A Thousand Years in Thirty Virtual Days: Summer Online Courses and the Sophomore Survey
The Assignment Cycle
Given the amount of reading already a part of any sophomore survey, we wanted to maximize the time students would spend reading and working with specific texts. In our first two years, we believe that following a consistent and predictable assignment cycle has simplified the number of hours students spend in any module, providing them more processing time in group discussion. Early on we were presented with many exciting models and strategies for group collaboration online, but given the time-limits imposed by a summer semester, we decided to limit more elaborate assignments which might require learning procedures rather than poetry. This approach is in line with the best practices for undergraduate education discussed in both Bender and Palloff and Pratt in emphasizing "time on task" in online courses (Bender, 2003, p. 176; Palloff & Pratt, 2003, p. 132). Providing students both "deadlines" and "structure," this assignment cycle can make the confusion of early weeks easier to manage and comprehend.
For much the same reason, we tried to avoid extensive use of synchronous, or real-time, tools in summer assignments. More than in a long semester, any summer course taught online must keep its focus on small, short-term goals. I agree with Palloff and Pratt's suggestion that "minimizing the use of chat" is an important way to focus students' energies on material rather than on methods: "The scheduling concerns involved in setting up a time for a chat session, coupled with the intensity of sessions that involve more than just a couple students, can create a significant degree of anxiety" (Palloff & Pratt, 2003, p. 85). While synchronous discussion is the medium of choice for our students when socializing, chat-heavy courses can create particular problems in summer terms when the pace is so much faster. Since anxiety is an unavoidable part of a compressed, reading-intensive course, limiting logistical frustration where possible is essential. (When Palloff and Pratt discuss time issues in the 1999 book, their focus is largely the emotional and psychological effects of overload and "information addiction" [pages 46-55].)
Asynchronous discussion allows summer students the ability to complete their posts at their own pace in a collaborative forum that doesn't depend upon the timely contributions of every group member. In a presentation on teaching composition online, Sarah Cheverton and Jim Mazoué identified collaborative assignments as the most significant obstacle to student success in a 4-week course. They found that group work in a summer term became an obstacle rather than an effective tool in a general composition course (Cheverton & Mazoué, 2003). Though I personally rely heavily on collaborative work in longer semesters, the potential to disrupt the ongoing reading assignments seemed too great in a summer term.
One exception to this IM avoidance was a series of online events and forums that brought class members together with their professor or other guests. Some of these scheduled chat sessions involved answering questions or addressing concerns. We also used more unusual online events to help break up the routine of each unit. One such event introduced students to Margery Kempe, a medieval mystic, through a sort of virtual ventriloquism. Students were invited to a lively conversation with a dead author, voiced by a resident specialist. On another occasion, we introduced a discussion of dramatic performance and theatrical themes in Twelfth Night with a chat with an experienced Shakespearean actor and director on campus. Students were asked to consider "the challenges of bringing a 400 year old text to the stage" as they discussed how student actors would go about producing the play for a modern audience. These events combined material prepared earlier with student questions e-mailed before or during the moderated chat, and transcripts were posted for those with time conflicts.
In our second summer, even isolated uses of group chat were eliminated. To simplify student dependence upon group-members in completing their work, we retooled major project assignments that asked students to seek and provide feedback at several stages. We recognize the benefits of this kind of step in team learning and the writing process, but within the confines of the summer survey these added steps can add days to the time needed to complete individual assignments. The online events and interviews were also converted into self-running Flash animations which can more easily be implemented as the course moves into our long-semester offerings, either as an online or hybrid alternative to face-to-face surveys. Asynchronous discussion represents the real strength of reading and discussing literature online, and we are confident that the variety provided by course content combined with a simple, familiar assignment cycle provides our students the best opportunity to succeed.