How to Help Students be Successful in Online Classes

Teaching online is not the same as teaching face-to-face. Your students are not 'in class' the same time you are. You do not know what they look like or sound like. Yet, connecting with them is critical to their success in your class. They will feel lost out there in cyberspace quickly and once that happens, they will simply disappear. To improve retention and help your student be successful in their online classes, it is important to build community early and maintain it throughout the class.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• An online course to teach.
• Students in that course.
• A desire to connect with your students.

1. Require structured participation in the main content discussion.
   • Assign points for participation. An example: 5 points for a substantive answer to each lesson’s discussion questions. In addition, 2 points each for a minimum of two substantive comments to other’s question responses on a minimum of three days each week.
   • Students will ‘appear’ more often if they are awarded points for doing so.
   • It doesn’t take long for them to want to participate so they can see what others are saying in response to their comments.

2. Have everyone, including the instructor, post a bio during the first three days of class.
   • This enables them to get to know each other, where they live, etc.
   • Connections are made through the bios, friendships begin.

3. Provide feedback within 24 hours of any assignment deadline.
   • Students need to know you are out there. If they think they are posting in a void, they will not come back to class.
   • Even minimal acknowledgement of receipt of the assignment along with a projection of when you will have it graded will keep them coming back.

4. Encourage group work in your online class.
   • Your CMS or LMS probably has a ‘group’ function, if not, create one using e-mail, chats, etc.
   • When students work collaboratively, even over distance, they create bonds with each other and the work they are doing.

5. Contact those students who have not been participating.
   • Determine if there are technical issues, or if they just don’t know how to take an online class.
   • Offer your support, give them resources from the college to help them.

6. Create online forums, or chat areas, where students can ‘let off steam’ between classes.
   • Call it the water cooler, the chat room, the student lounge, or whatever works for your students.
   • Encourage them to ‘stop by’ before and after class to talk about whatever they normally would chat about in the hall or the student lounge.
   • Monitor the chat, but as a general rule, do not engage in conversations beyond minimal postings in the chat room. Let the student s have it for themselves.

7. Maintain regular office hours.
   • Let the students know when you are available for e-mail or phone consultation.
   • Use virtual classroom or chat features in your CMS if available.
   • Hold office hours at least three times a week, preferably at different times so students can fit them in around their schedules.

8. Create discussion questions that reflect the reading assignments and also incorporate student personal experience.
   • Students will relate to the questions when they can personalize the content with their own experience.
   • Students will respond to each other more readily if they think they have shared experiences or can learn from the experiences of their peers.

9. Encourage student interaction through guided activities, discussion, and example.
   • Give the students reason to contact each other.
   • Use their names in your posted responses. Example, “Shaquilla and Frank, both of you have mentioned similar experiences, why don’t the two of you compare notes offline and come back to class tomorrow with a synopsis of your reaction to these experiences?”

10. Be sure to praise students publicly when they post exemplary responses.
    • Nothing keeps students coming back better than public acknowledgement of their achievements.

Tips & Warnings

• The most important thing to remember is to be visible to your students -- let them know you are there and you care. They will come back to class if they know they are not alone!
• If you do not provide a way for your students to connect with you and the others in the class, they will disappear. That is a loss for all the students in class, not just a loss for the school.

[sorin]

on 2/15/2009 These tips are great, and this article goes well with mine. Teaching online is great, but you are right; it is not the same as f2f!

[SharonJeanne]

on 1/8/2009 Great article! I am currently taking several online classes and so much of your advice is missing from these classes.

[sunshine11219]

on 1/7/2009 very well written

[juliebmack]

on 1/7/2009 I am currently working on my Master's online and there is a totally different dynamic than being in class! Thanks for these tips!

[JanieWrites]

on 8/6/2008 you are certainly welcome. Let me know if there is anything you need help with those workshops -- I have lots of topic ideas and have been teaching online for years.