Thoughts on Teaching – 6/13/2012 – Back to online office hours

Just a short post today.  I am, again, in online office hours.  The problem with online office hours in mid-week is that I tend to forget them.  I am not used to having them on a Wednesday night, so if we are doing anything else, I tend to forget about them.  So, tonight I forgot.  Or, at least, I forgot about the first hour.  The thing is, as is consistent with what I have discussed here before, it’s not like the students are banging down the door for online office hours.  I started an hour late, and there is no evidence that any student tried to get into my office hours.  And I have now been in them for 45 minutes with no students.  So, as usual, it seems to be pretty much a waste of time.  But I am diligently doing my job.

Of course, since it is a summer class, the funny thing is that nobody comes to office hours in person either.  I have, a week and a half into the summer session, had one student in office hours.  And, that student actually came to my office hours online last Sunday.  I have had one phone call during my office hours as well.  However, I have answered several dozen emails, sent out a half-dozen official announcements in the online classroom, and responded back to dozens of forum posts as well.  It is simply a fact that the majority of my student interaction occurs outside of any official office hour channels.

And now, back to staring at a blank screen to see if any students come in the last 15 minutes.