The Confession
My name is James (pseudonym). A few years ago, I enrolled in a graduate course. Part of the requirements for this course were weekly three-hour sessions using a specific asynchronous platform. Apart from these weekly sessions, there were extensive readings, which were followed by comprehensive weekly quizzes. Apart from the course requirements, another issue that complicated my situation is that I lived in the Caribbean, which had a different time zone from my institution in the USA. They were four hours behind my local time.
One particular evening I returned home with great trepidation that I had to attend another three-hour session. These sessions tested my endurance and pushed me beyond the capacity of my attention span. I had never seen my instructor's face in these online sessions. However, I knew her signature PowerPoint slides. Also, I had never seen faces of the other students in the online course, but I still remembered that most of them had an American accent.
I logged on promptly at 11:00 pm — to hear the instructor telling the class that she was satisfied with our progress. There were no objectives or other guidelines for our session. Students knew that the meeting would be used to recap the central points for the chapters we had read.
As the session progressed to over an hour, I felt my eyes closing. I struggled to maintain my concentration. After another thirty minutes of being talked at, we were gifted a ten-minute break. I placed my head on my computer desk to take a 'power nap.’
"James," the instructor was calling my name. I hurriedly popped up my head from the desk to look at my computer screen, only to hear my instructor calling my name again. She now wanted to know if I had a question to ask before she logged off. I immediately said, "No." I glanced at the participant list and noticed I was the only student left in the session. I then looked at my wall clock and realized that I had fallen asleep for over an hour. Embarrassed and frustrated, I typed in the chatbox, "Thanks for a lovely session, and see you next week."
James's situation is not isolated; therefore, as many instructors move online, it will be essential to ensure that students are active participants in these synchronous online sessions. Here are a few tips to ensure students are actively engaged.
Possible Strategies for Keeping James Active (Download Copy Here)
Comments