Teaching Online

[apl68]

I'm having an issue with a fully online course. It's a required course for multiple majors and a higher-than-usual failure rate, and so it has a really high demand and helps a lot of students get or stay on track to degree completion. It's gone really well, and I'd like to keep offering it.

However, the last two times I taught it I saw obvious cheating on the open-book exams. Each round there were two or three students failing miserably throughout the course who suddenly submitted high-scoring finals (with terminology not from the course). You'll just have to trust me that these students could not possibly have YouTubed their way to competence all of a sudden. Clearly, they recruited ringers as they realized that they were on track to fail a high-stakes course. 

So, I guess my two choices are to make students come to campus for the exams (and show ID cards) or to see about some of those remote web-cam proctoring services (which always seem creepy and intrusive to me). For pedagogical reasons, I can't replace exams with projects.

But are there other options I'm missing? Options that better preserve the accessibility of the course for the vast majority who aren't cheating?

Many public libraries provide free proctoring services for online exams.  We do it quite often here.  Typically the instructor provides us with a password to access the exam for the student.  We set up a time with the student, check the student's ID, give the student access to a public computer in a relatively quiet spot, and enter the password.  The instructor can also send us formula sheets and such to print out.  The instructor will tell us what the student is and is not allowed to have on hand during the exam.  Sometimes we have to confiscate the student's phone.  We don't use webcams, but we can use the library's regular security camera system to keep tabs if need be.

[mamselle]

Re: my reference to WordTread, if anyone is interested, they're offering a webinar on its use in language teaching for online and f2f classes. PM me and I can forward their email as an attachment (new toy we didn't useta have!)

M.

[Morris Zapp]

When you have an online meeting by blackboard collaborate, or conference call or other technology for an online class, do you require that people "show up on time?"  I seem to have a lot of students who think that if there's an online function from  8 to 9 this means that they can 'drop in' for any part of that hour.  Wondering if I can/should say "show up at 8, just like you would if a regular class starts at 8. Being late is rude." 
Any thoughts?

[marshwiggle]

When you have an online meeting by blackboard collaborate, or conference call or other technology for an online class, do you require that people "show up on time?"  I seem to have a lot of students who think that if there's an online function from  8 to 9 this means that they can 'drop in' for any part of that hour.  Wondering if I can/should say "show up at 8, just like you would if a regular class starts at 8. Being late is rude." 
Any thoughts?

I just have a question: Are online classes officially "asynchronous"? In other words, is the intent of an online class that there is no set schedule, but only due dates for assignments, etc? If so, requiring everyone to bo online at the same time may not be enforceable. (I realize this could vary by institution.)

[darkstarrynight]

When you have an online meeting by blackboard collaborate, or conference call or other technology for an online class, do you require that people "show up on time?"  I seem to have a lot of students who think that if there's an online function from  8 to 9 this means that they can 'drop in' for any part of that hour.  Wondering if I can/should say "show up at 8, just like you would if a regular class starts at 8. Being late is rude." 
Any thoughts?

I just have a question: Are online classes officially "asynchronous"? In other words, is the intent of an online class that there is no set schedule, but only due dates for assignments, etc? If so, requiring everyone to bo online at the same time may not be enforceable. (I realize this could vary by institution.)

Mine are asynchronous, but some of the faculty who teach research methods or statistics online will have required dates/times listed in the course information when students register so students are aware when they register that this is a synchronous component of the course.

[Morris Zapp]

In this case, we're asking to have a couple of synchronous activities (like one a month) but they are voluntary.  I guess my issue is whether voluntary means "show up or don't show up" or whether it means "feel free to show up late and leave early" which is distracting, even in an online class setting.  I"m leaning towards telling students it's rude to show up late or leave early during an online class, just as it is to do so in an in person class.

[cathwen]

All the online courses at my university are asynchronous.  We have a robust study abroad program, so in any given semester there are usually a few people in other parts of the world who are not operating on Eastern time—not to mention the local students with work schedules or class schedules that would preclude logging on at a certain time.  Unless a set schedule is published in the course roster, I don't know how you could require everyone to be on at the same time, even for an occasional project.

[spork]

[. . .]

but they are voluntary. 

[. . . ]

If there is no discernible effect on the course grade, the activity will not function as intended.

[AvidReader]

When you have an online meeting by blackboard collaborate, or conference call or other technology for an online class, do you require that people "show up on time?"  I seem to have a lot of students who think that if there's an online function from  8 to 9 this means that they can 'drop in' for any part of that hour.  Wondering if I can/should say "show up at 8, just like you would if a regular class starts at 8. Being late is rude." 
Any thoughts?

