We, as eLearning instructors, need students to study required readings and we let them know they need to read these in order to do well in later examinations. But time and again you find out that students not only did not read anything but they concentrated on studying your slides, video lectures, old assignments (which they get from previous students buddies of them), anything but your readings.
Any higher education eLearning course faces this problem: students just don’t want or have the time to read. The amount of knowledge that we have accumulated in every field is just daunting and it doesn’t seem it will slow down any time soon. Students feel overwhelmed with this tsunami of information, they just give up and concentrate on studying the materials they believe will be reviewed during an examination.
Textbooks nowadays tend to be over 500 pages long (and usually expensive), an instructor needs to determine how much of that material will be used for the eLearning class. In the syllabus they will list chapters, pages, exercises, and so on, that will be included in the class. Have you ever measured how long it will take for you to read all that material? Now, consider that a regular college student will take on a course load of three to four courses during a period (semester, usually). This means this student will have even less time to read all that material, even if you design this eLearning course in an asynchronous mode. It is no surprise that many of them will just glance over the pages once, if any at all. I am not even addressing the lack of study and reading skills from these same students that add to this situation.
If this is the case, then why do we keep adding “recommended” readings in syllabi? We know they will not touch those papers, books, or whatever you recommended for additional reading. If your class assessments revolve around your class notes, your students will study only that. Maybe a couple will be intellectually curious and will try to check those out. The expectation that all students will suddenly turn into intellectuals is just ludicrous. So, why do we keep piling on the readings?
Maybe is just to add a filling to the syllabus, maybe you genuinely feel they can take advantage of those resources. If you want to get their attention, I would suggest the use of other types of materials. If you have eLearning software, make a short VOP, an interactive quiz that will not count towards the final grade, external multimedia, or better, your own. Dry reading that is optional will not grab their attention, they will ignore it since, “hey, it’s optional!”.
Whether we like it or not, most students are in class to get a grade and move along in their program. Few will actually develop a genuine interest in the subject. Your passion during your teaching sessions and the interest you show in your students questions will make a difference. You will not be able to please everybody but at the end of the day, you need to be happy that you did all you could to educate your class. Just be careful when planning your reading materials, don’t just pile on because you believe they may like to know more about the subject. Use other types of delivery for this, eLearning modules, for example..
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