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So, you want to be an online
learner?
Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news.
The good news is you can go to class in your pajamas, and you can
go whenever you
want. The bad news is you still have to go, and success requires
a lot of self-discipline.
That’s the bottom line in an informal survey of 74 experienced
online learners, with anywhere from one to ten online courses under
their belts. But before we examine their experiences, and the advice
they have for you, let’s take a brief look at the whole online
phenomenon, a promising alternative based on a whole different paradigm.
The promise
The promise, of course, is convenience. And this is possible since
much of what occurs in the online learning environment is asynchronous.
Basically this means not everyone does everything at the same time.
You don’t have to be there at 7:45 am, or 2:15 pm, on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday. In fact, you can go to class whenever you
like. Or whenever you can. Night owl? No problem. Early bird? Have
a worm. Is the baby sitter sick? Don’t worry.
The online class is always open, and you can listen to (or in most
cases, read) the lectures anytime. You can even talk about them
anytime, through threaded discussions, or bulletin boards. Your
instructor can post a question, or a classmate can post an observation,
and you can respond to it an hour later, or a day later, or even
a week later.
This gives you a chance to think about your response. Because of
this, many online students come for the convenience and return for
the quality. They find they make more thoughtful contributions to
these asynchronous conversations than they do in traditional settings.
And everyone participate, bringing a variety of viewpoints to bear
on complex issues. A colleague of mine posted a question about the
philosopher Kant and had over 250 responses in less than a week—out
of a class of eight students. I’ve had classes post over a
thousand comments in less than three weeks, which is obviously much
more discussion than I might expect in real time. But in asynchronous
time the discussion flows on and on.
This occurs for several reasons. One reason is that everyone participates.
If you don’t contribute to the discussion, no one—including
and especially the instructor— knows you are there. But the
second reason is that you can think about what you say before you
say it. And you can say exactly what you mean. Or come close, anyway.
I’ve often had the same students in both online and traditional
classrooms, and students who never said a word in the brick and
mortar setting have made meaningful and insightful contributions
online.
This brings us to the third reason these asynchronous conversations
work so well: there is something comforting about the anonymity
of them. As one student said, the best part was “the anonymity
that allows you to be more truthful and direct without fear of what
others will think.” Another said, “The best part of
taking classes online was the anonymity and the freedom this anonymity
carried with it. This freedom allowed me to say what I was truly
feeling without the fear of being wrong.”
Now he wasn’t truly anonymous, of course. Students in the
class he took knew his name, had his email address, and maybe even
knew his phone number. But he felt safe and spoke his mind, without
the fear of dirty looks or awkward pauses. And in a cyberclass,
this sense of anonymity can translate into the sort of risk-taking
that promotes true intellectual growth and insight.
All of this thoughtful and sometimes passionate conversation is
the result of a new paradigm, which shifts the responsibility of
learning from the teacher to the student. In the ideal online class,
the students themselves raise the questions and even find the answers,
with the instructor acting as a mentor and knowledgeable guide.
It is a shift which is taking place in the traditional classroom
as well. The best teachers engage students in the process of discovery,
and the best classrooms are less about lectures (monologues) and
more about conversations (dialogues). But the online classroom pushes
the envelope, expecting you to participate in the process and to
talk (write) about your discoveries.
Even though much of the online learning experience is asynchronous,
it is not without structure. In fact, it usually includes some common
real-time experiences, such as chat rooms and due dates. And while
there are different vendors and different systems and different
instructors, online learning environments generally have a basic
set of tools or features:
1) A homepage. This will contain links
to the other parts of the course, as well as announcements.
2) A syllabus (sometimes called course information). This contains
the objectives, the expectations, the policies and the recommended
or required reading.
3) An email function. This allows you to email the instructor,
the whole class, or any individual or group in the class.
4) A discussion function. This is the asynchronous conversation
we already talked about.
5) Course content. This may be arranged by units or weeks, and
may include links to other sites, written “lectures,”
video or audio files, charts, diagrams.
6) A chat room. The instructor may arrange to “meet”
the entire class or individuals, typing their conversation in
real time.
7) Links. These will connect you to sites related to the subject
of the course and the links may be generated by the instructor
and the students.
