Student Confidence Online
Introduction
Common emotions among online students are loneliness and anxiety.
There is much that professors can do to help. Some basics:
- Live-streaming and Zoom sessions
- Online forums
- Invitation to ask questions by e-mail or a live face time session
Demonstrate Confidence
- This online course is not an experiment
- I've got this, so you can be sure of a good educational experience
Build Community through Face Time
- Add face time interaction even if the course is asynchronous (Zoom, Google Meet)
- Face time may be a course requirement, but it may be optional
- Purpose is less to provide instruction than to enhance a sense of community
- Keep the meeting light and allow for participant interactions and questions
Ensure Resources
- Update your reading lists with e-resources whose availability you have checked
- Predetermine what informational and technology resources your students need
- Be available to answer resource-based questions
- Work with the librarian to enable your students to access course resources easily
Consider Formative Assignments
- Summative assignments give a grade and a few comments
- Formative assignments break larger projects into smaller required submissions
- More extensive comments allow students to improve their work on next submissions
- If student work does not meet your threshold, return it for another try
- Give the message that you will work with your students until they succeed
Contact
- Be a lifeline to your students
- They can e-mail you at any time with any question
- Maintain a 24 hour turnaround time for student questions and student assignments
- Check in with students who are struggling