Online school is pretty tricky for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest issues is communication between teachers and students, or even students and students. Unlike in a face-to-face class, we don’t get the chance to bounce our ideas off one another or ask questions as they come to mind. We usually shoot off and email and more often than not don’t get a response for a few days, then by that point you may have even forgotten what you asked in the first place. It is important for the instructor to make themselves present with frequent communication, so the students can get the most out of their learning (Feldman & Zucker, 2012).
In the modern world, everything is just a click away for us. We could learn so much just by spending a few hours on the computer and reading a book. It is important for online educators (well, all of them really) to go above and beyond and bring something extra to the table. Lesson commentary should be an interpretation from the book and added knowledge from the professor about their own experiences on the matter. Why would a student want to waste their time listening or reading lesson commentary when it’s just a word-for-word repeat of what’s in the book? Instructor should also assign external readings or articles
Some people see discussion post and blog posts as useless tasks, but to me they are a way to get a little something else out of our education. It’s important for teachers to give platforms for students to discuss their thoughts and ideas on the subject matter. I believe it promotes creative thinking and problem solving in a group manner. It gives us that little extra something that you don’t quite get from a textbook and simulates that face-to-face class experience.
References:
Feldman, R. & Zucker, D. (2012). Teaching and Learning Online: Communication, Community, and Assessment. University of Massachusetts. P 27-31.
I absolutely agree about what you said regarding online lectures and assigned materials. Far too often, online lectures–whether in written, audio, or video formats–are just a regurgitation of the textbook material. While I know repetition is key to memory imprinting and retrieval, it still feels a lot like a waste of my time (and money, considering my books are often $300 each) when nothing is added to the textbook material. Like you said in your post, hearing the professor’s experience with or elaborations on the topic are what I most want from a lecture; those little anecdotes can shift me from bored out of my gourd to intrigued, enchanted, and ready for more! Also, like you, I especially appreciate it when professors take the time to assign supplemental readings, as this can help me place the material in the real world. When those additional materials are classic studies in the field, it makes me feel as though I’m starting to get a real appreciation of the discipline’s past. More than anything, the classic studies help me feel anchored in the field, like I’ve learned something real.
Your point about the importance of discussion board and blog posts is very insightful. Like you said, online education lacks many of the interactions we take for granted in face-to-face contexts, and you make an excellent point about how virtual forms of communication like discussion boards and blog posts can help compensate. As you and I know, students can readily communicate through discussion boards and blog posts, although students tend to do so mostly when their participation is part of the course grade and when other students are using the boards as well (Wei, Peng, & Chou, 2015). Beyond improving interaction among students and between students and the professor, discussion boards can also help students learn the course material. Krentler and Willis-Flurry (2005) found that the more students used discussion boards, the higher their grade tended to be for the course. This makes sense, given that grades are often based in part on discussion board participation. But what about if the boards were voluntary? Students who participated in a voluntary forum, by posting or reading the posts of others, performed better on exams than those who didn’t (Cheng et al., 2011). Perhaps discussion boards at their best, then, can be like a classroom discussion in which students can learn from one another as well as from the teacher. That said, I think what students get out of discussion boards and blog posts reflects what they put into it. Like any form of learning, the more frequently and the more thoroughly it’s used, the more it benefits the learner.
What would you do if you were an instructor to encourage student participation? Would you grade more heavily for depth of thinking or degree of communication? I think both can go hand-in-hand, really, as the more substance a post has, the more another person has to comment on. This might be how I’ve made a few friends through online classes, although probably not as many as I have through in-person courses. How about you? Have you made friends through online courses?
References
Cheng, C.K., Pare, D.E., Collimore, L.M., & Joordens, S. (2011). Assessing the effectiveness of a voluntary online discussion forum on improving students’ course performance. Computers & Education, 56, 253-261. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.07.024
Krentler, K.A., & Willis-Flurry, L.A. (2005). Does technology enhance student learning?: The case of online discussion boards. Journal of Education for Business, 80(6), 316-321. doi:10.3200/JOEB.80.6.316-321
Wei, H.C., Peng, H., & Chou, C. (2015). Can more interactivity improve learning achievement in an online course?: Effects of college students’ perception and actual use of a course-management system on their learning achievement. Computers & Education, 83, 10-21. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.12.013