You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
“He didn’t get back to me!”
This one is really directed at people who are teaching classes that started on campus and are running online (or “remotely”) now.
Have you found that when the modality changed, so did student expectations of your availability and responsiveness?
I’ve heard reports on my own campus of some professors feeling overwhelmed by demands of instant feedback by students who weren’t nearly so demanding before the switch.
Some of that may well be a side effect of the trauma happening now. So many students have lost jobs or have family members who’ve gotten sick or even died, and they’re just not at their best right now. When life seems to spin out of control, some people respond by clamping down harder on the things they feel like they can control. To the extent that it’s a response to trauma, some cutting of slack is probably in order.
But I wonder if some of it is a side effect of expectations formed in other online experiences. If every other online experience you have is instantaneous or close to it, that expectation can carry over without even realizing it. Then when the expectation isn’t met, normal disappointment can be amplified by a sense of surprise or even betrayal.
It’s a variation on what happens at a long traffic light, or when the person in front of you at a left turn takes too long and you wind up having to sit through another one. I get unreasonably cranky when that happens, even when I have plenty of time to get where I’m going. The delay feels arbitrary and unwarranted, so even though it’s trivial, it’s frustrating. The key issue isn’t the amount of time; it’s the thwarted expectation. I’ve (mostly) been able to tamp down my own road rage over the last few years by consciously reminding myself that, at a really basic level, it’s a choice. All I have to do is adjust my expectations.
It sounds like some folks are struggling with managing student expectations in the new format.
So, two questions for my wise and worldly readers.
First, have you seen any of that?
Second, have you found effective ways to manage student expectations online, so everyone can have a better and saner experience? If so, what are they?
