Relationships and Influence (Part 3 - Online Teaching)

by Steve Huerd

Last year I began teaching an online master’s level course.  At first I admit to being overcome and even intimidated by all the technology and the speed at which I had to learn it all.  Being that I was located a thousand miles away from the university where I was teaching, the only real instruction I received was watching online videos dealing with how to use blackboard.  And, of course, I had problems!  However, with patient email interaction with the university, I was finally able to communicate with my students.

I somehow obtained pictures of my students’ faces and immediately printed them out in color along with other vital information so that I could put a name with a face.  At the outset, it seemed like there was no one out there, only dark blackness!  I was posting all of this information, syllabus, pictures, etc. without seeing anyone or hearing anything back.

Then one by one, they started to respond with, “Hey, is this such and such a class?  I just found out that I was taking this course and …”  The first assignment I gave them was to pick out who the prof was in a group picture I had put on the main page.  I wanted them to put my name with my face.

A couple of students “forced” me to initiate with them individually since they hadn’t initially responded to my online stimulus package.  During our first “discussion thread interaction,” there was hardly any interaction at all.  So, I decided to apply my old coaching philosophy of coming down hard the first week of practice and laying down my expectations.  I told them, “I can’t give you full credit here since you didn’t interact with at least two other people in here.”  They responded well to that and I began to see much more traffic the following week.

In an effort to further establish relationships, I offered times for them to Skype with me but no one responded.  Then I knew that the “relationship” I had with them was just going to be different and there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it.  So, I threw caution to the wind and just kept encouraging and constantly sending them relevant materials right up to the end of the course.

The result?  I received good instructor ratings with one student commenting to another professor that this course was in the top two he had taken during the whole master’s program!  The next semester another student from that initial cohort signed up for another online course I taught.  To this day, I’ve never met any of these students in person, but at least I know I made a small difference in their lives!

Internet Accountability

by Sharon Warkentin Short

            I was shocked and horrified recently to learn that a highly esteemed academic colleague of mine had been arrested. Ripples of damage continue to spread to the institutions where he taught; the professional associations to which he belonged; the publishers of his writings; and students, faculty, administrators, and friends with whom he worked. If he is convicted, his career will be destroyed and his reputation ruined. Much is still unknown and the legal processes have barely begun, but even in these early stages it appears that illicit internet use brought about this dreadful downfall.

            This tragedy serves as a sobering reminder that not one of us is immune to the insidious lure of sin. If “the last person on earth” whom we would expect to commit a particular crime is found entangled in it, then we too could fall. Therefore we must all be aggressively intentional about avoiding even the appearance of evil and about building reliable warning and accountability structures into our lives.

            Specifically with regard to online practices, many of us are still far too naïve about the potential dangers of internet involvement and about the addictions that can result. We might think that we are safe because we are perusing sites and sending messages from the seclusion of our own homes or offices. The reality of course is that, in spite of all those “privacy policies,” the internet is anything but private. It quite literally is a worldwide web through which anyone in the whole wide world can potentially find out what any other person has been up to. The obvious application is to never view, post, download, “like,” or forward anything that we would not be equally willing to print in a newspaper, preach from a pulpit, paint on a billboard, or publish in a book, nor to say or do anything via the internet that we would not want anyone else in the whole world to know about. Recognizing the internet for the totally public information-sharing forum that it is will go a long ways toward deterring usage that could lead to immoral or illegal behaviors.

            Many of us are also unaware of the excellent safeguards that are currently available. It is possible to install software on our personal and work computers that records and reports to our designated accountability partners every image we view and every word we write. The prudent move of voluntarily submitting to accountability and surveillance software now—well before we encounter any actual temptation—could spare us, our families, and our associates incalculable grief in the future.