Teaching online vs teaching in person

I am in the middle of teaching my second online course. I am teaching the same class again, which is nice because I can start to think about what works and what doesn't and tweak things. I am also working on some syllabi for classes I will be teaching at WIlliam & Mary. So I have been thinking a lot about teaching and the differences between online classes and the more traditional classroom setting.

I am really grateful to have the online teaching experience- for better or worse it is going to play a part in the future of teaching in universities as more and more schools offer online classes. Frankly, I have mixed feelings about this. I have very little control over the assignments and readings for the online classes I am teaching- so I feel more like a facilitator than a teacher. I've felt a little more confident the second time around, so I'm sharing more of my knowledge of history instead of just sticking to the textbook. But sometimes I still feel like a glorified grader and I don't think I can have the same kind of impact on my students. When I think about the kind of professor I'd like to become, I think about teachers and professors who've had an impact on me- and I'm really not sure an online instructor can reach students in the same way. But I'm trying to anyway.

Unlike my classes at William & Mary, the majority of my online students are older than me- many of them have children older than me. And many of them are women. I've had a couple (female) students who have told me they had doubts about their ability to succeed in college and who have been told that they would fail by family and friends. This saddens me more than I can say. And I am incredibly impressed with their determination to try even though they lack a lot of confidence and support. This also makes me want to be a better teacher- to not only facilitate but to actually have an impact on my students' lives. To not only teach them history, but also to help them become better writers and to hopefully make them feel more confident about their abilities. So, in this way I am glad that online courses are available to students who would otherwise not be able to attend college or who might be more intimidated by the typical college classroom.

At the same time I worry about the impersonality of the online classroom. I have had several students plagiarize- to varying degrees (and have taken responsibility for their actions to varying degrees). I think this has something to do with the availability of information (or a multitude of places to plagiarize from) on the internet. However, I wonder if it is easier for students to break the rules when they don't ever have to see the instructor. But maybe I am just being naive- maybe someone who intentionally and repeatedly plagiarizes would have no problem looking their instructor in the eye after being called out for it. Fortunately these students seem to be in the minority.

At the end of the day, I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to work with students- whether it be online or in person.