Reflection: Balancing Substantive Feedback with the Desire for Immediacy

Online learning has many wonderful qualities - as well as some big challenges. One such challenge is the expectation of immediacy. The on-demand nature of the internet and social media has created in students an expectation of rapid feedback. Even when they know intellectually what the university’s feedback policy is, at an emotional level, they still want a quick turnaround of their work. The biggest challenge I encounter in giving feedback to students that reasonably addresses this need for immediacy while still providing me with the time to review each student’s paper in depth and provide substantive feedback. Yet in-depth feedback is exactly what students need if the integrity and the quality of the course and the student’s education are to be respected. University guidelines become the faculty member’s friend, but only if he/she sticks to them. If I’m going to ask a student to be patient and wait for substantive feedback, I’ve got to make sure I provide that feedback within the timeframe defined by the university. Only by working within the guidelines can the students’ need for substantive feedback be balanced with the desired for immediacy.

 

Creating and Maintaining Presence: The Biggest Challenge in Motivating Students in the Online Classroom

People feel motivated to participate when they feel engaged, connected. In the online environment creating that sense of connectedness and engagement that stimulates motivation is without question the number one challenge.  The key to engagement, connectedness and motivation all lie in the same teacher/classroom attribute: presence. I call presence an attribute because in the online environment, just as in the f2f environment, presence is more than physical proximity: it is a feeling tone created by the instructor. It is the assurance students have that the instructor is there with them; that there is a real person who cares on the other side of the computer screen.

How does an instructor create presence? Being in the course on a frequent basis is a start, but only a start. The quality of the interaction with students when the instructor is in the class defines the nature and extent of the presence conveyed by the instructor. A personal introduction, helpful comments in clear, but friendly language, quick responses to student e-mails, timely return of work with substantive personalized feedback, availability to students through a variety of means (telephone, Twitter, text, Skype, etc.)….all of these things create a presence that is real and caring. That type of presence engages and motivates. Creating and maintaining that type and level of presence is not easy – which is what makes it, in my opinion, the biggest challenge in motivating students in an online class.

 

Challenges Teaching in the Online Classroom

Diversity in the range of technical skills is a huge challenge for an instructor in the online classroom, and it continues to be so for me, semester after semester. When planning an online course, my experience has been that students come with a wide range of ability levels with regard to technology skills. It is quite a bit different than preparing for a f2f class. When you are teaching at a graduate level, as I do – or at an under graduate level, for that matter, you can take for granted as instructor that your students have the basic technical skills for the course. They can read and write, listen and see, (perhaps with adaptive equipment or accommodations of some sort). When you are teaching online, your students come to you believing they have the skills, but in fact, some are quite proficient, while others struggle to navigate the online classroom. Their heads spin. New students have to conceptualize virtual reality and within that reality, the virtual classroom. Once the structure of the virtual classroom is established tools, processes, menus, and links all fall into place. But until then, there is a broad continuum of technical skill levels that have to be accommodated while orchestrating substantive group discussion and keeping everyone moving forward together through the syllabus.  But if the Cat in the Hat can balance books on his head and a fish in a bowl on the end of a rake while holding a fan in his tail – simultaneously – I’ll keep doing my best!