Reading this case study, I immediately had questions.
What type of queries were Trinh’s emails asking?
Was there something about her course design that made the need for so many emails inevitable?
Were her students globally less experienced using the Blackboard Learn LMS?
Had Trinh indicated how students should communicate with her?
Were there boundaries in place? Perhaps, by making herself available in so many ways to her students she had opened a ‘floodgate’ of 24/7 access to her?
I am not blaming Trinh for bringing the problem on herself. However, there may have been something she had done inadvertently to create/ allow the masses of emails to happen. Likewise, I would not want her students to see her make a ‘retreat’ from being available to them. However, there has to be an effective communication system or else, Trinh will eventually burn out from teaching the course.
Here are some solutions:
- Create a F.A.Q.’s page
- Allow students to help answer some queries through a specified discussion thread
- Create guidelines for when a personal email is most appropriate – of course, sensitive emails, assignment extension requests, etc. would have to go directly to Trinh. These guidelines would also include whether or not it would be appropriate to ask questions of Trinh in her blog or via Twitter.
- Within some grouping system, have peers check in with their group when situations/ problems arise that may be handled by the group
- Initiate ‘virtual’ office hours for a chance to get immediate responses to queries, these could be set a few times a week to guarantee that all time zones have an equal opportunity.
I like your idea of ‘virtual office’ hours. The scenario doesn’t specify where Trinh is, but hopefully she could do one evening for South Africa and Finland (same time zone) and another for her New Zealand students, without having to wake up for one or the other in the middle of the night herself.
Agreed. The virtual office hours would have to be implemented thoughtfully so that everyone got the most benefit out of them
Hi Heather,
I agree with Randy – the ‘virtual office hours’ are an attractive choice. They shouldn’t have to be every week either. She could offer a few options for synchronous sessions through Collaborate a few weeks before major assignments for example. The FAQ page is a good idea, too – especially for future iterations of the course. She would have to pay attention to questions that get asked the most frequently to do this and build the FAQ and answers as she makes her way through the materials. Likewise, if as many questions are getting asked as it seems in the scenario, it is possible the the course materials, assignment descriptions, etc. could be reworked to answer some of those questions too.
Victoria
Thanks for your comments, Victoria.
I agree that the ‘virtual’ office hours would not have to be weekly. In fact, they would be unnecessary at some points in the course. I like the idea that they are prearranged so that students can ‘plan’ to be there and save up any queries that they have
Hi Heather,
I like how you began your post with questions. Certainly setting up boundaries and preferred forms of communication could help channel or reduce the communications. The types of communications could be handled in different ways depending what the challenges are. I especially liked your idea of FAQ questions, considering she has taught this course before.
I once had a prof seem upset that no one was requesting her help. It hadn’t occurred to us that we needed it. If some of her students had this type of experience or a F-2-F experience where contacting the teacher was a form of demonstrating interest, perhaps there could be some cultural or institutional differences making students feel they need to reach out?
Kim
Hi Kim,
The cultural nuance facet that you brought up was a “WOW” for me. Especially in learning mediated online/text-based, what people read is going to be interpreted through their cultural/learning lens. Insightful response to a great post,
Keri