I like the specificity of your statement. I think it sets expectations clearly, and if you post it before the first meeting, nobody will feel singled out.

I get around this by having a "checking technology" prequel. So, in your instance, I would say, "I'll be online from 7:45 to 8:00 if you'd like to check your headphones/video/screen sharing. I'm happy to help you with technology issues until then, but we'll need to get started right at 8:00 with [Activity X], after which point you'll be on your own."

Then I have a points-based activity at 8, just as I would in a face-to-face classroom.

AR.

[Hegemony]

My online students are all over the world — they're all from our university, but for various reasons they're widely dispersed.  I think it would be an undue burden, and likely impossible, to require them all to be online at a specified time.  And what if they have another course that meets in person at that time?  Or a job?  To my mind, an important feature of online classes is the flexibility — students can stop by and do the work on their own schedule — which is negated if they're all required to be online simultaneously.

[apl68]

I've attended online programs that offered both synchronous and asynchronous classes.  The scheduling of the synchronous classes was not a problem for most of us, since we did not live in time zones that were too spread out.  For a few students it was an issue.  The synchronous classes worked quite well--WHEN the software worked!  I remember quite a few class sessions marred by particular students or the whole class experiencing glitches.  We did have some great synchronous class discussions, though.

Overall I preferred the program with classes that operated asynchronously, for the reasons of flexibility Hegemony gives above.

[Tamiam]

I'm teaching online this summer for the first time and all of the students are taking this course in order to be able to get on track with the timing of a series of required classes for their major. (This is the third of five). All of the students were in my F2F prerequisite class last semester, so I know them and I know that they "like" me (can you say "Stockholm Syndrome"?)

I've been pleasantly surprised to see that some students who really struggled in the f2f situation are doing better online. (No access to friends to work with on the homework? No closed-book test anxiety? Access to the instructional videos as many times as they need? Or simply that the course itself isn't as difficult.... who knows ....)

Can anybody else speak to this phenomenon?

[Cheerful]

I've been pleasantly surprised to see that some students who really struggled in the f2f situation are doing better online. (No access to friends to work with on the homework? No closed-book test anxiety? Access to the instructional videos as many times as they need? Or simply that the course itself isn't as difficult.... who knows ....)

Can anybody else speak to this phenomenon?

Are you certain that the enrolled students are the ones actually doing the work online and not having "helpers" (e.g., friends, girlfriends/boyfriends, spouses, paid help) do the work for them?

[phattangent]

I'm teaching an online class for the first time right now (about a week left), and the quality of work is on par with or slightly better than the F2F implementation. This perhaps wouldn't work for all classes, but the bulk of the work requires students to submit two short videos each week where they make an ethical argument regarding a moral dilemma involving computing technology. The fact that I can see each student in their videos each week mitigates some honesty issues.

Now, I'm trying out a take home final, but it doesn't involve video—something that I regret as I type this. Instead, there is an essay portion and a timed online quiz portion. Hopefully it goes well, and there is little cheating. I'll report back in a week.

[polly_mer]

I've been pleasantly surprised to see that some students who really struggled in the f2f situation are doing better online. (No access to friends to work with on the homework? No closed-book test anxiety? Access to the instructional videos as many times as they need? Or simply that the course itself isn't as difficult.... who knows ....)

Can anybody else speak to this phenomenon?

Are you certain that the enrolled students are the ones actually doing the work online and not having "helpers" (e.g., friends, girlfriends/boyfriends, spouses, paid help) do the work for them?

When I was director of online education and doing some spot checks, I discovered a student who was dramatically different course to course in the same term.  That name was actively participating in discussion groups for all courses, but had a curiously different command of English in the different courses.  In addition, the IP addresses were spread across the US in non-linear ways.

I tried to make a compelling argument in my own mind for, say, a salesperson who sometimes posted when very tired and sometimes posted when very fresh or a truck driver who had tired/fresh/wired problems.  I did a little more digging and realized that we didn't have all the paperwork we were supposed to have; transcripts were missing.  When I emailed the student directly, our email exchanges had yet another style and command of English.  The transcripts never showed up by the deadline, so I dropped the student from the program and didn't have to track down any further anything regarding the situation.


I do know for myself that I really love instructional videos that I can pause, rewind, replay, and go ask questions as necessary.  In a few classes, I would have done much better had videos been available.