survivalstrategies

Week 4 Survival Strategies for New Online Teachers [[image:help.gif width="53" height="65"]]

 * Your Task **

Read the scenario and post your thoughts related to the questions below.

Luz, a new part-time college teacher, was contacted by the department Chair a few weeks prior to a new semester, and asked to teach an online history course. Luz had never taught this course before, but her academic preparation included world history, so she felt familiar with the thinking of the discipline. Despite Luz's anxiety about this assignment, she agreed to do so. She felt concerned about future work prospects should she refuse the assignment. As well, she recognized the advantage of developing skills related to online teaching. Luz had some limited experience using the Blackboard course management tool, but she was not familiar with the Discussions Tool.
 * Luz's Story **

Before long, she found herself working very long hours 7 days a week. Students seemed unclear in relation to course expectations. They expected immediate responses when they e-mailed her. The weekly discussion postings took hours to read and review.

Hmm..., how will you reduce the stress that may be associated with this new experience? How do you hope to maintain a work-life balance when the demands on your time may seem never ending? Think about one survival strategy you might use, and post it to this Wiki page on Survival Strategies. The strategy could be a personal description of coping mechanisms, or it could relate to steps you might take as the teacher to create a manageable workload.

Hopefully, as a group, you will be able to generate ideas that will be helpful to everyone. I look forward to reading your posts on this topic. Shirley

I should first point out that I share no relation to the hypothetical in the above scenario. Get it? Luz, Laz. No relation.

I haven't taught an online course yet, but I've spoken to faculty who have, and balancing the demands of teaching an online course is definitely a concern that comes up.

First, I think it's important to be able to manage your own time. Be strict on yourself about compartmentalizing teaching and other aspects of your life. Set up times when you'll be online, and be there during those times. And I think it's crucial to communicate this information to the students. It should be in the course outline, so students have access to if from day one. Tell students that, say, after 8 pm (or whatever) you won't respond to emails.

Second, I think you need to have a very clear understanding of what your responsibilities are and what your role is going to be. Are you going to provide technical support to students? Juggling this task with delivering the content, marking, and engaging learners might be too much. So, be clear about you'll do and won't do.

Just some thoughts. If I can think of anything else, I'll add it here. (Lazaros)

If I were Luz, I try to reduce my anxiety by: Although some of the suggestions above taking more time, they are reducing my anxiety and giving me more confidence step by step.
 * participating to some workshops or classes to get more knowledge about technologies which is required for on-line teaching
 * Asking my colleagues who teaches on-line course for helping me
 * Hiring an assistant or tutor
 * Getting help form students
 * Organizing my teaching material and working on-line
 * Time pacing

(Parisa)

How will I reduce stress related to this new experience?

Well, something I do frequently to alleviate general stress, is run....I dont mean run for the hills, I simply mean it is important to do something for yourself that will help to alleviate the tension. I like to run.

Next I would try and meet with the course coordinators, or whomever created the course to understand what they wanted to achieve and to obtain a better understanding of their thoughts with regards to the course structure.

Secondly I would set up a meeting at the beginning of the next learning session to establish guidelines for weekly communication and feedback that is both reasonable for learners and professor.

Thirdly I would ask for help from experienced online teachers so that I could gain tips and techniques. I would also search for a tips and techniques wicki or blog forum.

Fourth I would obtain help on blackboard use, from college technology experts.

Fifth, breathe.......breatheeeeee... and jump back into the game!

Paula Hacking

Hi Luz, I mean Laz(just kidding :-), Parisa and Paula. I think these ideas are off to a good start and will be helpful to everyone. I am looking forward to additional thoughts from other participants before the course ends. Cheers, Shirley

To me, this boils down to an expectation-setting issue. It's one that used to give me a lot of trouble in my first years as a teacher. Over and over again, in my communication with students, I'd either over-commit (promise to do more than I was able to do) or commit in terms vague enough to be interpreted that way. It's the fast track to burnout city and deteriorating student/teacher relations. I've long since learned to be very precise about things like when and how I can be contacted, what response delay times they should expect, and what they can do in the unusual event that they don't hear back from me within that time.

So in an online setting, I'd want to begin a course with a set of very clear statements to the students about what I expect of them, and what they can expect of me, and in these I'd try to cover off the circumstances that led to Luz's problem. This is one of the things I already use Blackboard for, because leaving these documents posted through the semester ensures that students who join the class two or three weeks into the semester don't miss out on them.

I think it's about making sure the whole class can feel like they have solid ground under their feet, with their objectives, tasks, tools, and options clearly and consistently set out. A lot of student dissatisfaction stems from the confusion and anxiety that set in when this isn't adequately done.

I expect the online teaching environment will offer some new logistical pitfalls re expectation-setting. I'll do my best to anticipate these, but being human, there's a good chance I'll fall into one or two. I think the best way to minimize the negative impact would be to be up-front about the possibility with the students at the start, and ask them to bear with me if things should go a bit askew at times. In my experience, the "We're all in this together" approach tends to elicit a spirit of goodwill and co-operation, while pretending to greater proficiency than I have has never led to anything but the opposite.

Martin Reyto

Building on what has already been said...

To reduce the stress, I would focus on using the online tools I know; and expand the use of tools the second time and third time around. Go with what I am comfortable with, rather than risk failure.

In order to maintain a work/life balance, I would open up the lines of formal communications (twitter, blog posts, etc.) to notify students of pending assignments, etc. to minimize the chance of uncertainty creeping in.

As a survival strategy, I would solicit more regular feedback from the students and make adjustments for improvement purposes. And, I would learn to use Elluminate sessions and invite students to review the course objectives/outcomes to ensure that everyone was onboard. Show that that I care!

To cope, I would set-up an "on-line" coffee-shop" (wiki) to encourage students to meet and help (or assist) each other. Reduces their dependency on the professor.

Nick Kenyeres

If I were Luz, first, I would try to gain a clear idea of the domain of my responsibilities as an on-line teacher through consulting with the field experts and specifically the teachers that have already taught the course. In other words I try to build a support network as soon as possible. Based on my personal experience such support networks are immensely valuable particularly when you are new in a field.

Second, since having a clear communication with students from the first session is the key, I would do my best to organize a helpful welcome letter, clarifying my and their responsibilities, the resources through which they can get technical support, the duration of time during which they can expect my response to their on-line questions, the on-line tools that would be used through the term, ….

Third I do my best to constantly communicate with my students through the Black Board and other online tools. Even in a class setting you need to constantly remind your students of the upcoming assignments and exams. In an on-line setting such a communication must be over-emphasized.

And finally I try to manage my time effectively. Applying effective time-management skills always helps me reduced my level of stress. Naghmeh