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Have you ever had a "Yikes" moment in your teaching career? I had one in my very first semester of teaching over 25 years ago! I still remember it this day. I mistakenly gave material on an exam from a topic that I told students would not be on the exam. Yikes! Let's just say it was a small mutany. Even in my online teaching career (10 years in the making now), I've made blunders that I've had to "clean up" to avoid the mutany that inevitably follows.
So, here is my list of top mistakes (or blunders) that I've made in my online teaching AND most important, how I think you should handle them AND better still, avoid them!!!
So, here is my list of top mistakes (or blunders) that I've made in my online teaching AND most important, how I think you should handle them AND better still, avoid them!!!
1) Changing the requirements mid-semester
This one in my book is a definite no-no. Whatever you write in that syllabus is like gold to students. Most likely, the course syllabus is the FIRST document that students encountered from your course. So, it certainly does have weight in their minds. Now, some instructors teaching online may believe that students don't read these and rightly so. Many course syllabi that I've seen are many pages long. Whether your students read the entire course syllabus or not, can you guess which part they will DEFINITELY read?? Yep, that's right. It's the grade breakdown. The most important piece of information on the course syllabus to a student is "how am I being graded". So, in my opinion, this information along with the course syllabus as a document should not change.
--> How I handle changing the course requirements
You should make changes ONLY if it benefits the entire class of students. For example, if you give extra credit, it should be available for every student, not just the ones that are failing.
--> Note: When changing the course requirements, be sure to -
* Communicate the EXACT change in clear language.
* Communicate how the change will impact students. (Give them specific examples.)
* Communicate the change several times to students not just once.
* Communicate the change through various communication channels (i.e. email, course documents, newsletter, etc.)
How to prevent changing the course requirements (While your grade breakdown, course policies, and course expectations should be set for students, other things do not have to be set in stone.)
* Do not commit or promise too many things on your course syllabus.
* Make your course syllabus vague enough to give you "wiggle room"
* Use phrases like "To be determined", "approximately" when describing topics covered, topic schedule, content of exams and assignments.
2) Screwing up test submissions (i.e. file uploading)I made this blunder recently while teaching one of my online courses. I gave an online exam in which students needed to submit 3 files. I forget to check the box for multiple file submission. Of course, I broke my own rule for preventing this. Yikes!!!
Have you ever had a "jokester" in one of your forums who makes the other students uncomfortable? Or how about a student who goes off on a soapbox on a hot topic? It does tend to get awkward. I've had both situations and let me tell you that they were not easy. The worst thing is to DO NOTHING!
A few years ago, I had a student who started the first week of forums with a lewd introduction and then followed this by replying to several students in offensive manners by mocking their posting. I was beyond livid at him!
Here's what I did: For the jokester, I edited his lewd comments in the LMS and sent him an email with the copy of the netiquette policy. I pointed out that the behavior was inappropriate for the class and the specific reasons why it was inappropriate. I also required him to re-reply to those students he had offended with an apology and an appropriate reply. I think the quick, stiff action scared him so much that he profusely apologized to me through several emails!
This one in my book is a definite no-no. Whatever you write in that syllabus is like gold to students. Most likely, the course syllabus is the FIRST document that students encountered from your course. So, it certainly does have weight in their minds. Now, some instructors teaching online may believe that students don't read these and rightly so. Many course syllabi that I've seen are many pages long. Whether your students read the entire course syllabus or not, can you guess which part they will DEFINITELY read?? Yep, that's right. It's the grade breakdown. The most important piece of information on the course syllabus to a student is "how am I being graded". So, in my opinion, this information along with the course syllabus as a document should not change.
--> How I handle changing the course requirements
You should make changes ONLY if it benefits the entire class of students. For example, if you give extra credit, it should be available for every student, not just the ones that are failing.
--> Note: When changing the course requirements, be sure to -
* Communicate the EXACT change in clear language.
* Communicate how the change will impact students. (Give them specific examples.)
* Communicate the change several times to students not just once.
* Communicate the change through various communication channels (i.e. email, course documents, newsletter, etc.)
