emzhengjiu Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 My daughter is taking French 1 online through our local community college as a dual credit class. The instructor does not have regular office hours for face-to-face meetings nor is she available over the phone. I actually didn't expect her to take phone calls. She responds to emails quickly, but doesn't give thorough answers to questions. My daughter missed several similar questions on a recent test. The online tests show that an answer is wrong, but not the correct answer. When she and I couldn't figure it out, she emailed the instructor. The instructor's response was that my daughter's answer was wrong. Duh... she knew that. She had asked to better understand the correct answer so she could learn and not make the same mistake again. I expected more instructor involvement in the class. According to a some other students, many of the online classes have instructors that are missing in action from my perspective. Now I'm curious, are most online college classes basically for independent study or are the instructors actively involved in teaching the class in some way or other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 The answer is: it varies greatly. Some online classes have instructors who are very engaged, daily in contact with students via discussion boards - others are basically canned self study versions. For a class that is completely online, I would not expect any face to face meetings with the instructor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I agree that it varies greatly. Your dd will probably need to write very short, very clear emails to this instructor. Lots of people tend to 'scan' emails rather than reading them, resulting in not-so-helpful responses like she recieved. Try to make the first sentence super short and clear; save all details for the rest of the message. My first sentence would be: Can I get the correct answers for the questions I missed? Then say what test, what questions, etc. If she's already doing that, she may have to resign herself to some extra emailing. So, if she sends the exact sentence above, and still gets that response, send it again: Can I get the correct answers for the questions I missed? I know I got 2, 4, and 7 wrong, but I need the correct answers in order to understand. This was the second test that we took on Wednesday, February 1. Thank you! Lather, rinse, and repeat until you get either the correct reply or a snotty reply. If you eventually get the correct reply, she's scanning her emails and hoping that any old answer will do. If you get a snotty reply, she's scanning her emails, hoping that any old answer will do, and resents being called out on it. At this point, you have to decide if you want to let it go and get help somewhere else, or find out school policy and pursue it further. Disclaimer: I often say 'you' in my replies out of habit. It is the casual and universal 'you,' because saying "one" sounds overly formal for a message board. Readers may kindly assume that I am referring to the person in question, and not advising mom or dad to send emails on their kid's behalf or do their homework for them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 My husband has taught online classes for a community college for many years. He doesn't have office hours and generally only communicates by email. He would make an appointment for a phone call if absolutely necessary but it would be an evening or weekend. He has a regular full time job so all of his class interaction is late at night on his time. So, there would not be immediate feedback, though he does check in on it every night. Honestly, rarely does my dh have a student motivated enough to seek out a phone call. His students are pretty apathetic until grade time. He has been doing it this way for many years and has had good feedback and his bosses are happy. So, I think the way he is handling it is the norm or at least acceptable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 When I was in college, there were no online classes so I'm having to rethink everything I'm been telling my daughters about college. The textbook for this class is pretty good. There are online exercises, some ear training and cultural videos. It looks and feels as if it is prepackaged software to me, but I could be wrong. I will suggest to my daughter that she write write short, direct emails to the instructor and hope for the best. So, if the teacher doesn't teach, does she get paid on the same level as instructors that have live classes?? Next semester, I'm going to strongly recommend that my daughter take live classes and get a lot of feedback from other students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 As I said, my husband teaches these classes. My kids take live classes :001_smile: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Does her syllabus state office hours when the teacher will be physically present? DS is taking an online class where the instructor only "appears" when he asks questions and to reply with grades/ comments on quizzes etc. Thankfully, she is very on the ball. She clearly states office hours in the syllabus that she sent via email to students. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 My daughter is taking French 1 online through our local community college as a dual credit class. The instructor does not have regular office hours for face-to-face meetings nor is she available over the phone. I actually didn't expect her to take phone calls. She responds to emails quickly, but doesn't give thorough answers to questions. My daughter missed several similar questions on a recent test. The online tests show that an answer is wrong, but not the correct answer. When she and I couldn't figure it out, she emailed the instructor. The instructor's response was that my daughter's answer was wrong. Duh... she knew that. She had asked to better understand the correct answer so she could learn and not make the same mistake again. I expected more instructor involvement in the class. According to a some other students, many of the online classes have instructors that are missing in action from my perspective. Now I'm curious, are most online college classes basically for independent study or are the instructors actively involved in teaching the class in some way or other? Where I work, when they first started online classes, they had not fully trained all of the instructors, and I suspect this happened. The institutions have lately put in a TON of work to train instructors, to make the interface user-friendly, how to use a message board so it helps, etc. It is getting better. My partner is taking an online class. I took some online classes. They were nothing like what your daughter is facing. But we knew that was a possibility so carefully chose our profs to avoid it. I hope your daughter can find a better prof next quarter. In-person might be much better particularly for language, but that may not be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Does her syllabus state office hours when the teacher will be physically present? DS is taking an online class where the instructor only "appears" when he asks questions and to reply with grades/ comments on quizzes etc. Thankfully, she is very on the ball. She clearly states office hours in the syllabus that she sent via email to students. Good luck! The instructor doesn't have office hours listed in the syllabus. It's a strange setup to me. Your son's experience sounds similar which would be okay if my daughter's questions were being answered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 I just remembered that last fall, I asked about online classes and got some great feedback then. If I had remembered before she registered for this semester, she likely wouldn't have taken this class. I think I'm getting old! I know I'm getting old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 DS also checks on rate my professor before choosing any of his instructors. Something to consider for the future! