2016 Annual Conference

This session is a follow-on to the 2015 AAACE Conference presentation entitled When Andragogy Runs Amuck: Techniques to Address Undesirable Student Behavior in the Online Classroom. This year, we focus on continuing the dialog, sharing techniques, and collaborating on ideas to maintain the peace and decorum in our online classrooms.

Current and future online instructors represent the target audience that will benefit most from this session.

As the number of online classes increase, instructors face new and different challenges. In traditional classrooms, students are face-to-face with instructors and peers. They are, therefore, less likely to engage in disruptive behaviors. In recent years, researchers identified a number of undesirable behaviors or disruptive situations in online classrooms that are less prevalent in brick-and-mortar institutions. Findings were that some learners in online classrooms are more daring, bolder in their discussions, challenging towards others, and exhibit higher levels of disrespect and bullying. At times these behaviors are aimed, not only at peers, but instructors as well. The impact can be long-lasting and damaging to one's self-esteem. Moreover, an institution’s reputation may suffer. The aforementioned speaks to the gravity and relevance of this topic. This session is timely, as it furthers the conversation on disruptive behavior in the online classroom, and allows for collaborating on methods by which to address them.