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[compster]

Hello.

I'm teaching online at a cc for the first time.  The semester has been horrible.  It's clear that most of the students aren't prepared to succeed in an online environment, either because they are underprepared, overloaded (with school and work), or simply first semester students who are unaware, overall, of the demands of college-level work.

The enrollment in my class was 24 at the beginning of the semester, but at this point, only eight students are actively working in the class.  Some students never signed in, some withdrew, and some have done spotty work here and there, but not enough to pass the class.

I taught an upper-level online class at a university for several years and never had such problems.  I'm wondering if there are ways other schools -- particularly community colleges -- work toward helping students succeed in online classes?  It seems that we have the advisors on board to talk to students about online courses, but are there other ways to address the issue?  Maybe add prereqs?  Or maybe be more careful what classes are offered online?  Any ideas?

[dept_geek]

My Experience (from online teaching at CCs)

- no need to raise the prereqs, that won't help
- your first year CC students are not ever going to be like your upperclassman

Many many students see online classes as "easier" because "hey, no classroom time is required." What they all forget is that the time required to study for an online class about doubles.

You may also be running into students who need 12 credits to keep their financial aid, and you're the lucky guy that puts them over 12.

What I do:
- Everything I would normally say in the first class about the syllabus, time management, blah blah blah, ends up on the course site. Sometimes I write it down, other times I do a little video presentation. Sometimes both.

- Scaffold your class. Do a lot of hand holding at the beginning, and s-l-o-w-l-y pull away so they are pretty much on their own at the end.

- Offer a lot of "tutoring" on the technical parts (how to submit assignments, how to navigate, what do the file extensions mean, ....) That part can be scary to a non-technical person who is taking a class they thought was going to be easy

- Right up front, list all the skills and technology needed to have a chance at succeeding.

- Offer to show the advisors your classes - sometime this works in that they see it isn't exactly easy and can advise students to the in-person section

Keep in mind, like the classroom, the same exact set of materials can be wonderful or horrible. There is no reason for either.

[bamabound]

Dept_Geek has good advice.

It's hard to convince any student new to online classes that online classes aren't easy.  The class I teach has prerequisites but they are not checked, so that would help. 

I find that my CC students are overwhelmed at my intro class online and have started saying "This is a hard class and if you can take it in-person instead of online that is a better option." and "Online classes are harder than their in-person counterparts."  Econ is a subject that most students aren't exposed to in High School and it's almost like learning an new language, as opposed to building on, for example, existing math or science skills.  I even get some ESL students who cannot write coherent sentences who think because it's online it's like texting and they can hide their lack of English writing skills. It feels awkward, but I have recommended to some that they take our Research Paper Writing class first, then come back. 

I email students in the first, second and third weeks whose participation is not up to the correct level (number of logins, number of postings, number of quiz questions answered).  I call some students who totally flake out.  I set staggered due dates for paper drafts, papers, etc. so that I build a scaffold like Dept_Geek says.   I find that having a paper draft allows me to spot ones that can't write a paper early and fend off the procrastination of others, who would otherwise email me 24 hours before the paper is due asking how to write a paper, how to research, how to footnote. 

And I uphold standards of the four-year university to which many are trying to transfer.  If they need to be ready to take junior- and senior-level analytical classes I try to make sure that they are prepared, even if it's painful. 

[fosca]

A big problem with community college students (and also apparently with most students these days) is that they don't read.  They don't like to read, they're not good at reading, getting them to read the text is like pulling teeth, and this remains true for online courses. 

I tried to tell our e-learning guy that having students who are marginally literate take online classes is a recipe for disaster, but not much has changed.  I lose about a third of my students because of this, I suspect.  That, and I teach an accelerated 8-week version of my subject, and it just overwhelms them.

Then again, I'm also teaching at a completely-online school, and I'm going to wind up failing half of the class because they can't even write at a middle-school level, plus they can't follow directions.  I fully expect to be fired from that school any day now because of this.

[erikjensen]

I teach a difficult course online at a community college. Retention is a big problem for many instructors, but there are some things you can do to reduce the losses.

1) Anticipate that some people will drop, and allow more than the normal number of students to register.
2) Before the class even starts, be sure that all students who enroll are aware of the prerequisites and class expectations. You might e-mail them the syllabus or refer them to a public web site with information on the course.
3) The first task should be to take a mandatory diagnostic test to see if the class in particular and online learning in general is right for the student. I also include a quiz on the syllabus.

The above will hopefully give you a high quality self-selected group. The next step is to make the class a welcoming and supportive environment for those who are actually willing and able to learn.

1) I include a required discussion piece each week. In the first week, the students introduce themselves and I greet them all individually. In most other weeks, I have a discussion related to the course material. When I cover heat, for example, I have students give an example of a method to reduce heating bills and describe the physics behind the method. This gets students in the habit of communicating regularly so that when they need help on more substantive work, they feel comfortable using the discussion board.
2) I break down all tasks into numerous small ones. Most students will procrastinate if you let them. I have discussion, two or three homework assignments, and a lab report due each week.
3) I try to make the class fun. A bit of humor here and there, occasionally pointed at myself or my subject, seems to help morale.