How to prevent changing the course requirements (While your grade breakdown, course policies, and course expectations should be set for students, other things do not have to be set in stone.)* Do not commit or promise too many things on your course syllabus.
* Make your course syllabus vague enough to give you "wiggle room"
* Use phrases like "To be determined", "approximately" when describing topics covered, topic schedule, content of exams and assignments.
2) Screwing up test submissions (i.e. file uploading)I made this blunder recently while teaching one of my online courses. I gave an online exam in which students needed to submit 3 files. I forget to check the box for multiple file submission. Of course, I broke my own rule for preventing this. Yikes!!!
--> How I handle screwing up test submissions
One piece of advice here...communicate. In my situation, the student submissions were due on a Sunday. Once the first student had problems, I was able correct the problem by opening up a new link that allowed for multiple submissions. Students later expressed their satisfaction at my handling of the error.
--> Note, if you have to correct an error you've made, make sure to do the following
* Act quickly.
* Check your email frequently during submission times (i.e. midterms, project deadlines, finals week) to catch the problem(s) quickly.
* Communicate often about fixes.
* Make the fix different than the original error.
How to prevent online blunders such as incorrect links, submissions, forums, wikis, chats, etc.
* Check every link before releasing to students.
* Re-use the same online tools/links each semester. (I keep an Instructor's Toolbox module in my LMS that has standard links to activities and assignments. When I need one, I just copy it over to the week that I need it in. I just change the information in it.)
* Test out interactive elements such as file uploads and downloads, forums, wikis, chats yourself.
3) Mishandling (or not handling) online discussion forum situations--> Note, if you have to correct an error you've made, make sure to do the following
* Act quickly.
* Check your email frequently during submission times (i.e. midterms, project deadlines, finals week) to catch the problem(s) quickly.
* Communicate often about fixes.
* Make the fix different than the original error.
How to prevent online blunders such as incorrect links, submissions, forums, wikis, chats, etc.* Check every link before releasing to students.
* Re-use the same online tools/links each semester. (I keep an Instructor's Toolbox module in my LMS that has standard links to activities and assignments. When I need one, I just copy it over to the week that I need it in. I just change the information in it.)
* Test out interactive elements such as file uploads and downloads, forums, wikis, chats yourself.
Have you ever had a "jokester" in one of your forums who makes the other students uncomfortable? Or how about a student who goes off on a soapbox on a hot topic? It does tend to get awkward. I've had both situations and let me tell you that they were not easy. The worst thing is to DO NOTHING!
A few years ago, I had a student who started the first week of forums with a lewd introduction and then followed this by replying to several students in offensive manners by mocking their posting. I was beyond livid at him!
Here's what I did: For the jokester, I edited his lewd comments in the LMS and sent him an email with the copy of the netiquette policy. I pointed out that the behavior was inappropriate for the class and the specific reasons why it was inappropriate. I also required him to re-reply to those students he had offended with an apology and an appropriate reply. I think the quick, stiff action scared him so much that he profusely apologized to me through several emails!
--> How I handle inappropriate discussion forum behavior
* Act fast and hard.
* Refer the student(s) to your netiquette policy.
* Require the student to redo the action for a grade to reinforce the correction.
How to prevent inappropriate discussion forum behavior
* Create a good netiquette policy. (See Virginia Shea work "Core Rules of Internet Netiquette" HERE.
* Have a conversation in the early weeks of a semester about Internet Netiquette.
4) Accepting plagiarized material
Okay, I know that we've all had this one! Nowadays, it is so easy for students to commit plagiarism. Many students do not even know what this is. In fact, many teachers do not either. First, make sure that you are clear of the obvious offenses but also the subtle ones that can appear in the online environment. The website Plagiarism.org which is run by the same folks who make the plagiarism checking software Turnitin, are a wonderful source of information about plagiarism. I send my students there each semester to learn about:
a) exactly what plagiarism is
b) how not to do it
c) how to cite sources properly
In online courses, students can plagiarize by copying text, passages of text, entire papers, images, media, etc. and submitting them as their own work. There are many situations here and many, many stories that I'm sure teachers can share about their own situations. From my experience, I've found that my students will attempt to plagiarize big assignments like the midterm, portfolio and final projects. I've also found that the reasons my students (like many students) plagiarize is because: 1) they run out of time, 2) they don't know how to do the assignment or 3) they don't care. So, I have a combination of actions that I take throughout the semester and when plagiarism happens that I find help minimize incidents.
