Slide presentations: The instructor creates a slide presentation with information and explanations on a specific topic and posts it for students to view.
  3. Written resources: The instructor provides written resources, such as a reading assignment or a textbook, for students to read and study.
  4. Online quizzes and assessments: The instructor creates online quizzes and assessments to check for understanding and provide feedback to students.
  5. Online discussions: The instructor provides a forum for students to discuss the material and ask questions.
  6. Interactive activities: The instructor creates interactive activities, such as simulations or games, to help students better understand the material.
  7. Self-reflection opportunities: The instructor provides opportunities for students to reflect on what they have learned and how they can apply it.
  8. Live online lectures: The instructor conducts live online lectures, providing explanations and answering questions in real time.
  9. Office hour: The instructor hold office hour sessions where students can ask questions and receive feedback.
  10. Feedback on assignments: The instructor provides feedback on assignments to guide students’ understanding and progress.

These examples illustrate how direct instruction can be adapted to an online teaching setting, but it’s important to remember that direct instruction methods should be used in conjunction with other methods to enhance students’ engagement and apply the knowledge acquired.

References

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2005). Facilitating cognitive presence in online learning: Interaction is not enough. American Journal of Distance Education, 19, 133-148.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15389286ajde1903_2

Rosenshine. (2012, Spring). Principles of Instruction: Research-Based Strategies That All Teachers Should Know. American Educator, 12–39.

27
Jan

DoE Requires Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) in Online Courses. What is it?

Online courses have become increasingly popular in recent years, as they offer a convenient and flexible way for students to continue their education. However, one of the biggest challenges in online education is maintaining regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors. New federal US Department of Education (DoE) regulatory definitions of distance education require that institutions ensure regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between a student and an instructor(s).

Regular interaction refers to the frequency of communication between students and instructors, such as through discussion forums, email, or video conferencing. Substantive interaction refers to the quality and depth of the communication, such as the exchange of ideas and feedback.

RSI compliance is the legal federal requirement that distinguishes the status of courses between distance education and correspondence courses. Correspondence courses are not eligible for financial aid. Institutions risk losing access to student financial aid if the institution is audited by the US Department of Education’s (DoE) Office of Inspector General, or as part of a periodic Departmental financial aid program review, and found to be out of compliance. Institutions may be required to repay financial aid associated with the correspondence courses and students (SUNY Online).

Aside from that, one of the key benefits of regular and substantive interaction is that it helps to keep students engaged and motivated in the course. When students feel that they are part of a community and have regular opportunities to interact with their instructors and peers, they are more likely to stay on track and complete the course.

Instructors can promote regular and substantive interaction by providing opportunities for students to collaborate on projects, participate in online discussions, and give and receive feedback. For example, online discussion forums can be a great way for students to share their ideas and get feedback from their peers, while video conferencing can be used for virtual office hours or to hold interactive lectures.

Another way to promote regular and substantive interaction is to use technology tools like Learning Management System (LMS) or collaboration tools like Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. These tools can help to create a sense of community and facilitate regular communication between students and instructors.

Regular and substantive interaction is not only beneficial for students, but also for instructors. By interacting with students on a regular basis, instructors can get a sense of how well students are understanding the material and adjust their teaching accordingly. Additionally, instructors can provide feedback to students on their work and help them to improve.

In summary, regular and substantive interaction is essential for the success of online courses. By providing opportunities for students to interact with their instructors and peers, online education can be just as effective as traditional classroom-based instruction.

The below graphic from OSCQR – SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric is a great representation of where regular and substantive interaction stands between correspondence education and distance education.

