Jane's Classroom Management
Management of documents, handouts and student files
Privacy
Student privacy should not be compromised
Use of 3rd party sites may compromise student privacy
Preventative Measures
Limit the inclusion of third-party websites used
Don't use unsecured wifi to connect to school sites with student info
Create pseudonym or classroom accounts whenever possible when using sites outside of the LMS
Solutions
Follow the board's IT SOP (Standard operating procedures)
Stay abreast of data-security issues and threats
Require teachers to update their virus protection regularly
Supports
School IT department/person
MOE recommended software/programs
Further Reading
Robertson, L., Muirhead, B., & Leatham, H. (2018). Protecting Students Online: International Perspectives And Policies On The Protection Of Students’ Digital Privacy In The Networked Classroom Setting. INTED2018 Proceedings. doi:10.21125/inted.2018.0705
Equipment Issues
Students may not have necessary equipment, i.e. scanners or cellphones with wifi access/data
Preventative Measures
Try to incorporate multiple methods, or tell students where they could go to find equipment free to use, i.e. public library
Note any specialized equipment requirements in Course Descriptions so students know before they sign up
Have options to complete online activities for worksheets, handouts, etc.
Solutions
Have 'computer lab' type environments in the schools where students can go to complete online classes
Supports
Libraries and public use computers may exist in some communities
Further Reading
Inside Higher Ed. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/technology-and-learning/technology-driving-educational-inequality
Plagiarism/Copyright
Teachers
- may present other lessons as their 'own'
-may use photos or images they do not own copyright
Preventative Measures
Provide resources for images
Develop guidelines for teachers creating online courses
Solutions
Administrators should 'set the tone'
Enforce through progressive discipline the expectation that teachers will not plagiarize or break copyright
Create common layouts and templates for courses so teachers can't copy and paste
Supports
Pixabay
Unsplash
Further Reading
Crawford, M., Phd. (2017, September 08). Are You Committing Plagiarism? Top Five Overlooked Citations to Add to Your Course Materials. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/are-you-committing-plagiarism-top-five-overlooked-citations-to-add-to-your-course-materials/
Students
-easy to copy and paste
-ability to have another person take the course
-easier to hide inappropriate collaboration
Preventative Measures
Include a lesson/reminder/test on plagiarism at start of course
Solutions
-Stress the right behaviours and why we want to see them, i.e. we want to see the students' work because we value their ideas even when those ideas are wrong
-Include incremental lessons so students work through the process with rough work and brainstorming handed in for part of the final assignment mark allocation
Supports
Turnitin
DupliChecker
Further Reading
Crawford, M., Phd. (2017, September 08). Are You Committing Plagiarism? Top Five Overlooked Citations to Add to Your Course Materials. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/course-design-ideas/are-you-committing-plagiarism-top-five-overlooked-citations-to-add-to-your-course-materials/
Netiquette
Students and Teachers may be unaware of proper online behaviours. May be due to cultural differences.
Preventative Measures
Have students assist with creating a code of conduct for the course including formatting replies in discussion boards
Clearly state the rules for the online environment at the start of the course and have these in an easy-to access resource for students to refer to if needed
Solutions
Participate alongside students in forums modelling correct behaviours
Further Reading
Mcdonald, S. E. (2012). Reclaiming the Wireless Classroom When Netiquette no Longer Works. College Teaching, 60(3), 130-130. doi:10.1080/87567555.2011.601773
Flaming/Cyberbullying
Without ftf consequences students/teachers may find it easier to bully other students/colleagues.
Real-world consequences can vary up to and including suicide
Preventative Measures
Create an environment of inclusion by:
-Modelling proper behaviour especially towards vulnerable groups such as FNMI or LGBTQ+ members
-Consciously represent diverse peoples in your courses
-Introducing yourself with your pronouns
-Create empathy for all students in the course to help students understand
Solutions
-Use progressive discipline with students in keeping with MOE policies
-Help students to develop the ability to stand up and not remain silent when they see bullying. Peers are often the first to see and have the ability to react first.
Supports
Many programs and LMS allow teachers to moderate, remove, and 'spy' on discussions/postings. Some programs even allow delays until approval by the administrator to be put in place for the class/individual student
Further Reading
Strickland, M. (2014). Making the Online Classroom Feel Like a “Classroom”. Teaching Theology & Religion, 17(3), 226-226. doi:10.1111/teth.12209
Tien, Shannon. Gender Inclusive Social Media https://blog.hootsuite.com/gender-inclusive-social-media/
Safety on the Internet
Students may put themselves in situations where they compromise themselves i.e. privacy, finances, peace of mind, personal safety
Preventative Measures
Remind students of cyber safety rules at start of course
Create pseudonym or classroom accounts whenever possible
Solutions
Check websites and links at the start of every term to ensure that if you are sending students out of the LMS that the new site is still secure.
Supports
CybersafeBC
Carnegie Cyber Academy
Further Reading
10 ways schools are teaching internet safety. (2011, November 15). Retrieved from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/11/11/10-ways-schools-are-teaching-internet-safety/
Students may be subjected to 3rd party advertising
Preventative Measures/Solutions
Contain all course materials within the LMS (This solves the problem but may also limit best practices)
Use original material, not vendor-purchased courses
Supports
AdBlocking extensions
Further ReadingThe Selling of Our Schools: Advertising in the Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin083.shtml
Attendance
Is this really an issue, or are we really talking about Completion of Assignments? Should a student who completes a week's work on Monday be required to sign in the rest of the week? MOE requires courses to be 110 hours, they don't require students to spend 110 hours in a course.
Completion of Assignments
Generally students are required to complete all assignments, but this is a higher work load than regular schools where it is simply expected that students come to class but there are many reasons for missing i.e. sports, assemblies, illness
Preventative Measures/Solutions
Drop a set number of courses from non-summative 70% which can include missed assignments
Include process assignments
Supports/Further Readings
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf
May be more difficult to contact and encourage students who have fallen behind
Preventative Measures/Solutions
Attain contact information from students prior to course start, include in your personal course profile for a quick reference/look
Supports
FNSSP Worker
Guidance Counselor
Spec. Ed. Lead/Resource Teacher
Further Reading
Poonam, K., EdD, & Skrocki, M. (2017, May 16). Ensuring Student Success in Online Courses. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/ensuring-student-success-online-courses/
Wilson, K., & Kristina. (2017, May 30). Best Practices for Communicating With Students in Online Classes - SPS | Distance Learning. Retrieved from https://dl.sps.northwestern.edu/blog/2017/05/best-practices-communicating-students-online-classes/
Group Work
Students may not be comfortable working online or find it more challenging
Students may not put in equal effort into the group work
Students might try to contact each other outside the LMS causing safety concerns
Preventative Measures
Provide an area such as forums or google docs for students to collaborate where there are teacher controls
Solutions
Help students to advocate for peers and themselves
Further Reading
Lowes, S. (2014). How Much "Group" is there in Online Group Work? Online Learning, 18(1). doi:10.24059/olj.v18i1.373