For online faculty, the desire to encourage students and help them succeed is a powerful motivator, especially in the introductory courses when the students are first developing their footing in the online setting. At what point, though, can an online faculty cross the line from being encouraging to detrimental?

When a student first begins an online program, he/she can quickly become overwhelmed with the amount of self-discipline needed. Unlike in a ground course, the student cannot count on gaining all valuable information from the lecture; he/she must read the materials and post substantial thoughts in order to gain an understanding of the topics. Additionally, he/she must become familiar with the online platform (sometimes, a challenge greater than the initial assignments).

As an online instructor, it is natural to want to help these students succeed by providing them with tips and suggestions; occasionally, an extension may be granted if the student was added late or faced unforeseen technical challenges during that first week. However, when due dates are disregarded on a consistent basis and the quality of work ignored, an online instructor is doing more harm than good.

Arguments for grading on a submission-only basis often revolve around the idea that the student's self-esteem needs to be bolstered. However, as numerous studies have shown, rewarding individuals for effort only leads to the belief that effort alone will constitute success in the future. This can lead to problems when the course requirements become more difficult and the student must build upon the information learned in previous modules. In these cases, unfortunately, effort alone is not sufficient; the student must employ critical thinking as well.

This leads online instructors with the challenge of bolstering a student's self-confidence while also, teaching him/her the importance of learning (and a large part of learning is falling short of 100%). When we recognize areas of improvement for our students and provide them with detailed feedback on how to make these improvements, we are also providing them with the opportunities to learn and develop self-confidence. As instructors, this should always be our goal.