Changing the Face of Online Education

Currently many of the students who take online composition courses are non-traditional students with jobs, families, and experience outside the classroom. While some resident students are supplementing their education with online classes, there is much to be gained from a new awareness about the benefits of an online composition course for younger students just beginning their education.

Many freshmen enjoy the social aspect of their first university or college experience, but they often detest the participation they are asked to put forth in composition classrooms for the same reason. Many of them feel that their social standing might be compromised by the things they say in class, but many of them wish to participate just the same. At the end of a semester, one of my students had this to say about his experience: "I wish we could have had more online discussions. You should think about doing more of that in your next class." The ironic thing about this students is that he was very intelligent, but in the classroom, he readily produced sarcastic remarks and nothing more. However, in a single online discussion he responded to five of his classmates (the requirement was two) and made two original posts (the requirement was one).