The most important thing is to avoid surrender to cynicism or inertia. There are lots of books and journals devoted to online teaching that should be considered as important as books and journals in your subject. I wish you the best of luck.

-Erik Jensen
Chemeketa Community College

[mathprofdk]

As others have said, there are a few things you can do.  I'm teaching an online class for the first time this semester, but here are some things I've done:

1. Before the semester started, I emailed all the students who were registered (about a week before).  In that email, I briefly touched on the fact that the course was probably going to be different than they were expecting, and I gave them a link to a video I'd uploaded to YouTube.  In the video, I spent about 5 minutes talking about many of the things others have mentioned here - that online courses are typically more difficult than their on-campus counterparts, that my course in particular was a challenging one, that they'll need to be technologically proficient in X, Y, and Z, etc.

2. The first week, I force them to give them an assignment involving each of the technological aspects of the course.  They need to email me, submit a file to the drop box, make a discussion post, use the online quizzing software, etc.  The content isn't course-related yet, just about themselves or maybe a quiz on the structure of the class.

3.  As someone else mentioned, I have required work every week.  They have to make discussion posts, do some online homework, submit a weekly reflection, and submit some homework to a drop box.  I don't give them the option to procrastinate.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you if this is all going to work.  I started with 25, and I'm now down to 20, with only 16 actively pursuing the course.  It certainly couldn't have hurt, though!

[lucys]

This is my fourth semester to teach online and I have the same problem with drop-outs to some extent. I approach this in a couple of different ways.
1. I start the class with an assessment "to see if online learning is right for you." Of course, some students could answer yes instead of admitting they don't have much computer experience.
2. I also have students introduce themselves and try to add interesting topics to the discussion boards. This seems to engage them more than anything else.
3. I e-mail students as soon as I see two weeks of no sign-ins to ask if they are OK and see what plans they have to catch up with missed work.
4. I also allow more than the usual number to enroll. If I really want to teach about 20 students, I allow about 28 to enroll.
5. I allow more make-up work than I would normally allow in my face-to-face class. I have no way to check doctor's excuses, etc., so I usually take their word for it if they say they are ill. For some reason I have a lot of pregnant students who think an on-line class will be a wonderful way to stay in school. They are the only students that I advise to drop the course as soon as I find out their situation. When baby comes, they almost always fall behind and fail the course.

[zuzu_]

I allow more make-up work than I would normally allow in my face-to-face class. I have no way to check doctor's excuses, etc., so I usually take their word for it if they say they are ill. For some reason I have a lot of pregnant students who think an on-line class will be a wonderful way to stay in school. They are the only students that I advise to drop the course as soon as I find out their situation. When baby comes, they almost always fall behind and fail the course.

F*cking pregnant ladies thinking they can go to college and whatnot. Stupid broads.

[big_giant_head]

I allow more make-up work than I would normally allow in my face-to-face class. I have no way to check doctor's excuses, etc., so I usually take their word for it if they say they are ill. For some reason I have a lot of pregnant students who think an on-line class will be a wonderful way to stay in school. They are the only students that I advise to drop the course as soon as I find out their situation. When baby comes, they almost always fall behind and fail the course.

F*cking pregnant ladies thinking they can go to college and whatnot. Stupid broads.

I've had a different experience with such students.  In general, I've found that they're pretty conscientious.  Regardless, I can't imagine booting ANY student just because I think s/he will fall behind.  They have a right to try, don't they?

Or not.  The group I've had the most trouble with is baseball players.  Granted my best student last Spring semester was a baseball player, but you know, most of them are screw-offs.  And they have to miss so many classes that it's ridiculous to even let them into your course.  Idiots.  Why aren't they off in the minor leagues anyway? 

[untenured]

For some reason I have a lot of pregnant students who think an on-line class will be a wonderful way to stay in school. They are the only students that I advise to drop the course as soon as I find out their situation. When baby comes, they almost always fall behind and fail the course.

Something tells me your human resources department would not want you doing this.  Dissuading students just because they are pregnant implies that you are treating students differently because of their pregnant status.

Untenured

[slgaq]

I allow more make-up work than I would normally allow in my face-to-face class. I have no way to check doctor's excuses, etc., so I usually take their word for it if they say they are ill. For some reason I have a lot of pregnant students who think an on-line class will be a wonderful way to stay in school. They are the only students that I advise to drop the course as soon as I find out their situation. When baby comes, they almost always fall behind and fail the course.

F*cking pregnant ladies thinking they can go to college and whatnot. Stupid broads.

I had a student in an face-to-face course who gave birth on a Saturday and was back in class on Monday. She earned an A. I had another student who gave birth in the middle of a semester, took 5 weeks off from class, didn't read the book, didn't do any homework, flunked the make-up test and earned a D. Neither student asked for any reasonable accomodations for being pregnant. Two andectodes does not equal a study, but I'm guessing that the contents of the brain is more of a factor than the contents of the uterus.

Imagine an employer telling an employee to quit because, "When the baby comes, you'll fall behind and get fired."

Lucys, this is a great way to get yourself sued. Imagine what someone could do with this if she stayed, failed, and then claimed you failed her on purpose because she was pregnant and didn't drop when you told her to.