Week 8 - Classroom Management: Special Issues

Until I read this chapter I really had not thought about problem students in an online class. It seems the instructor must be a psychology major, in addition, to detect odd personalities in an online situation.  Bullying, cheating, identity theft, controlling, and conniving, can all take place in this type of classroom situation. It is important that an instructor do some reading about the different types of personalities, as depicted in Chapter 11 of Online Teaching, and then be ready to inform the administration if a student is not acting normally. The instructor should be sure and save copies of all correspondence with any unusual student. An instructor can also possibly ward off problems with a personal and private email to the student, trying to lead him or her down a different path or get off a certain subject. However, bear in mind that anything typed into a discussion forum does not necessarily reflect the context in which the student meant the words. "Some instructors post their own classroom codes of conduct at the beginning of the class to help set boundaries for students." (Ko and Rossen, p. 229)