6
Aug

3 Discussion Tools for Engaging Students in Online Courses

Last year I participated in a district pilot of a new discussion tool – Packback. It took a whole year to stop calling it backpack. 🙂 But I was initially intrigued by Packback because of its built-in AI moderation which meant less grading for me, but more meaningful participation from students. It took a bit to wrap my head around using it in ENG101, but it fit well with my literature course this summer, and students really like it. Check this video out to see what the concept behind Packback is: https://vimeo.com/163888277

They offer a consultant to each faculty using Packback, so you have someone who will work with you to get it set up and learn how to best utilize the tool. I found that very helpful. We already have the LTI integration in Canvas so set up and use is pretty easy. For more information on how Packback works, watch this “Engaging Students with Packback” video. The district has paid for a license, so it’s free to use with in MCCCD.

This next tool was introduced to me by Dr. Jennifer Lane, our CTLE Faculty Director.  Perusall is a social annotation tool that integrates with Canvas via LTI assignments. Perusall allows students and their instructors to collaboratively markup documents. Instead of reading a document and discussing it in person, Perusall brings the discussion to the text online. Learn more about how it works by watching this video: https://youtu.be/ODE6v4YOo0E And… wait for it… Perusall auto-grades effort and engagement with the text and scores are added to your Canvas grade book automatically. This frees up time for you to analyze the discussion students are having around the document and where you can help clarify or provide more instruction. It’s really cool and students actually like it (after they figure out how to score full points). It takes a few assignments before they figure it out, so it’s best to use it often and not as a one-off. This tool is also free.

Lastly, I’ve already introduced you to FlipGrid. See my last post. I’ll be doing two workshops for the CTLE in the next few weeks. They should be sending out information soon. Join me if you want to learn how to get set up and use video discussions this fall. My workshops are scheduled for next Thursday, August 13th at 1 pm and Tuesday, August 18th at 1 pm.

27
Mar

Okay, All Your Students are Online. Now What?

I still chuckle when I think about every teacher I work with is now doing some form of remote or online teaching. I know it’s not a laughing matter, but I can’t help it. After spending four years as eCourses coordinator at the college, I know the reality of that statement. I’m sure everyone is doing their best. However, I can’t help but think about that select few who wanted to teach online because they thought it would be easy. Well, it’s not so easy after all, especially when you only get two weeks to do it.

It’s easy to post content (documents) online, and most LMS’s make it easy to record video and audio. But the hardest part is engaging students. How do you even know they are watching, listening or reading what you put online? I hope I’m not freaking people out, but trust me, they’re not watching, listening and reading all that stuff you just put in Canvas. They are just looking for the stuff the “counts.” I know I sound pessimistic, but I speak from experience. When I first started teaching online over 15 years ago, the first thing I noticed was that if there was no point value attached, it got ignored. That included textbook chapters, handouts, content pages in Canvas, and yes, even YouTube videos. I was shocked. They don’t like my videos? Did anyone even watch them?

I couldn’t really tell if students were engaging or not with my content, but they were missing huge gaps in knowledge that would have come from engaging with that content. I constantly found myself asking in my feedback, “Did you watch the video?” or “Did you read the handout?” It was definitely frustrating especially since I made a ton of videos. Once I got fed up with that I decided to change the design of my courses. I now have several different formats depending on the course. I made a couple of videos showing how I changed things up that you can watch below, but I’ll summarize here first.

For my ENH114 African American literature class where reading is crucial (Duh!), I changed the course so that every reading is an assignment. Yes, you read that right. Every single reading is an assignment. I call them lessons, and each lesson either has reading handouts, video or audio and then something for students to do. For example, in Lesson 1.1.1 Origins of African American Language, students watch a YouTube video and then write a summary about what they learned. Simple. I create this by using Assignments in Canvas, embed the video, write my instructions and then set the assignment to accept text and uploads for submission. The best part is I didn’t have to make the video. Thank you internet and YouTube.

Another example from the ENH114 class is a lecture I wanted students to read. Again, I made it a lesson: Lesson 1.2.1 Importance of Negro Spirituals that included a recording of me reading the lecture as well as the text of the lecture, and then asks students to answer a question about the content. I use rubrics so the students know what I’m looking for, and it makes it easier for me to grade. The idea that everything I want students to do is graded in some way can be daunting, but using rubrics makes quick work of it. I’ll demonstrate more ways that I engage students in this class in the video below.