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Off topic, but what baffles me is: how can an online foreign language course possibly work? You can't learn a language without practicing conversation . Do they not speak and prepare dialogues with partners? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Off topic, but what baffles me is: how can an online foreign language course possibly work? You can't learn a language without practicing conversation . Do they not speak and prepare dialogues with partners? Nope, there is no interaction with other students or with the instructor. My daughter submits recordings of her reading passages but even with this, the instructor doesn't correct her pronunciation. It's really weird! I thought the class would be set up the way online high school language classes are with Landry and with the Potter's School. Both of these programs have included ample time to work with partners and practice conversational skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 It does vary WiDELY. I teach face-to-face, live online with a webcam, and online asynchronous (i.e. do the assignments and email the professor if you have problems). In each case I go out of my way to be available, but I know that many of my colleagues do far less than I do. For the asynchronous students, I actually email them every time I grade an assignment because I find that the asynchronous students struggle the most with feeling lost and isolated, especially because what I teach there involves technology that doesn't always work for them. If an asynchronous student is emailing me frequently, I give them my home phone and set up appointment just to chat if nothing else. My oldest took online Spanish from one of the colleges I work for, and it was very well done. He had to record certain narratives which were critiqued by the professor, but there were weekly online live sessions where they had small group discussions with the professor. She did this at set times, and you had to attend a certain number and participate as part of your grade. They also had two recorded presentations that they had to do in groups where they made narrated PowerPoints. And her midterm and final were both written and required an online oral exam with her at a set time, one-on-one. So there she was in her kitchen with her headset giving the exam while she made notes. That said, I've told mine to be careful with online classes. The engagement and personality of the professor makes a huge difference. I'd rather they take all of the courses in their majors face-to-face if at all possible. My oldest may have to take business statistics in an online asynchronous format because the local college doesn't offer it, and he needs two semesters of it. UGH. IMHO that's not a good subject to take online, but we may be stuck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Nope, there is no interaction with other students or with the instructor. None whatsoever? The instructor doesn't even give lectures or lessons via video? So, essentially, you are paying for a Berlitz class with grading? This is no way to teach a spoken foreign language, especially one as tonal as French. If this is the case, I'm guessing that it isn't the instructor's fault, but the college's fault for setting up the course like this, and I'd be very leery of any other online class from this institution. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 None whatsoever? The instructor doesn't even give lectures or lessons via video? So, essentially, you are paying for a Berlitz class with grading? This is no way to teach a spoken foreign language, especially one as tonal as French. If this is the case, I'm guessing that it isn't the instructor's fault, but the college's fault for setting up the course like this, and I'd be very leery of any other online class from this institution. I agree! Both my daughter and I have been surprised and disappointed in this class. Thankfully, tuition is waived as part of the dual credit program. College has changed so much since I graduated. Other than some independent study programs, all classes were live. I'm wondering if these types of online classes are an attempt to reduce costs for the school similar to teaching assistants actually teaching many undergraduate classes (in my day.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I took online classes last year (9) and one this year (meets for lab on campus once a week). I agree it varies widely. However, because these professors are also teaching on campus, they all have set office hours listed in the syllabus. I'm taking French this semester (on campus) and I do agree that language, especially French imo, would be hard to teach correctly online. I know some online classes are taught remotely, so the teacher doesn't even have an office on campus. This is not true at my campus though. I would try to salvage the class. I'd also trying emailing the professor again, asking specifically about questions she missed as in: If A was the wrong answer, would B be correct then? Most of my online classes have been worth it to me because most of general eds that I need to get out of the way. Sometimes you can poke around on google or the school's website and find the syllabi for previous or current classes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I understand we are talking about college classes in the post, but there is a reason my kids took French through the Potters School as opposed to online with the CC (they don't offer an in-person French class). The cc class sounds exactly like what the OP describes--- no interaction, listening to canned CD playbacks, no instructor hours, etc. Oh, and they only offer French I. :confused1: Addressing whether it's possible to learn a language online, yes. The Potters School is high school French, but it's all online and is fabulous. There is more conversation, listening to news clips, movies, etc, than I ever had in my face-to-face classes in both high school and college. When it is done correctly, online language learning CAN be done. Unfortunately, neither my cc (nationally ranked) nor the local university have figured that out. My dd will likely place out of the first four university French classes and go straight into French Literature and Advanced Conversations classes due to her online-only class. It's that good. I