Your first reaction may be to
tell the student to drop the class, but the key here is
patience and flexibility. Remember that technical problems
can happen even to the best of us. Besides, the drop date
has already passed and this student probably needs your
class to graduate. First, direct him to the campus computer
labs. If the students can't come to campus, suggest that
he go to a public library where there are computers hooked
up to the Internet. If he doesn't have time to go to the
library (motivation is low), suggest that he find a friend
who has a computer. Tell him that if he wants to successfully
complete the course, he needs to find time to access a
computer.
Now, the case of the lost notes
(or messages posted to the Virtual Classroom). He he made
a hard copy or saved them to disk as you had recommended
in the course syllabus just in case something like this
happens? If he hasn't, he should rewrite them and either
fax or mail them to you. He could impose on another student
in the class to post the responses for him.
Also, (snail)mail him the assignments
for weeks five and six, and have him mail (or fax) the
completed assignments back to you.
All of this is made possible
because of the asynchronous learning environment, which
is flexible and convenient. In an on-ground course, if
a student misses a lesson, he misses the dynamics of the
course, but this is not the case in an asynchronous class.
While he may miss the initial discussions, he can read
the discussions and make comments at a later date. He can
also complete the assignments later once he is back online.
A student who is experiencing technical problems should
not be penalized. He should be allowed to finish the work
even after the class has officially ended. If there is a
group project involved, the student should be assigned
some other activities to substitute for the group project.
However, it should be noted, that the course dynamics for
this particular student will shift towards the low synergy
end of the learning continuum. Finally, if you are scheduled
to teach the same course for the following semester, you
can suggest that the student participate in the upcoming
class.
Finally, it is quite possible
that this student does not meet the necessary requirements
for successful online students. If that is the case,
he should be counseled to consider taking the on-ground
equivalent course and definitely not take another online
course in the future.
