Knutson, "The Young Are Rude Today"

Topic:	Course Participation (1 of 8), Read 46 times
Conf:	Participation
From:	Karen
Date:	Wednesday, February 07, 2001 10:20 AM

In an Internet course, classroom participation is certainly much more difficult than in a “normal” classroom situation. As students in this Internet course, we feel that there are definite ways to improve this condition. First of all, participation on the Web Board is a must. This is the one of the few opportunities that the students have to interact with one other and the instructor. Also, Internet courses require an extra amount of time than a regular class. Students must be willing to put in extra time in order to accurately complete all assignments and other necessary parts of the class by the appropriate due date. Even though some of these assignments are not graded if completed, the student should demonstrate genuine effort in each piece of writing. They also must have the necessary people skills to present constructive criticism without being too offensive or the opposite, too passive. Finally, since the class is a writing class, the students must portray respectable writing skills. They should have the ability to apply a number of the concepts learned throughout the course in their own personal writing.

Erin, Daniel, and Karen

I don't agree that you have to put in "extra" time. I think this class requires about the same as any traditional class. Here we just have to spend more time on a computer and it takes longer for replies. Instead of having instead responses, we may have to wait a few hours or even days. It is sometimes frustrating but it is one of the fall backs of an Internet class.

I am responding to Amy's participation. I guess I have never thought of that before. I think that it somewhat does take more time, because if you could get direct responses, like for your group work, the assignment could be done a lot faster.

I also think that though this course may take a little bit more time, we get to learn more about the technology. I think that this will help us when we get older.

I am going to support my group when we said that "extra" time is necessary in an Internet course, if the student wants to do well. I find myself on the Internet all of the time. This class does not include assignments alone. As students, we must continuously check our E-mail and the Web Board to make sure we're not missing important messages from the instructor or other members of the class. Also, we must be extra organized. If we have a group assignment due on Friday, we must start interacting with our group on Monday in order to have enough time to discuss the topic and understand each others feelings.

Internet classes are not like some of the usual 3 credit - 3 day per week courses. They require active daily participation.

I agree with this group. I feel that this class requires more effort than a traditional class. I have to check my email daily for this class, otherwise I most likely would check it weekly. Organization is a key step. One must talk to group members ahead of time to complete assignments punctually.

I am confident saying that “extra” time is not necessary in an Internet delivery course. It depends totally on the individual and the situation. All of my Internet delivery courses take less time than my standard delivery courses. I have my computer turned on and connected to the Internet all day long and I can see if I have received anything for my class in about 5 seconds from looking at my computer screen. On top of that everything is organized better.

I agree with the part about about classroom participation being more difficult over the Internet, I also agree with the statement "students must portray respectable writing skills" after all this is a "writing class". What I don't agree with is "students must be willing to put in extra time", not everyone can afford to sit at the computer all day and wait for email. Besides working all day (the occasional overtime), some of us spouses and/or children, and as everyone knows in this situation anything can happen. I believe the point I'm trying to make is that everyone should do the best they can and it should be the improvement of our writing skills, that we focus on.

Since there's some debate about how much time you should need/expect to spend in an online course, I thought I'd throw in this quote from the Office of Distance Education:

"Be willing and able to commit 10-12 hours a week per course. This is an average of the time required for an online course. Some courses may require more time. Online learning is not easier than learning in the classroom. In fact is usually considered more difficult."

This comes from their page titled "Tips for Taking Online Courses" (http://www.courses.dsu.edu/disted/tips_online_courses.htm).

If you didn't look over their "Online Course Orientation Module" (http://www.departments.dsu.edu/disted) before you registered, I recommend it. The "Tips" page in particular provides a lot of practical advice (and may help you come up with some specific ideas for our participation rubric).

Even though some of the other pages--like the one that allows you to test your preparedness for taking an online class--are specifically designed for students who have not yet registered, I still recommend them. If you don't feel like you can empathize with your classmates (regardless of whether that's because you feel like you're floundering or because you feel so far ahead of them technologically), these materials might help you understand why.