For my freshman comp classes, I have a slightly different approach. Not everything I want for them to read and do is made into a lesson, but I do wish that would work. However, I do consistently make some of the content into lessons. You really need to have something for students to engage with on a weekly basis. If you don’t, students get in the habit of “skipping” weeks. Having assignments with weekly due dates draws them into the course. They don’t have to be much, just something that says, “Hey, remember you have this English class over here.” You can see more from these courses in the video below. You can find the YouTube Series I mention here: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information.

Lastly, I teach a hybrid (used to teach a hybrid) JRN203: Writing for Online Media course. Luckily for me, I design all my courses as online courses, so I only had to make a few adjustments in this course to transition to online. The biggest change was adding more online discussions. Oh, I know. That sounds so boring, especially since students hate online discussions. But these discussions are fun. I use FlipGrid. It’s a social learning platform that allows educators to ask a question, then the students respond in a video. Students are then able to respond to one another, creating a “web” of video discussion. They’re fun and students really like these discussions. Some are a little shy at first, but they quickly get over it. I got permission from my students to show a discussion they are working on currently in class. See below.

The reality of the situation is I didn’t create all of this in two weeks. These are things I’ve added as I’ve taught over the years. For many faculty out there now rushing to move content online, my best advice is to pick one thing you can add now to help engage students, and as the semester continues on, consider what else you might be able to add. You can’t do it all now, but just one thing might prove helpful.

Engaging Students in JRN203 with FlipGrid
ENH114 Course Using Canvas, Softchalk, and FlipGrid
ENG101 Composition Course Using Canvas,
McGraw-Hill Connect & YouTube
26
Mar

Set Up Conferences with Students Using Appointment Slots in Google

Most of this week was spent getting students started on a research project in my 8-week ENG102s that started right after Spring Break and rallying my two hybrid courses to continue on and finish what we started. I also have a 12 week online ENG102 that’s just cruising along as if nothing has happened. I’m thankful for that class.

I scheduled online webinars for the usual class time slot of my two hybrids and I’ve surprisingly have had a pretty good turn out. Those students are doing great. But my new online students are a bit shell-shocked, so one of the things I did this week was give those students an opportunity to meet with me one-on-one to discuss their topics. In order to do that, I used Google Appointment Slots to set it all up and we met via Google Hangouts Meet. The video below shows you how I did that.

20
Mar

Where Do Great Ideas Go to Die?

People have great ideas all the time that they never share with others. They secretly harbor them in their heads. This is often where they die. We’re not always given a platform to share ideas, so that’s part of the reason. Another is we often feel our ideas might not be well received, so why bother. Or change is just hard for some and doing things the way we’ve always done them is commonplace. I tend to lean more on the side of people will listen if you bother to seek out the opportunity even if change never happens.

I have what I think is a good idea, and I’m going to share it with you. I don’t have any expectations for change, but at least my great idea is not going to die in my head. Also note, this post was conceived before our current situation with moving courses online. I started this while on Spring Break.

I’ve been teaching online for a long time – since 1998. I can see an inherent problem with how we offer online classes for our students. We open classes. Students rush to fill them, and all the online classes are full weeks before the semester begins. Sounds great, right? Well, it’s not. Not every student who signs up for an online class is prepared and ready for an online class. Many never make it past the first few days, finding it difficult to follow simple directions and get work completed. What do we do with these students? Some drop on their own, others stay and struggle for a while and eventually drop. The end game is that often after just one week a once full class is now left with multiple open spots. These are missed opportunities for students who were never given a chance to even register.

