Emotional Intelligence in eLearning

Emotional Intelligence in eLearning

Seek first to understand, and then to be understood. – Stephen Covey

There are benefits to teaching online. There are no rigid schedules, no delays in getting to the next appointment due to student questions after class, and no having to deal with emotional student situations in person. Sometimes these benefits result in instructor detachment. Online educators may forget that students are not automatons or just blips on the screen. Instructors also may forget that they themselves are not simply an extension of the computer, not a robotic assessor who delivers static information and only provides numeric scores in exchange for assignment submission. 

Over the past five years there have been numerous calls for the insertion of “heart,” or the human element into online learning because, clearly, it is often missing from the elearning experience. Students are not called by name. Instructors are not actively participating in discussion or are not responding to student needs, requests, and questions with caring and compassion. Why is this? I believe the instructors are forgetting to use their personal power of emotional intelligence. 

If you aren’t familiar with emotional intelligence, I invite you to explore the various resources online including those by Daniel Goleman and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, ei.yale.edu. Perhaps the most helpful quick explanation of emotional intelligence is the TED talk by Michael Benner provided here.



So, how do we use this kind of personal power as online educators? 

Let me provide a personal example. This past week one of my online students contacted me requesting an extension for his assignments because he had been injured while suffering a tragedy. This is a student who is has a family and a job to think of in addition to his schoolwork. He is a senior expected to graduate this May. I felt great empathy for the student and granted the extension.

Another online instructor decided to refuse the same request and suggest the student withdraw from the course. This action is completely within that instructor’s rights and personal power. However, is it a compassionate or human response? We have more than half of the semester left. Is this the best use of power? Is this a response the instructor would give in person? Is this a response that benefits the department, the university, and the student? I’m not so sure. 

In her article, Using Emotional Intelligence to Teach, HigherEdJobs.com Communications Editor, Kelly Cherwin, shares four ideas on how to use emotional intelligence in the classroom. 

• Respect students, their diversities, and their challenges.

• Take responsibility for your emotions within your communication to keep from putting students on the defensive.

• Admit that you are human and do not have all of the answers. Also, apologize when you make a mistake.

• Encourage students by validating their efforts and fostering self-management. 

These are just four ways you can move yourself and your students into a successful 21^st century elearning environment. Yale University has provided an online resource, Emotional Intelligence in the Classroom: Skill-based Training for Teachers and Students. Please review these materials and use your personal power and emotional intelligence to uncover more ways to infuse your world of online learning with humanity. I would love to hear your ideas and stories. Please post them in the comments below. 

Until Monday, 

Melynda

@Melynda_Conner

#TCBHigherEd

References:

Cherwin, K. (n.d.). Using emotional intelligence to teach. HigherEdJobs.com. Retrieved from https://www.higheredjobs.com/Articles/ArticleDisplay.cfm?ID=285