--> How I handle plagiarism
* When I detect (through software or instinct) that an assignment is copied, I penalize it and then include the citation of where I think the material came from. Interesting enough, I find that many students will copy directly from website which is easily detectable by putting the text in question into any search engine.
* When I detect that two or more students have handed in the same individual assignment, I point it out to the students involved without giving names. Then, I inform them that the assignment as it stands cannot be graded and that they have a certain timeframe to make it up with a late penalty. That way, the students are still penalized for the plagiarism but can make amends by actually doing the assignment themselves.
How to prevent plagiarism
* Refer the student(s) to your netiquette policy.
* Require the student to redo the action for a grade to reinforce the correction.
How to prevent inappropriate discussion forum behavior* Create a good netiquette policy. (See Virginia Shea work "Core Rules of Internet Netiquette" HERE.
* Have a conversation in the early weeks of a semester about Internet Netiquette.
* Use forced subscriptions (link to discussion forums) for all forums so that you are aware of forum activity.
Okay, I know that we've all had this one! Nowadays, it is so easy for students to commit plagiarism. Many students do not even know what this is. In fact, many teachers do not either. First, make sure that you are clear of the obvious offenses but also the subtle ones that can appear in the online environment. The website Plagiarism.org which is run by the same folks who make the plagiarism checking software Turnitin, are a wonderful source of information about plagiarism. I send my students there each semester to learn about:
a) exactly what plagiarism is
b) how not to do it
c) how to cite sources properly
In online courses, students can plagiarize by copying text, passages of text, entire papers, images, media, etc. and submitting them as their own work. There are many situations here and many, many stories that I'm sure teachers can share about their own situations. From my experience, I've found that my students will attempt to plagiarize big assignments like the midterm, portfolio and final projects. I've also found that the reasons my students (like many students) plagiarize is because: 1) they run out of time, 2) they don't know how to do the assignment or 3) they don't care. So, I have a combination of actions that I take throughout the semester and when plagiarism happens that I find help minimize incidents.
--> How I handle plagiarism
* When I detect (through software or instinct) that an assignment is copied, I penalize it and then include the citation of where I think the material came from. Interesting enough, I find that many students will copy directly from website which is easily detectable by putting the text in question into any search engine.
* When I detect that two or more students have handed in the same individual assignment, I point it out to the students involved without giving names. Then, I inform them that the assignment as it stands cannot be graded and that they have a certain timeframe to make it up with a late penalty. That way, the students are still penalized for the plagiarism but can make amends by actually doing the assignment themselves.
How to prevent plagiarism
* Avoid "cookie-cutter" assignments that can be copied. Most of my assignments require students to incorporate their own experiences.
* Before assignments, I point out to students how the assignment will be graded and that original work is required. When assignments are due, I point out within the week what plagiarism is, how it can easily be detected and the penalties for assignments that are plagiarized. I also point out to students that in many cases, plagiarism might occur unknowingly but that it is up to them to educate them about it to avoid any mishaps.
Question: Have you made any recent blunders in teaching your online class that you'd like to share? How did you handle it? In hindsight, how could you have prevented it?
* Before assignments, I point out to students how the assignment will be graded and that original work is required. When assignments are due, I point out within the week what plagiarism is, how it can easily be detected and the penalties for assignments that are plagiarized. I also point out to students that in many cases, plagiarism might occur unknowingly but that it is up to them to educate them about it to avoid any mishaps.
Question: Have you made any recent blunders in teaching your online class that you'd like to share? How did you handle it? In hindsight, how could you have prevented it?
