It seems that the freedom in the online environment,
flexibility and lack of organization in some Bachelor programs offered by the
University have derailed some students who were used to school's rigidly
structured schedules and did not master time-management skills. It is common to
see students often struggle to balance academic, personal and work commitments.
Faced with so many competing demands on their time, many students have the
dilemma to cheat or simply do something in a hurry just to comply with the
demands and then let the situation take its course. Without intervention from
an advisor, professor or parent, a student is unlikely to succeed as a
professional much less as a teacher with all responsibility that it implies.
The poor academic performance of some students is to a
great extent a consequence of poor educational management of the institution,
with overly heavy tasks in some courses, in which students have to work too
hard to complete them, and very little or no demand in others, in which
activities have not been properly selected for their learning. Even there are
some programmed activities throughout courses in which not even tutors know
clearly what is necessary to do according to the guide since the activities
have been created by another tutor who is the director of the course. So
students attempt to cope, by doing whatever and having many interventions in
forums without real and structured content, not only to ensure they do not fail
the subject but also trying to maintain a high grade point average in order to
meet graduation requirements and receive their university degree, which finally
has become the most important.
The Institution must commit to a rigorous internal
review program to ensure the effectiveness of the courses in terms of how well
they are preparing students to meet certain professional standards in their
future teaching practices. While it is true that having a degree is necessary
to be hired as a teacher or to be promoted beyond a certain level, it is also
true that getting a degree from an accredited University is absolutely
essential if you hope to garner the career success you deserve.
In the case of Bachelor of English as a foreign
language, it is said that it has some problems because it is a new program,
precisely for being a new program, a more complete assessment of the courses
must be undertaken, taking into account that the first graduates will be the
representatives of the good or bad quality of it and when an institution loses
its accreditation in the market, it is very difficult to recover it.
Effective teaching requires commitment, participation
and collaboration of all actors involved. Teachers will form the central
component of this process and they must be the subjects and not the objects of
it. Student responsibility for their own learning is relevant to have a good
learning process but it is also important to create a good learning climate
which is in big part a responsibility of the directives by hiring committed and
active participants in the process who are involved full-time in delivering the
educational mission.
Motivation is the most important fact of learning. The
best way to motivate learners in online learning is participating in forums, not
only to say when the deadline is and threaten students about not receiving
tasks after that date; it is through real feedback, suggestions and comments
about different contributions. Another important way to motivate is through
grading activities on time. Not having a grade after one or two months of
having presented the activity make students feel bad and quite frustrated since
by the time they finally see the feedback they do not even remember what the
activity was and sometimes it seems the tutor has not even read it because he
or she only follows the rubric and does not give any personal comment to the
student that shows that he/she has really read the activity, which most of the
time has been presented after long hours of work. Students with high motivation
will have proper attitude and enthusiasm in their process getting better
results. Students must find in a tutor or a teacher, someone who helps to
develop problem-solving strategies and clarify concepts, providing meaningful
learning opportunities.
Tutor behavior, motivation and management of
different learning styles have highly effect in learning processes.
