We can't all be rocket scientists

Every once in awhile you come across "the" student. This student makes you both grit your teeth and sad at the same. This student is a testament that not everyone can be successful in online education, or even traditional higher education. Here is a snippet of one such student.

Assignment: Writing Strategies (1-2 paragraphs) - IT IS REALLY HARD FOR ME TO PUT STUFF TO GETHER WHEN I NEED THAT IS WHY I HAVE TO STOP AND THINK WANT I'AM DOING FRIST SO I CAN READ OVER IT ALL.IF I DO NOT READ OVER IT FRIST I WILL GET MESSED UP.

Assignment: How have you applied what you have learned? (1-2 paragraphs) - I'am thinking about to deal with my stress but it is really hard to do that when I'am trying to do something i get really streed out when i can do not do something right but I will sit down and think about how I will done it before I try to do again then i go back to it later and I will ask someone to show me how to it.

Assignment: How does your first experience with online education align with your expectations? (1-2 paragraphs) - My feelings would be better doing it online would be a little bit easier.But it is like there is know one is around me at all it is not like if u was in class with people.Because when u are in class with someone if u need help u can turn to someone and ask if they can help u out but when u do ur work online u can ask someone for help but u have to email and ask them and then u have to wait for them to get back with u about it and if they can not help u have to find someone else that maybe can help u out and then u have to wa it for them to get back to u. But if u was in a classroom u do not have to go thought that at all.

While having this student I could see that I had made a small amount of progress regarding their writing, however I was not teaching a writing course so this was a small victory as they were barely grasping the concept of the class. The last assignment was telling in the sense that they expected online education to be easier, and as I tell all of my students, there is an implicit difference between more flexible and easier. A online class should not be easier than a traditional class or it will not carry the same academic merit with employers when you get your degree! In this student's case the 10/80 rule (10% of the students take up 80% of your time) held true. My efforts to coach them on grammar, proper "Internet edicate", etc. were all rebuffed and/or ignored. I will share the outcome of this in a later posting.