8) A documents page. Here you can download papers (instructions,
worksheets, essays, term papers) generated by the instructor or
members of the class.
Other features may include online exams, a
calendar, a place for private notes or a journal (shared with the
instructor), a grade book and “classrooms” or chat rooms
that incorporate streaming audio or video.
As technical and as intimidating as all of this may sound, in many
ways it simply brings together a number of distance education options
that have been available—and successful—for a long time.
These include correspondence courses, and courses taught by video
or cassette tape. Today, online learning provides the best of all
of these options integrated in one convenient medium, the internet.
So does it work? Well, yes. And no. As in any traditional classroom
it depends on the teacher and the learner, although in this case
it depends mostly on the learner. That would be you.
But despite all that responsibility, online learning has a lot to
recommend itself. Of 74 students who responded to my survey , 67
(90%) said the best part of online learning was the flexibility,
a function of both time and place. Control over time was the most
common benefit cited, by both experienced online learner (four or
more online classes) and newbies (three or less). The most common
words were “flexibility,” (mentioned 11 times) “schedule”
(mentioned 25 times), “convenient” (mentioned 20 times),
and, of course, the word time (mentioned 35 times).
Most of the responses were similar to these: “The best part
was that I could go online at anytime - day or night” and
“You work around your own schedule, not someone else's.”
But some were more eloquent, or at least more picturesque: One student
said, “There is something to be said about taking a test in
the middle of the night while wearing a pink fuzzy bathrobe, and
Garfield slippers.”
As this quote suggests, a strong and important subtext to all of
this is a sense of place. Students definitely liked being able to
be at home—and said so. Twenty percent used the words “family”
or “home” in describing the best part of online learning.
Said one working mom: “I like being able to plan my school
around my family instead of the other way around.” Others
liked being able to do their school work at their job or even on
the road. In a busy world, students liked being able to have control
over the time and place they learn.
Five people didn’t respond to this question at all. (We’ll
get to them later.) And two of the four that mentioned something
else as the “best part” also noted the importance of
convenience. Two of the others cited anonymity (we quoted them above)
and one cited “autonomy.” But one actually got to the
issue at the root of the new paradigm. She said “the best
part of taking on an online class is that you have to really dig
into the books and information provided in order to learn anything.”
The problems
With all of these promising possibilities, your question is probably
“so what’s the problem?” The survey reflects a
number of concerns held by online learners. And while everybody
essentially agreed that the best part of the online experience was
the convenience, there is less unanimity about what represents the
“worst” part of their experience. Basically, these responses
can be divided into three categories: problems with technology,
communication problems (especially with the instructor) and problems
of self-discipline and organization. Let’s look at each in
turn.
Problems with technology was the issue of least concern. Twenty-four
percent mentioned frustrations related to unstable internet connections,
glitches in the online delivery system or outdated personal computers
and software. One student’s advice: “Don’t try
the classes if you internet connection is prone to failure.”
This was a particular problem for students who lost connections
in the middle of a timed test—a problem mentioned more than
once.
Exactly the same number of students said the “worst”
part of the experience was maintaining the organization and discipline
necessary to succeed. The freedom to manage their own time came
with the responsibility to do so. “It’s easy to fall
behind if you aren’t disciplined enough” was typical
of this response. Part of this is the environment itself, which
can be new and somewhat overwhelming. One student wrote, “It
can be confusing to make sure you have all the right assignments
and know all the right deadlines. It left me feeling very scattered,
but once I organized and figured out a system it was better.”
While self-discipline shows up as a secondary theme under “what’s
the worst part?”, it is easily the major theme under “what
advice would you give someone taking their first online course?”
The reason? As one student put it, “You have to manage your
own schedule, since you are not going to class and having that constant
reminder to get your homework done and study for tests.” The
advice (see sidebar) tends to be pretty straightforward. Don’t
procrastinate, log on regularly and take the class seriously.
But the need for self-discipline is not the “worst”
part of the experience, at least not in students’ minds. Remember
all those students responding to questions online, and all that
insightful commentary? Well, while teachers get absolutely ecstatic
over this, students responding to the survey weren’t impressed.