So here’s my idea. Open all online courses 3 days early and require students to complete an orientation. If students “No Show” or can’t complete simple to-do items, they are dropped as a “No Show” from the class. They were given an opportunity and failed. The student gets a full refund and there is now an open spot for another student to enroll. But we don’t allow late registration, so that doesn’t work. However, if we designated some courses as “rolling overload.” I made that term up. It means that faculty can designate the number of overload students permitted to enroll in their online courses. Presently faculty can teach an online course that doesn’t have the required max number of students (15) and are compensated from a rolling payscale, meaning I can teach ENH114 if I only have 10 students enrolled if I’m willing to be paid a certain percentage of the full load. That number used to be 2.04 load for 10 students. Five students would be 1.08 load. These are just examples at this point based on old numbers.

With this new plan, faculty could designate the number of overload students they are willing to teach, and the load for that class would increase by the number. Then after the three day period where students are given the orientation to complete, the actual course load is determined. Here’s the example: I teach ENG101 with a course load of 24 students. I designate 10 open spots for overload (2.04), so initially, my new full-time load is 15 + 2.04 = 17.04. After the three day orientation period, I only have 29 of the 34 students successfully make it through. My new load is 15+1.08 (5 extra students). We have technically helped 10 students. Five were shown they were not adequately prepared for an online class and were given a refund, and five more were given the opportunity to take a class that previously would have been full and closed. And I am compensated for the extra students in my class.

So let’s look at some real numbers, and I’ll show why I know this will work. For the last 5+ years, I’ve been keeping track of students enrolled during the first two weeks of my online classes. This semester I have 5 online classes. The two online 8-week ENG101 classes ended last week, and two new ENG102 online 8 week classes began this week. I already knew that at least 3 of the students enrolled in the ENG102 courses were not eligible to take the class, but I couldn’t drop them from the ENG102 because the semester wasn’t over yet for the ENG101. They hadn’t officially failed ENG101 yet, but trust me; they failed. So there were 3 wasted spots already. By the time all the official stuff happened, we are already in the no late registration stage. But let’s focus on the two ENG101 courses. I started with 48 students and I ended with 34. After the first week, I had a total of 43 students. So 5 enrollments were lost within the first 3 days. Most of the other 9 students were lost within the next two weeks.

Here’s the best part. I can predict after one week which students will not succeed in the online course. As they complete the 7 step orientation, I rank them in order of how quickly and successfully they complete the orientation. The names at the top completed it quickly with very little difficulty. Names toward the bottom are students who didn’t get started right away, required several emails to prod them, and didn’t complete things in a successful manner. The majority of the 9 students who dropped or were dropped after the first week were at the bottom of this list. Only 3 students in the top 32 have dropped or been dropped from the class, while the bottom 7 have either dropped or are failing the course.

Now let’s look at what is happening right this minute in my two ENG102 courses. The orientation was due last night. Both classes were full before we started. I add one off the waitlist and 2 students from my previous ENG101 that just ended, so I started with 51. One disappeared right when I opened the class on Wednesday of Spring Break. Poof. Vanished. Down to 50. Today a week later, three days into the 8-week session, I have 44 students. What happened to those 6 students? Two more dropped on their own. One said she had too much going on to handle a new class right now. Three were complete no-shows. I emailed daily and then called to no responses. They were dropped with a 43 (no-show) this morning. The last was a difficult decision but he was dropped with a 43 because he couldn’t figure out how to complete the orientation and never responded to any of my emails or texts offering help.

So even with all the intervention I still ended up for 4 open spots that didn’t get filled for this 8-week session. I bet there are a lot of students out there right now that wished they’d just signed up for an online class. But it’s too late now, as those 44 students are already deep into the course discussing personal freedoms and learning about writing arguments. Anyone who tried to join now would be too far behind for it to be a fair challenge. The system is just not designed well enough to give more students the opportunity to take online courses. Who knows if my idea would work. It’s certainly not without flaws. It’s just an idea, and now that it’s not dead in my head, I’m good with letting it go. Fly away idea. 🙂

And Write6x6 is a wrap. I hope you enjoyed my brain dumps over the past 6 weeks. I’ll try not to wait until next year to post again.