While I have not taken many “true” online courses (that offer collaboration), I have some thoughts about community with those that I have taken thus far. Like others in the class, my experiences are extremely different in each class. I have been in classes where the instructor just posts the entire semester’s assignments and discussions and then depends on the students to do the rest. And others where the instructor is just as involved in the discussion and topics and the students.
I think learner collaboration is essential to the learning process in an online course environment. It is the instructor’s job to foster and direct student collaboration. I have found that I almost learn more from the learners than from the instructor. I don’t think this is a problem though; this is one of the greatest benefits of distance learning. Rather than having one instructor tell you everything he/she knows about the course topics, there is a collaboration of all learners through their thoughts and everyone’s experiences.
The instructor is extremely valuable in contributing to the sense of community of online classes. Establishing assignments that “force” collaboration in the beginning of the course is critical to build the trust among the learners. As an instructor, you cannot assume that the learners know one another from other course and will feel comfortable getting to know them without some assistance. In addition to building the assignments to work together, the instructor participating in the discussions is also helpful to the community. Learners traditionally want validation from their peers but also the instructor. By contributing in the discussions, the instructor adds the validation learners need to trust the online community and feel they can interact in a safe environment.
The nature of the online learner is a busy individual. I think this characteristic is the factor that most hurts the community. As the course progresses, there seems to be a drop of collaboration among the learners. I am not sure if that is because everyone gets busy, but it seems like the instructor really needs to watch their design of assignments so he/she can pull the community together again. I think the trust is already established but a gentle push to re-engage the learners is necessary. The instructor that looses interest in the discussion or appears to because he/she is not responding shows the learners it is acceptable to stop the discussions.
All in all, I believe online courses offer as much as, if not more, than the face to face interaction, if the course is designed right. People who are quiet are more likely to contribute to the discussions and their experience is just as valuable as the ones that always talk during the f2f classes.
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1 comment:
Teri,
Thanks for these great observations about the ways that a designer/instructor can help build and maintain a sense of community. It can be tricky business because a sense of community is impossible to control. I have found that in some cases you can do all the "right" things, and still the chemistry or whatever is not there. Your point about online learners being very busy is SO true. Everyone is trying to fit in online time around all the other things they have to do--there's no set class time that forces them to pull away for a bit. I think setting clear expectations up front and trying to keep things engaging helps, but this is the reality of the situation.
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