How to Improve an Ineffective Online Class

Some students look at online classes as being easier than face-to-face classes. Although “online class” shouldn’t equal “easier class,” it is often the case. I took an online class a summer ago about educational technology. At the same time as teaching the class, the professor was starting a new job. As the class went on, it was clear where his priorities lay. He often apologized to us because of his new job, but sadly we weren’t looking for apologies when we were paying large sums of money for the class. About of quarter of the weeks, the assignments for the week were posted late. Instead of being up by Sunday, they were up later in the week. This obviously cut into our time to work on them. However, the time was really never a problem because the assignments were so trivial, that they could be accomplished in minutes. In fact, several assignments I had completed before this class. For example, one assignment was: Make a delicious account. I already had one. Another assignment was: make a webpage using Google. I had already made one for a previous class and used that one again. There were only about 2 discussions for the whole class. There were only a couple of papers, but based on the feedback from the professor, I wonder if he even read them. I don’t know of anyone who did not get an A in the class. In fact, the professor told us the first day that we would all get A’s (is that good or bad?…). Some weeks the professor would tell us to just “go enjoy the sunshine” and we would have the week off. On the final project, I emailed the professor, telling him that I wasn’t familiar with making a podcast. He told me just to skip the final project. I’m not sure I learned anything in this class, but it was an easy “A.”
In retrospect, I think the professor set the class up from the beginning as an easy class which everyone (professor included) could just blow off. There are several ways the instructor could have improved his online class:
1. The professor, of all people, needs to take the class seriously and set up the assignments accordingly. The assignments cannot be so trivial that they can be done in minutes and no learning is achieved. They need to be meaningful assignments, and not just work to keep the students busy.
2. The professor needs to provide feedback to student as quickly as possible. Any delay may result in frustration for the student.
3. The professor must keep his class current and post assignments on time. This professor eliminated all deadlines for the students, and I guess he did the same for himself.
4. At no time during this class was any new information presented to the students. Podcasts, videos, readings, etc. should be used to present something to the class. Discussions should also be used to help process the information and learn collaboratively.
5. Overall, the professor must show that he cares about the class. When an instructor declares, “everyone will get an A,” it pretty much zaps all motivation to do one’s best.