An emerging phenomenon in the world of higher education is the explosion of online classes. I am constantly torn between applauding their accessibility and frowning their lack of interaction. I usually teach an online class during the summer for my undergraduate institution and I really love this experience and opportunity for a few reasons. First, I am able to teach a class in Syracuse, NY without leaving Athens, GA. It allows me to be a part of a campus and community I loved as a student and greatly respect as an instructor. The value that my undergraduate college placed on teaching far surpasses what I perceive on larger, more research oriented campuses. Second, teaching an online class and having this experience will be invaluable on the job market, now that online classes are becoming more widespread. And third, the class is demanding in time but great for flexibility. So, there are my pros for teaching the online class. I could list plenty more pros from an objective standpoint, but I won't bore my poor readers.
My real point in writing this blog, however, stems from a phone call I received the other day. My undergraduate advisor called and asked how busy I was this semester because he was dealing with a crisis, and needed some help. Apparently, an adjunct professor quit on him last week and her classes are left hanging, in need of someone to pick them up. After making a search for adjunct professors in the area, he found nothing and called me to ask if I could take over one of the classes online. First of all, I really could use the $2500... but second of all... how cool that a class can flip from being face-to-face to online in the course of a day... or... maybe not cool at all.
If I were a student in that class and it switched to an online class I think I might be a little angry. Afterall, if I wanted to take an online class then I would have signed up for one, right? Or, maybe to the student this appears to be a blessing because s/he thinks it will be less work? I don't know. Should this be allowed? Clearly, there are extenuating circumstances here: an adjunct professor walked out and the classes would have to be canceled otherwise. Maybe this is the best solution. It's two weeks into the semester so what would happen to all of those students? At this point, I am too overbooked to take over the classes but otherwise I would definitely take over the classes.
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Wow. Can't she be sued for breach of contract or something? Talk about ruining your academic life... unless of course she left because she got a good job somewhere else (not adjunct, I mean).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if I was a student I would probably have been angry, but that may be because I am a nerd. For some students, however, the extra flexibility in their schedule might come as quite the reward. I guess the problem I see is with the fact that these students are being forced into an online class when they may not have been taking one for good reason. Online classes are difficult in my limited experience; even the best-led discussion can seem somewhat disjointed (although this can happen in a F2F setting too.) Additionally, if you are a student that struggles with self-motivation, an online class is probably not for you as your class responsibilities can get more easily lost in the shuffle.
I guess in this case, however, that is better than nothing? Any news on how this turned out?
Looking forward to hearing how this is going, Maria...whether you agreed, how students are reacting, how you might help them with the unexpected change, etc...
ReplyDeleteI should check back in with him to find out the status. I never did pick up any of the classes so I wasn't much help there. I'll keep you posted - maybe I'll write a new blog about that one, and how the students responded if they did flip from F2F to online.
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