In contrast with a traditional classroom, online courses present different challenges to those trying to identify the intellectual leaders in a class. Students looking for motivation, accountability, peer support, or even partners for group assignments, for example, might be unsure how to find and connect with strong, reliable peers.
Shannon McDonald, an elite coach at InsideTrack — a company that provides success coaching to college students — has noticed that “connecting with the strong students in an online class is a valuable motivational tool.” People tend to “work harder and smarter and with greater determination when we feel connected to other people,” she says. “We feel accountable when there’s connectivity.”
What exactly should online students look for, then, when trying to connect with their stronger classmates?
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“All good online classes include interactive elements that replace classroom discussions,” Guy Trainin, associate professor of education at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, writes via email. He encourages students trying to identify their fellow intellectual leaders to look for those who “show proficiency with the material and think beyond the text, making connections with other ideas, classes, and real-world events.” Similar to a traditional classroom, he says, online students who are strong academically possess “the ability to respond to others and lead discussions.”
Mitch Boucher, lecturer at University of Massachusetts–Amherst’s University Without Walls, a bachelor’s program that allows adult students to choose from a wide range of online courses, has similar observations. He said in an email interview that he knows an online student is doing the work and thinking about the topics when she “creates discussion posts that directly relate to the readings, shares her thoughts about the readings, relates the week’s topic to current events, shares related information, or asks questions of others in the class discussion.”
While thoughtful, engaged, relevant comments can be a great indicator that a fellow student is likely one of the stronger students in your course, asking questions can also demonstrate intellectual depth. “I appreciate when students ask me questions if something is unclear or if they are having trouble accessing some of the material,” says Boucher. “Then, I know they care and are really trying to get the work done.”
Joy Bullen, operations quality specialist at InsideTrack, echoes those sentiments.
“Don’t just narrow in on students who seem to have the best answers; look for those that ask the best questions,” she says. Remember, too, that asking questions yourself is an important part of your engagement with both the course content and your classmates.
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“Creating thoughtful and engaging discussion posts and replying to the posts of others,” Boucher says, is a smart way to indicate to your peers that you’re interested in more than posting isolated comments just to get credit.
Strong intellectual engagement in an online course takes more than a discussion board post or two, however; it takes continued involvement over longer periods of time.
“In discussion-based classes, there is no opportunity to ‘hide-out’ in the back of the room and still get credit for being there,” Boucher says. The strongest students will post and engage thoughtfully — and consistently. Bullen encourages students to “spread your participation out during the week so that classmates frequently see your name. You will reach a wider audience and likely get more responses than if you post all of your comments in one sitting.”
Matt Daniels, a high school social studies teacher living in Seattle, sought out the same kind of engagement while taking online classes for his individually designed master’s in education at Lesley University. “I mostly looked for depth and application as opposed to folks just ‘getting the work down,'” he said via email. “The big thing that is noticeable in the discussion boards is when people are responding authentically.”
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Identifying the stronger students in online courses often extends beyond the boundaries of just one single course. Daniels says he “really began to know people from class to class, which was kind of cool.”
“The depth of connectedness that students feel to each other or the professor in online education is largely in their own hands,” Boucher writes. “Students can create in-person or online study groups, build support with others in their classes or call their professor on the telephone.”
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