Well hello everyone! I hope you are having a great week!
Did anyone else get Week 4 mixed up with Week 5? Er...I did. At first, I thought it was Week 4 (sorry Kandi, my wonderful group member -- I told you the wrong week, don't cut me! lol). Then I clued in that it was Week 5; I got confused again and thought it was Week 4. Duh? Then I realized a Syllabus and tentative schedule are a terrible thing to waste so I did something that I thought was pretty darn scholarly - um..I read the schedule and Syllabus that Dr. Wang so graciously gave us. :) So now I am on track. But guess what? I didn't CLUE IN until the last day of the course week. Um.. Today. LOL
Okay -- we had a Week 5 discussion question about online interaction this week and here are my .02 cents (er...my dollar's worth).
In a nutshell, one of the discussion questions (did I mention there were three discussion questions to begin with? Silence....) asked us to discuss major problems associated with online interaction and how to solve these problems. My rant and question is this -- Is it really necessary to have a million discussion questions each week in online courses? I would prefer the RIGOR without the MORTIS. In my humble opinion, Rigor Mortis with discussion questions does not provide the instructor and student with a very positive learning experience or environment. Why? Well, here's the deal - too many discussion questions are the equivalent of "over-kill" (or heck -- road kill). In all honesty, it is overwhelming for the student. We have enough going on. Why murder us with a very sharp kitchen knife with so many discussion questions? I want to LIVE! Why does one discussion question have to contain more than one question? My husband gets annoyed with me when I ask him a succession of questions back-to-back. In comparison, students get annoyed when we are given a succession of discussion questions too. **sigh**
One semester, I had the privilege of taking a graduate course and the instructor had 3+ discussion questions per week, plus we had to respond to 4 students each week!! I immediately got out the shovel, went to the funeral home, picked out my pink coffin, and bought my tombstone and burial spot, and proceeded to dig...I was dead....I knew it. Each week, it got worse. I felt like this course was one of those low budget living dead movies -- The COURSE OF THE LIVING DEAD PART I -- the instructor turns into a discussion zombie and zaps all of the students; most of the students turn into zombies and by the middle of the course, we have either dead, or on the brink of madness. By the end of the course, only one or two students are left standing. The instructor survives. Are you surprised? After all the zombie discussion instructor zapped the life out of us in the first place. The instructor proceeds to move on to the next course to kill off the next set of students -- THE COURSE OF THE LIVIN DEAD PART II.... :)
Please help us! One -- no more than two discussion questions per week should suffice. Not one discussion question with a succession of two or more questions. Read my virtual lips -- ONE DISCUSSION QUESTION PER WEEK...ONE. We would really be happy with one every other week. Please do not get me wrong. I am an online instructor. I get it. I really do. However, from a student's perspective, it is overwhelming. To explain, if I am in a course with RIGOR MORTIS, I barely do the minimum and I am not too involved on the discussion board. I'm burned out and I'm bored to tears. It is way too much. Shoot me now.
Is having more than one discussion question per week some type of QM requirement for faculty at USM? Okay, okay -- I know I am being a big baby and I am a whiner. However, I am not alone. I hear this from others quite a bit. I decided to say something about it and stand up for us all. Sure -- I may get burned at stake, but I will die knowing that I got this off my chest. LOL.
Seriously -- the problem is this -- discussion question rigor mortis from faculty does not present a positive or productive learning environment. There, I said it. Here's the solution -- it is pretty darn simple -- cut down on the discussion questions. Advice to faculty -- try not to murder your students. We would really love to stay alive and move on to the next course.
Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!
Sonya
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Sonya,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the multiple discussion questions each week, which I felt very important to motivate students learning. In face-to-face class, it is easy to discuss these questions and make sure all students think about them and have their own understanding on those issues. However, online environment is so different. If you don't post them there, your student may not even think about these questions. In addition, you don't know if they read and understand the required readings. At the same time, participating discussions bring students together online. Please remember, online class is not a self-study nor separated a student from others although students won't see each other in personal.
I understand your feeling. But you have to stand this suffer. :) I feel that both teachers and students have to spend more time on course materials and class activities in an online class than f-2-f class. This is one of the disadvantages of online learning.
Thanks so much for your point of view Dr. Wang. I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand that online courses are not self-study and there are disadvantages to online and face-to-face learning. I teach them both. However, discussion question over-kill is unnecessary. We also have group interaction. This also helps with online interaction. I honestly believe that one discussion question per week is enough to generate good online interaction.
I totally respect your position. It is refreshing to get another point of view! Makes sense. Thanks again.
I am in complete aggreeance Sonya. When you have a lot of assignments each week, plus blogging, and then three or more discussion questions, you get overwhelmed and something suffers. I have to admit, the blogging in my case has suffered becuase by the time I get to it each week, I feel overwhelmed and tired. I do not do my best at that point.
ReplyDeleteDr. Wang, I completely understand where you are coming from. As an online instructor myself, I know you need to know that people are reading all the required materials. However, I agree with Sonya and maybe you could respond in discussion or blog but both together is a little over kill.
Just my opinion.
I read an article in preparation for comps (Michael Beaudoin's 2002 article, "Learning or Lurking?", about students who don't post frequently in online discussion boards), and their average self-reported time spent on one online class was 22.3 hours per week. This is for the ones who did not post frequently!
ReplyDeleteSurely there is a way to learn that doesn't involve this degree of time. Who spends 22.3 hours per week on a face to face class?
It seems that there are still some serious time inefficiencies that need to be worked out in online classes. I don't spend 22+ hours per week per class, but I spend a lot more time than I ever did on face to face classes, in order to get the same level of knowledge.
But maybe with the training we're receiving here at USM, we (the professors and students) will be able to crack that code, so to speak, and find the most efficient ways to teach and learn online.
@ Kala -- Thanks for the support! I feel overwhelmed and tired too. We are both in the same two courses so you know I truly understand.
ReplyDelete@Tim - Whew! Thanks for sharing this article! Very interesting! I will need to pull this article and read it in detail! Wow!
Sonya, I feel the same way, but things are getting better. The semester is coming to an end and all things are starting to wrap up. Don't worry, we are going to make it!
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