Netiquette Issues in the Course
As I do frequently, I was talking with an online adjunct instructor a few days ago – listening to a fairly common complaint: “Why do students post comments online that they would never say aloud in the face-to-face classroom? Sometimes it is an unacceptable comment to another student in a unit discussion or team interaction and sometimes it is an inappropriate comment to me – the instructor.” My acquaintance went on to give the details that last week a student had posted in the middle of the weekly discussion the statement that “I am really mad an Instructor X this week. I bet a lot of you are too.” After an email exchange the instructor found out that the student was disgruntled with the week’s assignment, something that this adjunct instructor had no control over as he taught the course but had not designed it – a course situation that many, if not most, adjuncts have experienced. As might be expected following the incident, this instructor sent an email to the class and posted an announcement reminding the students of expected “netiquette’ behavior in the course.
As we continued our conversation we covered such areas as student emotions and student views of fairness in the classroom, both topics covered by articles in the Educator’s voice newsletter. We also noted that there can be a “distance” issue that leads to impersonality in the online course and a lack of understanding on the students’ part as to who is responsible for course content.
We can certainly address the “distance” issue, as well as some emotion issues, by establishing an instructor presence in the course and developing an online learning community including both students and the instructor. Active communication with students and a stated desire to hear from students, such as an online Office, might alleviate the type of “flaming” noted by my acquaintance in his course discussion. Let students know that you are accessible and also make sure that they know how to contact you in an appropriate manner. I like to recommend my online office for course related questions and email for personal issues. And, I let the students know exactly when I respond to both office and email so they are not anxiously awaiting a reply and know that I am not available 24/7.
Issues of perceived fairness can be addressed by clearly stated course and grading policies and procedures in the Syllabus accompanied by rubrics for major, subjective assessed materials. Constructive feedback in the course can also meet student needs for fairness as well as an instructor presence. I also post a link to the Ten Core Rules of Online Etiquette and require my students to read them and to send me an email acknowledging that they agree to abide by them in the classroom.
As an adjunct instructor I let students know that the institution I taught for was responsible for the design of the course content, assignments and discussions. I was responsible for course communications, questions about how to accomplish assignments, the grades and comments I issued, and facilitating the discussions. I asked students to contact me about any questions or issues within my purview and to contact the institution with concerns about course design and content. In my case the institution did have a mechanism for students to provide comments on courses.
While we can not foresee every student frustration in our online environment we can take proactive steps to help ensure that our students know about appropriate behavior in an online course, understand how to contact us, and appreciate that we are available and accessible.
Ken Switzer, Ph.D.
Senior Academic Trainer & Consultant
Redden, C. October 12, 2005. Emotions in the Cyber Classroom. Educator’s voice Volume 6, Issue 10. Accessed online at: http://www.ecollege.com/Newsletter/EducatorsVoice/EducatorsVoice-Vol6Iss10.learn
Switzer, K. September 16, 2009. Fairness in the Classroom. Educator’s voice Volume 10, Issue 5. Accessed online at: http://www.ecollege.com/Newsletter/EducatorsVoice/EducatorsVoice-Vol10Iss5.learn
The Ten Core Rules of online etiquette. Accessed online at:
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
Movie Time!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words....let's see how true that is. I'd like to present you with about 10,000,000 pictures (including sound!) to see if you think it's worth it.
Here are a collection of my favorite YouTube videos. They are educational, entertaining, funny, fascinating, and all around helpful when it comes to teaching & learning. At least I feel that way. See what you think of this collection. (I don't think it will take more than 1 hour to watch them (with the exception of the Randy Pausch lecture...)
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlqafevXOWY - great serious game created by FAS & Sony! |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7eGypGOlOc - interesting physics software / application |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY - Do schools kill creativity? Ken Robinson explains... |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFU9oUF2HA - Educational uses of 2nd Life |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMGR9q43dag - more Educational uses of 2nd Life |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU - Social bookmarking in Plain English |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc - Social networking in Plain English |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_jdn-N_wwM |
| www.teachertube.com - Teacher Tube on YouTube! |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo - The Last Lecture: Randy Pausch |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o - A Vision of Students Today |
| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8 - A Vision of K-12 Students TodaySee what you think of these...there are tens of thousands of other GREAT, educational videos on YouTube...do you use it to reach YOUR students yet?
Jeff D Borden, M.A. |
State of the Student Learning Outcome in the Academy
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Over the past month I’ve consulted with both K-12 and higher education leaders in the U.S., Mexico, and the Middle East. Tracking student achievement and the value add provided by an academic program is high on nearly everyone’s priority list. In fact, in a time of shrinking resources this is one area that is still receiving budgetary support.
In his October 26 article Assessment vs. Action on the Inside Higher Ed website, Scott Jaschik summarizes the results of a survey sent to senior academic leaders at 2,809 regionally accredited institutions in the U.S. The survey was commissioned by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) which is a joint project between the University of Illinois and Indiana University.
Academic leaders and assessment experts should read the Jaschik article and also bookmark the NILOA website which is an excellent collection of resources and current thought surrounding learning outcome management. Conclusions from the NILOA survey were just released in a report titled “More Than You Think, Less Than We Need: Learning Outcomes Assessment in American Higher Education”.
Essentially, the survey found that nearly all U.S. institutions are actively measuring student learning outcomes driven primarily by accrediting body requirements. The gap that remains, however, is to actually use this data to improve student achievement.
Forward thinkers are actively developing a culture of assessment on campus. They’re using assessment data to drive decisions about everything from curriculum and instruction to admission standards and to inform the strategic planning process (Kuh and Ikenberry, Jaschik, 2009).
Over the past year I’ve been fortunate to work with progressive thinkers who are leveraging technology to enhance the outcome management process and to maximize the time that faculty spend providing meaningful feedback and support to students. I look forward to continuing this work and to identifying and publishing best practices in outcome management.
References
Jaschik, S. (2009, October 26). 'Assessment vs. Action. Retrieved November 2, 2009 from Inside Higher Ed, Web site: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/26/assess
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (October 2009). More Than You Think, Less Than We Need: Learning Outcomes Assessment in American Higher Education. Retrieved November 2, 2009 from Web site: http://www.learningoutcomeassessment.org/NILOAsurveyresults09.htm
Brian McKay Epp
Academic Trainer and Consultant
