I just completed a graduate degree with online coursework, which was a positive experience for me overall. But I do have a confession: Some of the most significant lessons I learned did not come from the course content鈥攂ut from the experience of being an online student.
Camaraderie is Essential
During the first couple of courses in my online program, I felt very much alone as I struggled to complete challenging tasks. There was no unstructured interaction with the other students. No chatting with your peers while waiting for the professor to get started. No hanging out for a few minutes after class. Were my classmates experiencing the same difficulties that I was?
Finally, I took the initiative, reaching out to classmates from all around the world, using email, Facebook, and Skype. I learned I was not alone. We shared our stories and hopes. We worked through complex assignments, providing support and encouragement for one another. Without a doubt, my work improved鈥攁nd, as importantly, I could process the learning experience with others.
This experience reminded me that, as a teacher, it is vital for me to create a classroom climate that encourages this kind of camaraderie. I can鈥檛 expect students to jump into challenging activities if they feel alone. A few minutes of talking about and can help grease the wheels for lively conversations about problem solving and literature. I鈥檝e come to believe that my students鈥� learning actually benefits from 鈥渓osing instructional time鈥� to a few minutes of casual conversation or the occasional classroom party.
Clear Directions Are a Must
In one of my online courses, we were asked to scrutinize another country鈥檚 educational system. At first, I was very enthusiastic about the project鈥擨 would be studying Canada鈥檚 schools. But as I got started, my excitement turned to confusion, as I couldn鈥檛 make heads or tails of the instructions. In an online class, clear directions are especially vital if the professor cannot be immediately responsive via phone or chat. It was frustrating to know that so much of my time and effort was going toward understanding the assignment when I was eager to learn more about Canada鈥檚 education system.
When I鈥檓 teaching, I am now much more careful in providing directions. In particular, I share and discuss more exemplars with my students. I used to be hesitant to use exemplars because I felt that they squelched creativity. But being a student reminded me that ambiguity leads to confusion, which can be a greater hindrance to creativity than looking at model work.
I found exemplars especially helpful this year as I began implementing the Common Core State Standards. Many of my students found it difficult to support an argument with evidence until I asked them to analyze exemplary work samples.
Alignment is Crucial
I know I encountered this in my college days, but I鈥檇 forgotten about it: vastly different expectations from course to course. I quickly learned to dread PowerPoint presentations for this reason. One professor would expect notes at the bottom of each slide while another would insist on graphics on each slide. And yet another would want no graphics or notes at all. I often felt like a deer in the headlights!
While adapting to different expectations is an important skill for students to master, it can also get in the way of learning.
That鈥檚 why, as a teacher, I鈥檝e been having more conversations with colleagues about their expectations. As a gifted-education teacher, I unfortunately miss out on many of the day-to-day interactions between core teachers鈥攁nd my online-learning experience reminded me that I needed to make more of an effort.
What I learned: In some ways, my expectations greatly exceeded those in other classrooms, and in others, I was not expecting enough. For example, when I compared handwritten samples of work done by students in my class with samples from their other classrooms, I was astonished. Some students were writing in nearly illegible chicken scratch in my classroom鈥攁nd in beautiful cursive handwriting elsewhere.
Positive Feedback Is Key
As a student in an online program that typically did not include video or audio components, I found it extremely difficult to 鈥渞ead鈥� my professors. I could not interpret body language or hear their tones of voice. Their comments on my work were all I had to go on鈥攕o I paid much closer attention to those comments than I otherwise might have.
Here鈥檚 what I realized: Even as an adult, I felt much more enthusiastic and confident approaching a difficult project if I had previously received positive feedback from the instructor.
One teacher was so pleased with my work and initiative that he told me he wished he could have me skip some of the classes, while another couldn鈥檛 find anything that I could do well (or at least didn鈥檛 express it). In the former class, I enthusiastically completed assignments and eagerly awaited feedback, even if it meant I needed to make revisions. In the latter, I timidly hit the submit button and held my breath until I received a graded assignment full of criticism.
As a teacher, I now construct my feedback to students more carefully. In the past, I鈥檝e sometimes been guilty of only pointing out areas for improvement because grading papers is faster that way. Now, almost all of the work I grade includes some positive feedback, and I am careful to limit my suggestions for improvements. When I receive a written assignment that is subpar, I will only make a few revisions鈥攁nd have a conversation with the student鈥攂ecause I鈥檝e learned firsthand that a plethora of corrections can be stifling. Once those improvements are made, I can suggest others.
I鈥檓 aware that there are many online-learning experiences that are designed in more interactive and student-friendly ways than what I encountered. But I am truly grateful that the challenges of the program caused me to reflect on my own students and how I might better meet their needs. I鈥檓 sure many other teachers have refined their teaching as a result of 鈥渂eing taught鈥� again. What lessons have you learned about teaching by being a student?
