I just got around to answering two emails from an online student who has been MIA for about two weeks (and writes as if that were entirely acceptable and expected, though he hasn't sent an explanation, let alone an apology). My replies went out c. 13 hours after the original emails were sent, at 4:30 and 4:50 a.m. respectively -- not too bad a turnaround given that I semi-observe a Sunday sabbath (but, like many online teachers, I also set 11:59 p.m. Sunday as one of my two weekly deadlines, so I'm not going to try the "no email on weekends/Sundays" approach without changing that deadline, which seems to work well for most students. And we're coming up on the due date for a major assignment, so I expected to spend some email time today).
I just noticed that the second, 4:50 a.m., email, which indicated that he had gone ahead and done some work without waiting for a reply to the earlier email, ended with "I eagerly await your reply," as if the student were getting a bit antsy because I hadn't gotten back to him yet. He may be in another time zone, but, if so, he's been clearly warned by the syllabus that the class, the class web site, and the professor run on the time prevailing in the region where our physical campus is located.
The syllabus and introductory materials set some other clear parameters, including a request that students read over the week's work in advance and send any questions as soon as possible, and a warning that, despite the midnight deadline, I'm not generally available by email after about 9 p.m. Most of my students are very understanding about that; in fact, I got several emails from more-or-less-caught-up students yesterday and even Friday that began with words along the lines of "I hope I'm not asking this too late."
But in this case, WTF?!? I can't think of many lifestyles that would have me awake *and* answering email at 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. I probably should have replied with WTF?, but, instead, I simply answered his questions, without elaboration, and graded the late work according to its merits and my rubric (which does penalize for lateness).
I have a clause in my syllabus that says it takes me 24-48 hours to get back to an e-mail. It reads similar to the following:
ReplyDelete"I answer e-mails as quickly as I can. It is not reasonable in an online environment to expect immediate response to an e-mail because of difference in posting times and the time of day that I check my e-mail. I may be able to get back to you the same day of your question. Other times, it may take me 24-48 hours to respond to an e-mail. Plan accordingly."
If a student e-mails me on Monday at 4:30 p.m. and I've already got all my work done by noon and am out doing more soul-feeding stuff like drinking, watching movies or painting, then I missed that student that day. I may then not check my e-mail until 9:00 p.m. the next day. Go figure.
I also take occasional days off and don't do anything online.
I, too, don't usually take weekends off because of Sunday deadlines. But, I don't worry about the procratinator who waits to do a 40 question math assignment until 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night when the assignment has been open for a week or more.
You handled everything appropriately, and we can do the WTF's amongst ourselves! In this case, though I think it's WHY the fuck?
Maybe he was just trying to sound eager.
ReplyDeleteI have Sunday deadlines as well in my online classes. But students run the risk if they haven't looked ahead, as I have all assignments and readings up weeks in advance (at least two, and often eight or more). In practice, I comply with junebug's 24-48 hour window almost entirely, and usually much more quickly.
ReplyDeleteBut if I have other obligations and don't check email for a couple of days during the week or if I take the weekend off, I don't feel the slightest twinge. And students have my office and home number for emergencies and a Google chatback badge I put on my home page, which gets lots of use, sometimes late at night when I am grading, so I'm more accessible than I should be.
I don't put much on the syllabus about my response times; the less I clutter up the syllabus, the less I am painted into a corner.
So, yes, this is a complete WTF. Maybe you should go above and beyond, look up the student's phone number and call at 3 am his time.
You give your students your home phone number? My home number isn't even listed. I mean anywhere. I don't put a sign on my door or a sig in my email that says "failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part", but I trust that the look on my face conveys that message.
ReplyDeleteI answer most email. Their chances decrease if they use my first name.
Honestly I think you're expecting a level of awareness and of language skill which probably doesn't exist, especially not at 4 am. I've seen fellow students (including myself) send incredibly rude emails without realising it, which is why it's a good idea to get someone else to read over them before you send anything. He probably just thought that it was polite because it sounded formal.
ReplyDeleteYou perhaps should have mentioned it and helpfully offered advice on emailing profs. If he was being rude, it shows it didn't get to you and only succeeded in convincing you he's ignorant. If he wasn't, it could save him from trouble in the future (and chasten him into apologising).
I think you read too much into it.
ReplyDeleteAs a distance student I've sent e-mails from all sorts of time zones, and on all sorts of work schedules, since my schedule never correlated well to the time zone it took me to.
More than once, I sent an e-mail, then realized it had no hope of being answered during my current period of wakefulness ("day", but that implies sunlight), and sent a follow-up shortly afterward.
If "eagerly await your reply" is code in your field for "get your ass in gear and write me something", you should let the student know. If not, then don't go out of your way to find things offensive.
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ReplyDelete@Merely, S, and Alan: yes, I think I may have over-interpreted. He might even have been trying to say, in his own way, "I know I'm behind and I'm trying to catch up as quickly as I can." But the two-week silence, combined with the fact that one of his early posts had been a "I hate group work! Nobody does the work on time and then *my* grade suffers" rants, probably had me looking for narcissistic subtext a little more than usual. If the pattern continues, I may say something. For the moment, I think I'll concentrate on the fact that the late work wasn't quite what I was looking for -- one of those situations where the student seems to be responding to an earlier professor's assignment of which he has fond memories -- or for which he has a paper in hand -- rather than to mine.
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