Setting the tone for your online classroom involves many components. You create a syllabus to clearly communicate the goals of your class and your expectations of the students. I usually going over the standards of my online class conduct and academic honesty with my students in our first meeting. It does not matter how well you prepare or what expectations you convey to your class, you will still have at least one student who is difficult. Disruptive students can dominate online conversations; make rude and offensive remarks, challenge your authority, submit plagiarized work, fall behind in class or just not submit assignments.
It is easy to get angry with others online. Text, images and other media can easily be misinterpreted. Maintain your professionalism in your online class as you would when you are with students face-to-face. Never write to a student if you are angry or upset. If a student is being rude to other students in an online discussion or challenging your authority, intervene to counteract the behavior. Know how to block the students’ access so you can remove the student if need be. Open a dialog with the disruptive student out of the public forum about what is acceptable in class. You might need to talk to the student face-to-face or call them on the phone. Know your institution’s policy on inappropriate behavior and have a plan in mind before you meet with the student. If you suspect substance abuse problems, refer the student to counseling services. Be sure to show support to the other students in class. If the difficult behavior created conflict within the class, seek discussions with the other student(s) affected to minimize the tension.
Monitor student progress and be sure to remind students of their course requirements. If a student is non-responsive or becomes abusive because they are frustrated by their own lack of progress, again, contact the student individually, not in a public forum. Offer the student extra guidance and point them to where they can find resources needed if their work is not satisfactory. Know what the guidelines are for helping a student withdraw from a course if they are too far behind.
Stop plagiarism by getting to know your students and their work. Give them clear information as what constitutes cheating in your classroom and what they can expect to happen if they are caught stealing another’s work. Your institution’s policy on plagiarism will give you clearer guidelines. Often, you must make decisions on what you will personally accept after a student is caught cheating. Be clear in your syllabus and in your first meeting about the standards and conduct you expect of students.
Modeling good behavior and professionalism for the students is part of teaching. Try to remember students are often passionate about subjects and debates online can get heated. Before you start class discussions or debates, have your students develop their own rules of acceptable behavior. Discuss with your students the rules of debate and talk about how to treat each other in a disagreement. If your students develop a list of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, they will often police each other during discussions and debates.
