I began teaching online
courses at a very good time. I had successfully completed several graduate online
courses and was excited and enthusiastic about this exciting medium of
teaching! (although not hardly a “new” concept in 2008, the mid-2000’s seemed
to be the height of the explosion in growth of online coursework). Fortunately,
the online classes I had taken required extensive participation in discussion
forums. I had several instructors who had different requirements for online
postings, so I was able to choose the policies I thought worked the best and
incorporate them into my online courses. I also knew the importance of meeting
deadlines to performing well in online courses. I meticulously submitted all
assignments by the due date and worked ahead wherever possible. Finally, I was
enthusiastic to have the challenging and exciting responsibility to lead an
online course. I still remember the excitement of teaching that first online
course!
Fast forward six years and I realize how little I really
knew about online teaching in 2008. Being a successful online student does not
guarantee that one will be a successful online instructor. I did many things
well, and there were many strategies that I knew I would change in subsequent
courses. The main problem that I was not prepared to address was the lack of
participation from many students. Even as I would work to increase contact with
all my students, I inevitably still had many who would “go silent” and
basically quit working in the course. While this is an issue that still
troubles me today, it helps greatly to have the new early alert system that
helps to target and address these at risk students.
One of my biggest challenges as an online instructor is
how to make students feel that they are actively involved in the course and are
learning course objectives and materials. I have had a few students over the
years make the comment on evaluations that they felt they “taught themselves”
in the course. This is always troublesome for me because I try to make the
courses interactive and collaborative whenever possible. For example, even
though it usually is a logistical nightmare, I have students peer review
another’s essay at least 2-3 times during the semester. Although this would be
a challenging endeavor at the college writing level, it is even more
challenging at the developmental writing level.
I also pay close attention to student comments on the
end-of-semester evaluations. Sometimes students make comments like they
expected more of a focus on grammar, or less emphasis on writing a descriptive
essay. All of these comments allow me to reflect on my teaching and to
consider alternate strategies for teaching future courses. These comments also
allow me to engage in a discussion with my chairperson about strategies that
work well in her classes as well to elicit her opinion on the student comments.
Finally, I consider my development as an online
instructor to be a work in progress. I have talked to many instructors who feel
that as long as they receive positive student reviews, they are doing fine. I
try to continually find ways to improve my courses. I hold high standards and
throughout my courses, I often ask myself, “Would this course interest me? If
not, what could I do to make it more interesting and/or appealing?”