Over half (52%) said the worst part of the online experience was
poor communication. And half of those (26% of the total) said the
problem was communicating with their instructors.
The more general issue of communication was frequently characterized
as a “lack of interaction” or “not being able
to communicate directly.” The limitations of depending primarily
on written communication was mentioned several times, although we
can expect that online learning will include more audio or video
conferencing as broadband issues are resolved.
Unfortunately, for many students asynchronous communication doesn’t
seem as satisfying as that which occurs in real time. Even though
students respond to other people’s ideas, they don’t
seem to feel like they are responding to each other. The issue here
is time, with several complaints about feedback not being “immediate.”
The lack of interaction is perceived as just that—a lack of
action. Speech is an action, of course. And we are used to having
an immediate reaction in our conversations, along with the rich
textures of tone and facial expressions and even body language.
So asynchronous communication can be frustrating until you get used
to it. Interestingly, none of the respondents who had taken over
four online courses even mentioned it.
But those with less than four online courses did. And they did so
over and over again. In fact, their real beef was with “waiting
for the instructor to respond.” One complained that his instructor
only checked her email twice a week. Remember the five students
I mentioned who didn’t list a “best” but did mention
a “worst”? Communication problems with the instructor
was their common concern. Instructors took a hit over two issues
actually: response time and clarity.
There could be several reasons for this. The most obvious is that
online instructors are as varied as those you might have on campus,
and not all of them are equally good at communicating with students.
But other factors may play a role. For example, a few instructors
also responded to my survey, and over a third of them said that
the best part of teaching online was the convenience. This is the
same thing almost every student cited as the biggest benefit to
them—doing it on their own time.
But this perceived problem may actually be the frustration we all
experience adapting to the advantages and disadvantages of asynchronous
communication. It doesn’t feel like conversation. A student
who exchanges just five emails with the instructor in a whole online
course may have received more direct feedback than he or she might
have had in a regular course, but there was no eye contact or pat
on the back. One student writes that “it can feel very lonely
if the professor doesn’t respond quickly to your emails.”
Of course the internet itself is interactive—and we get what
we want immediately or else we go somewhere else. In an online class
we may expect people to be hyperlinked when they are not even logged
on. One student wrote, “the worst part was having questions
on the weekend or after hours. I could only email and wait for a
response.” Now he may have had an instructor who wasn’t
responsive. And then again he may have had an instructor who just
took the weekend off like his campus-based counterpart. My point
is the student wanted an immediate response, which he would not
even have expected in an offline setting.
But I don’t want to glass this over. It is a major problem.
People may be communicating online but not connecting, and much
of the research about online learning (some of which you will read
about later in this book) addresses the question of building community
online. It can be done, and it is being done. Keep in mind that
as you enter a new world—just like you might enter a new neighborhood—you
may feel disconnected. It is a natural but temporary experience.
A different perspective
Is it worth the risk?
Yes, it is. Real personal growth always taking risks. And if you
are able to accept the new paradigm of student-centered (as opposed
to teacher centered) education the rewards are great. Several students
noted this shift, bet they experienced it as a paradox. One student\
said, “The best part is getting to manage your own schedule
and the worst part is having to manage your own schedule.”
Another student put it this way:
The best art of taking on an online class is that you have to really
dig into the books and information provided in order to learn anything.
The worst part was needing to dig into the books and information
provided in order to learn something! You really have to be motivated
sometimes to do your work.
Her advice follows the same thread:
Take it seriously. Don’t slack off and think because you don’t
have to go to class and be seen by the professor that you can do
whatever you want and still get a good grade or learn anything.
I really liked my online class and probably learned a lot more taking
it online than by taking it in a class where I would occasionally
day dream. Or doodle.
Take it seriously. And don’t doodle.
This is good advice, but it also speaks to what online learning
may do best. It offers you an opportunity to control both your time
and your success. One student wrote, “The worst part was I
felt I was teaching myself.”
Actually, that may be the best part.
####
Dr. Metts teaches online and offline at Spring
Arbor University (Spring Arbor, MI), where he is chair of the department
of communication. He has a Pd.D. in interdisciplinary studies from
Michigan State University and has won several national awards writing
and editing for children and teens. |
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