Participation and Attendance
Weekly
Timeline
My class weeks run Wednesday through the following Tuesday so that students who wish to do most of their work on weekends may do so and students who wish to not work on weekends, don’t have to. While I understand time constraints and the demands of work and family (I went through all that myself), I have found that students who post only on one or two days a week don't get a good grade. This is not a judgment on my part, but an observation made from over ten years of teaching online. Once- or twice-a-week posters are like the student in a MWF seated class who only shows up once a week. You can probably get by, but you won't learn much, and for sure you won't earn an A or a B for the course.
On or before midnight on Friday, first posting (minimum 150 words for EACH part) addressing the discussion question (DQ)
On
or before midnight on last day of the week, two responses to two
classmates' postings in EACH part of the DQ (minimum 75 words each
response)
NOTE about responses: Make sure all
classmates have two responses. Make all responses to different
classmates and DO NOT make a second response to anyone
if there are postings that do not have any responses. No one should make
a third response to any posting.
You should reply to responses you received on your posting by the last day of the week. These replies do not have any specific requirements for word length but should be more than just "thank you" or "I agree" messages.
Minimum Contributions and Participation Requirements
The absolute minimum requirement for contributions is five substantive messages per week, not counting the original assignment entry addressing the topic or case.
The
absolute minimum requirement for entering the class and posting discussion
messages is three days per week (this does NOT count the day you make the
initial assignment entry unless you also post responses on the same day).
If you
post fewer than five messages or post in the discussion fewer than three
days per week, then the highest grade you can get for the discussion half
credit (and that’s assuming that the content of your original posting is
outstanding, otherwise you earn 0 points).
Sometimes things happen, and you might wind up posting fewer messages or on fewer than three days in a week. This never happens to students who participate at a high rate. This does tend to happen a lot, though, to the student who participates just enough to meet the minimum requirements and rarely (or never) do any more than the minimum. You walk a tightrope and sometimes you fall off.
Sometimes students find themselves eight weeks into the course in which they failed to meet the minimum requirements for half those weeks. This is a problem because you cannot make up discussion work. You cannot go back and make up a week of participation any more than you can go back in time and make up attendance in a seated class. Once you miss it, the damage is done.
Your goal for this class should not be about meeting minimum requirements but rather about being fully engaged in the weekly discussions, and your grades will reflect your learning.
Time Management
A traditional 16-week semester on-campus course requires approximately 9 hours of work per week. Research shows that online courses require two to three times more work and commitment, for instructors and students alike, than face-to-face courses. Schedule your time wisely. Build time into your schedule to type your work, to research, to study for tests, etc. Note when major assignments are due and when major tests occur in all your classes so you pace yourself throughout the semester. If you also work, incorporate your work schedule into your time; pay attention to changes in shifts, trips you may be required to take, changes in job duties, etc. Everyone has to juggle families, jobs, and school, so make choices carefully. Putting off your reading and work can be deadly to your grade. You are on a schedule; you must do your work on time. Do not forget; do not procrastinate.
Increased Interaction
Some people confuse online courses with correspondence courses, in which you study the materials by yourself, write your assignments just for the teacher, and send them off to be graded. OTC online courses are completely different. You will spend a great deal of your time in this course on the discussion board, getting to know your classmates, engaging in discussion and learning through interactive dialogue. Do not count on others to carry the discussion. Try out your ideas. Ask questions. Help classmates develop their ideas and get more involved in the discussions.
Students’ Responsibilities
In online courses, unlike in many seated courses,
you solely are responsible for what you learn. Education is about learning how
to think in new ways and to communicate that thinking effectively. To learn in
this way, you have to
Be an active participant.
Read the materials provided to you.
Use
available resources (such as the
Seek out your own information.
Ask questions, take risks, and push yourself to see things in new ways.
Engage in a collaborative experience with everyone else in the class.
In this course, you will find clear directions for completing assignments, effective strategies for pursuing projects, and specific feedback for improving your work. Your responsibility is to take advantage of these opportunities and complete the readings, discussions, and projects by the assigned due dates each week. I won’t hold your hand, step by step, throughout the course.
Instructor's Responsibilities
Every single assignment, including discussions, presentations, and written papers, receives my full attention and consideration when grading. I have high expectations for the quality and quantity of work in this course. Praising students for doing what is expected encourages a sense of complacency rather than promoting a desire to learn and produce higher quality work on subsequent assignments. Thus you will not receive praise for meeting the requirements. However on every assignment, you will see positive comments about your work right along with the corrective comments. You are in this class to learn and it is my job to help you learn. I take my job very seriously and if I am anything less than completely frank in my analysis and assessment of your work in this course, then you will not learn to your highest ability. You will receive corrective comments on all your work to indicate where improvement is needed and I expect improvement in those areas on subsequent work. I do not look for perfection – I look for improvement and evidence of learning. If you get a "WOW" or "excellent" or "outstanding" – this is not license to sit back and cruise on the rest of the assignments : -) It means you have impressed me with what you have learned and I expect that high quality of learning to continue.
My responsibilities to you are as follows:
I will be available to you via e-mail and the Question forum and will promptly reply to your messages within 24 hours or less (except weekends and holidays).
I will maintain the Blackboard web site with current materials, and will resolve any content-related problems promptly as they are reported to me.
I will post announcements to guide upcoming work and remind you of assignment due dates.
I will return all assignments to you promptly, and will include individualized comments and suggestions with each assignment.
I will hold our personal written or verbal communications in confidence.
If any of these points need clarification, or when special circumstances arise that require my assistance, please contact me so that we can discuss the matter personally