Establish a relationship: “In so many ways, I feel like I’m so much closer with my students now than face-to-face [students],” she said. Kipp works with each student one-on-one and said she uses an “I see you” approach to communicating with her students. “I’m not afraid to be quirky and do funny things,” she said, adding that she’ll give her students virtual high-fives for jobs well done.
Stay in contact: “I tease about being a cyber-stalker, but even if students never log into the course system, they’re going to hear from me a couple times per week.” Kipp said she’ll eMail students, then move to phone calls if she receives no response, and will then text message students if they fail to return her phone calls.
Offer consistent praise: Kipp uses a weekly to-do list that prompts her to communicate with different groups of students on certain days. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned this year is being really purposeful about not just letting the struggling kids hear from me,” she said. On a Monday, for instance, Kipp might sent motivational eMails to students who are excelling or improving grades. On Wednesday, she might send messages to students who seem to be struggling. “I’ll get responses that are questions that they would not have asked had I not initiated the conversation,” she said
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Set a schedule: Kipp sends her students suggested study and work schedules. Jefferson County’s virtual academy moves students through in a cohort approach and it not completely self-paced. Kipp gives her students a week’s worth of assignments with a corresponding suggestion of how students might want to break up the work and assignments.
Become a teacher cheerleader: “When I hear someone say that online education is going to devalue the teacher, I think … absolutely not,” she said. “If kids are going to have a great experience, they have to have a great teacher, because that makes or breaks the entire experience.”
Pay attention to student-to-teacher ratio: Many online programs have a high student-to-teacher ratio, and that makes a huge difference in how much attention an online instructor can devote to each student, Kipp said.
Interaction, interaction, interaction: It’s important to note that an online course does not concern only the interaction between the student and the content, but also includes the interaction between all the students and the interaction between each student and the teacher. “I think about how I have those three interactions going on at all times,” Kipp said.
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