A teacher from the online trenches (Score 2, Insightful)

A student of mine directed me to this posting,and after reading it, I thought I would respond to it from a teacher's perspective. I always read information about the quality of online teaching because it is still so controversial, but I rarely come across an article from a studentâ(TM)s perspective. I found most of your comments enlightening. Teaching online should be a choice, never a requirement. It is a venue that many teachers are not equipped to use, so naturally students are going to come across a bad experience now and then. But that will happen in the traditional classroom as well. Taking an online class is not for everyone either. I teach online because of the one on one I can give my students. I teach traditional classes as well and I know how much more time I spend with my online students. Simply having warm bodies in a traditional classroom does not make it conducive to learning. It also does not permit all students to ask questions because of the lack of time. I use IM to communicate with students (I do so with my traditional classes as well), so they get more one on one than they would if they depended on discussion board comments and office hours only. I have to add that teaching online is very time consuming, and instructors set limits for their own involvement. They have to because it is very easy to spend hours online communicating with students. It takes hours to comment on discussion board postings, etc. I teach two sections of Composition II online year round. I wish I could teach more, but my school has a cap on hour many online class hours one may teach. But trust me. There is nothing easy about teaching online, but then if you really love teaching, there is nothing easy about teaching period. It is challenging and ever-changing. That is why I put my heart and soul into it. I am so glad online classes are available for those who desire to take their courses that way. I hope your online experience ends better than it started : )

Professor Deb Richey
Owens Community College
Toledo, Ohio