was a total skeptic that one could learn a foreign language well online, but became a believer after that first year. :thumbup1: OP, I hope your daughter gets the assistance she needs. It sounds extremely frustrating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Sometimes a school hires a professor who lives across the country (or who is in another part of the world) to teach an online class. I would suggest that your daughter be very specific about the question that is asked. Unfortunately, saying that "I missed Questions 3, 7, and 9" on Exam 1 may mean nothing to this professor. Sometimes an online professor has thousands of students (literally). If the exams are online exams, it is likely that students get questions in a different order from other students; in some instances, different students even get different questions. It is very time consuming for a professor to go back and see that Sally had the question about XYZ as number 3, her answer choices were a, b, c, and d; she chose "d"....It is much easier for the professor if the student provides the question and answers in the email. Some learning software programs allow for the question to be sent directly to the professor to deal with these issues. Also, make sure your student is clear about who they are and what class they are in. I get many emails from "Sally"--is that Sally Martin in my finance class or Sally Smith in my economics class?.... I am not defending this type of college level instruction--it is just the fact of where many courses are headed in the name of efficiency. It is not the type of college class I want my children to have. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Honestly? I'd drop the class if it's not too late to take a W. If it needs explaining, it's easy to explain that you signed up for an online course and found out the format was really, really not a good idea. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Honestly? I'd drop the class if it's not too late to take a W. If it needs explaining, it's easy to explain that you signed up for an online course and found out the format was really, really not a good idea. She has until next week to drop the class. If she drops and wants to take the class again on campus, I will have to pay the tuition. Fortunately, our CC is relatively inexpensive. Originally, I thought the drop would count toward the 6 maximum number Texas allows students in Texas state universities and CCs to drop, but I discovered last night that dual credit students are exempt until they graduate from high school. That's good. We're still deciding the best course of action. It's frustrating, but I would rather learn about these potential issues while she's dual credit, at least I guess I would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'm sure it varies, but we have had very good experience with online classes. I believe most of our online teachers even had online office hours. However, I don't think my kids ever had to take advantage of the actual office hours because the teachers were very good about answering their email questions. If you are having trouble getting the answer you need from a teacher, I'd make sure to have the email very specific, relating ONLY to that one question. You could even ask the question in the subject line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 One question your daughter might want to ask is how the work is graded. For some online language courses, the work is all graded by computer. So, if she's got one accent mark or letter wrong the entire answer may be marked wrong. It may be helpful to know that is how work is graded because in that situation the instructor likely has little flexibility or ability to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Traditional B&M college vs. Online college Question about Online Classes I guess your thread back in September didn't scare you off the online classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Traditional B&M college vs. Online college Question about Online Classes I guess your thread back in September didn't scare you off the online classes. Actually, if I had remembered that I had asked the question back then, it would have made a difference. All I can plead is old age and single working mom status. My memory is a sieve! This will likely be her last online class unless we have specific information about the class before hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I actually discussed this with my oldest last night as we were on the way to the gym. Given that he has taken all of the formats and has a mother in that field, I asked him what subjects he thought would be good to take online next year when he starts college. His reply, "The ones I just want to get done. Not the ones that count." We agreed that he may take English, Student Life (an orientation course), and P.E. that way. So there you go... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I actually discussed this with my oldest last night as we were on the way to the gym. Given that he has taken all of the formats and has a mother in that field, I asked him what subjects he thought would be good to take online next year when he starts college. His reply, "The ones I just want to get done. Not the ones that count." Yes. Exactly. Something where you have little to no interest in the subject matter OR the course is taught at such a basic level that it's worthless for you is a great thing to knock out online. Something which is primarily reading-based can also work well -- my brother had a great online history course. Something that you need as a prerequisite is a terrible idea to take online, as is something where you struggle and need a teacher. For example, if you are a struggling math student, you should NOT take an online class. If you are a strong math student who just needs college algebra for your major but went through calculus in high school, online is probably a great fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Ugh. Diamons has had to take some of her classes online (community college) Either the live class was cancelled, or the class was only offered online. She hates them- she says it's just like homeschooling herself, except now she has to pay $400/class for it. :glare: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Ugh. Diamons has had to take some of her classes online (community college) Either the live class was cancelled, or the class was only offered online. She hates them- she says it's just like homeschooling herself, except now she has to pay $400/class for it. :glare: Yes, we were poking around the other night, looking at the fall schedule because I can see it as a professor. One class is ONLY offered online, so we have to decide if he's going to take that the first semester or just start out with English and the orientation class online. We're reluctant to do too many to start although he's done beautifully with dual enrollment online. Then one class is ONLY offered Monday nights, and another in his potential major ONLY Wednesday nights. So kind of an odd schedule to start. Oh well! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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