It has been our experience that classes with a chat feature are much more highly regarded by the students, since the experience helps the students feel connected to the instructor, other students, and even the content. We have found that high school students are more effective learners when they are actively engaged. Research supports this. Engagement can be facilitated by something as simple as a weekly e-mail from the instructor to check on the student's reading progress, or something as sophisticated as asynchronous threaded discussion. We have found that most student problems involve inefficient time management.
Several students have difficulty scheduling enough time and energy to do their course work.
Almost every class is reading-intensive, and many students have commented on needing more than one class hour a day to complete their work. Our students' mentor now suggests to prospective students that two hours a day to complete the required reading and assignments is a typical amount of time. Students need to be able to be wise in their communications with their instructor. This allows the professor to understand immediately the nature of the e-mail, and the student's communication will not be perceived as rambling and unfocused. While students enjoy the World Wide Web, chat rooms and e-mail, these do not guarantee that students learn more or learn better.