Patch 19 Nugget

A response to the Thought Vectors and Nuggets Activity
created by Victoria Workman (@Victoria Workman)

Number of views: 198

Patch 19 really struck me:

“There are many examples of “bad” online courses which are basically correspondence courses that use email. Students have been conditioning to blow through the online course, paying attention only to activities that are mandatory and assessed, and ignoring the rest. While this can feel like a direct insult to a course developer who has spent countless hours fine-tuning the online environment, I really don’t think it’s meant to be personal. Students have many competing priorities and often the online course is hidden away, out of sight and out of mind. I spend time in the first week “strongly encouraging” (forcing) students to make time for their online course. I tell them that to succeed in the course they will need to spend at least four hours a week working through content, activities and producing the evaluated components of the course. I can say this with confidence because I’ve had previous students track their time spent on assignments, and I can leverage LMS analytics to see how long students work within the course. I tell students how long it will take, and the first written assignment in my course asks students to articulate exactly when and where they will work on the course, and what their contingency plans are should something come up unexpectedly. This opens up a conversation about effective study habits, time management strategies and related course policies and seems to, at the very least, negate some of the passive-aggressive “this course is too hard” grouching that I’d see within some of the discussion forums.”

As an instructor, I tend to agonize over my LMS modules, especially during alternate delivery.  A funny meme or cartoon, challenging question, or intriguing image are ways in which I typically set up a learning module.  Checklists are provided with due dates, lists of what to do, and links to required readings, slides and assignments.  Sometimes, during a synchronous class discussion, I will refer to one of those elements I included in the module and receive blank stares and no comments.  In that moment, I fear that students are not reading or remembering many of these items I worked so hard to include.  In these moments, I ask myself, “should I keep doing this?, are these extras worth the time? do the poems, images, memes, etc. help students connect to the unit?”.  It can be frustrating.

A colleague recently reminded me that silence does not mean ignorance, especially in the AD/online world.  As the exerpt above explains, students in these environments face multiple and significiant barriers to learning.  She also shared a great idea to boost engagement which is to issue a “scavanger hunt” low-stakes assignment during the first class to scour the course learning plan and LMS site for answers to common student questions, such as “when is the first assignment due?”.  This activity helps build metacognitive skills as students learn how to better navigate their learning environment.