Should online instructors have fast-and-firm rules about online deadlines? In other words, if a student forgets to turn in their discussion posting or do their quiz by the Thursday midnight deadline, should they get another chance? I think that the answer lies in what is best for the student. For me, that means some flexibility. Now, from experience, I see that many instructors disagree with me. Many students that I have supported or advised as an administrator have had disappointing grades not because they did not learn the material, but because they missed the deadline for turning in an assignment or quiz. Many faculty believe that we are doing students a disservice if we are too flexible - that they need to learn responsibility. However, when we have students with five online classes, it is easy to overook a deadline (I sometimes can't even remember five things I need to pick up at the grocery store). The result for the student is a zero, no exceptions, and this leads the student to not only have a lower GPA but also have great disdain for online learning. Yes, I clearly realize what a pain it is to go back and re-grade late assignments (as an instructor). For this reason, I try to build in several extra credit opportunities to make up for these lapses. In addition, I am often open to letting a student complete a limited number of assignments late, with some reduction in grade. Isn't our real purpose to give them opportunities to learn and succeed?
Posts
2 comments:
I agree, Dr. Melly, that our responsibility is to faciltate learning for each of our students. E-Learning presents challenges, such as the topic of your post. E-Learning professional development for K-12 teachers, as an example, is scrutinized by the public schools community in the United States and is often suspect due to the misconception of lack of rigor. Therefore, too much flexibility, particularly in the area of accountability to meet deadlines, can contibute to the perception of lack of rigor. Additionally, the added time required by an instructor to grade an assignment, can result in a lack of immediacy on the part of the instructor. Instructor feedback, according to the findings of my recent doctoral study, is one key indicator of meaningful e-Learning professional development for K-12 teachers.
Denise Douglas-Faraci, Ed.D.
Stony Brook, NY
Good points. I think that instructor feedback is also important in the higher ed environment as well, and we must find ways to streamline our work (grading, evaluation) so that there is more time to seem "present." The hope, I believe would be to achieve a moderate balance of flexibility, rather than a never-bending rule of "all late assignments receive a zero." Thanks.
Post a Comment