A funny video has been getting a lot of hits on Chinese social networking platforms. In this street interview, filmed in 2000, a journalist asks a beautiful woman: “what will China look like in 20 years?” The woman replied, “I think in the future of China in 2020, students can take online classes at home without going to school.” Now we know that her prediction has come true. Schools were temporarily closed because of a Coronavirus pandemic, forcing students to take classes online at home.
Zoom got a huge increase in traffic in this home isolation. Instead of Zoom, many Chinese schools have chosen a program called DingTalk as their teaching system. Studs are commonly used in companies to manage administrative tasks and conduct video conferences. Its strict management system is believed by schools to be better able to supervise students. The sudden surge in traffic isn’t good for DingTalk, whose rating has dropped from five to less than three stars in the app store. The reason is ironic: in order to vent their dissatisfaction with online classes, many primary school students naively gave DingTalk a one-star rating on the app store, which made DingTalk very upset. They made a video calling the pupils “daddy” and “begging for mercy”. The video also received more than a million views.
However, it is the teachers who teach online classes that are more troublesome than DingTalk. The students’ naive behavior of giving DingTalk low marks is a perfect illustration of their negative feelings towards online classes. Most troubling of all, the quality of online classes is generally considered to be below that of face-to-face instruction. Then, how to improve the teaching effect in the network course has become a very important problem. In the case of distance education, the teacher is usually considered to be far less responsible than the teacher of face-to-face courses. This stereotype also undervalues the teacher. (Semradova and Hubackova, 2016)
Kara and Yildirim (2019) believe that optimal teacher behavior is important for students’ performance. A teacher cannot complete all the behaviors. The curriculum design stage should be completed by professionals. The development and evaluation of the curriculum should be planned according to the characteristics of the students and always be student-centered. Carla also mentioned that teachers need to take a variety of approaches to increase their dialogue with students in order to improve their motivation to learn. The best teacher behavior is to have a friendly, positive attitude toward talking to students and to give back to students in a timely manner.
Overstreet (2020) suggested three tips for an effective online learning community. The first point is “Be organized”, which means that teachers establish a good environment for learners, including using appropriate technology and resource design to meet needs. An organized course should present “clearly stated grading expectations or requirements prior to student submission of assignments,” including written and video explanations, checklists, models, rules, and links to other resources. The second is “Initiate regular communication”. Communication is one of the most important elements of a successful online course. A typical example is a teacher who creates a template for a daily email and does three things: build personal connections by sharing yourself, clarify expectations for assignments, and remind students of deadlines. Students responded positively to the information. The third point is “Utilize social networking”. It is important to create a dynamic online environment of interaction between students and between teachers and students. For example, teachers use newsletters and student groups to share interesting things, while also providing a space for students to answer questions quickly, share ideas, and build rapport. This enables teachers to assess students’ understanding and encourage collaborative problem-solving.(Overstreet, 2020)
Reference
Kara, M. and Yildirim, Z., 2019. Identification of the optimal faculty behaviors for performance improvement in distance education. Asia Pacific Education Review, [online] 21(1), pp.83-97. Available at: <https://link-springer-com.uow.idm.oclc.org/article/10.1007/s12564-019-09610-3>.
Overstreet, M., 2020. Strategies for Building Community among Learners in Online Courses. College Teaching, [online] 68(1), pp.45-48. Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87567555.2019.1707756>.
Semradova, I. and Hubackova, S., 2016. Teacher Responsibility in Distance Education. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, [online] 217, pp.544-550. Available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042816000677>.
XinNova 