During a large scale study exploring student perceptions of barriers to online learning, 47 barriers were identified.
Ok, I won't be discussing all 47 barriers in this post (I will leave the rest for the next 46 posts!)But the disadvantage or barrier that the students ranked as number 1 was the 'lack of social interaction' involved in online learning. The lack of a social environment results in a negative impact on the following:
- likelihood of taking a future online course
- effectiveness of online learning
- enjoyment of online learning
- confidence in online learning
- likelihood of completing a course online
It appears the lack of social interaction is the most important reason people do not want to use online learning. It is also apparent that the online learning through the use of chat rooms, messenger etc. is not as effective and cannot replace real-life student interaction.
"A great deal of learning occurs through the interaction between students and educators. That discussion is lost online" and that "Students don't get to hear other students' opinions and teachers' real-time interpretations."
There is also evidence to suggest that social interaction using online collaborative learning has various pitfalls which also need to be considered before using an online approach to teaching.
Avoid the hassle and stick to the classroom!
References:
http://www.emoderators.com/barriers/stbarr_final_may05.pdf
http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/software-services-applications-internet-social/6537375-1.html
http://www.netwerkopenhogeschool.com/Docs/Faculteiten/OW/Identifying%20the%20pitfalls%20for%20social%20interaction%20in%20computer.pdf
I have completed 2 courses online; my masters via another uni and this course. I think its the best mode of learning for my current situation.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that while completing my masters I felt completely isolated and lost. I was unable to connect to my lecturers and had to 'plod' through readings and research on my own. I actually considered leaving the course half way through. Email was an accepted form of communication, but was formal and I felt 'silly' asking questions.
Now, this course is completely different, I feel part of the network and connected to other students. Skype has connected me socially, while blogging has enabled me to intereact and participate. If only every course was like this. :)
Andrea
I think you make a good point, there are many different online learning experiences and some certainly can be isolating. As technology improves some of the points made in Phil's post will become less of a problem. The article by Kreijns refers pretty much exclusively to asynchronous activities only. Skype chats and synchronous environments like Elluminate and Evo really do add to the social interaction possibilities.
ReplyDeleteI have also completed a number of subjects through (mostly) online distance ed.
ReplyDeleteI began study at UniMelb partly because I wanted to return to a "real" classroom. Being forced to sit and listen to others (even though I sometimes think that what someone is saying is, to put it bluntly, stupid) seems to me to be immensely useful. Also, I relish the times when I am able to network with others in a meaningful way during breaks etc.
Now, I understand that conversations, listening to others etc. can all happen in an online context but I always find that this takes more time and energy (input) for similar experiences (output).
This is my first semester completing 2 classes online. At first I felt very isolated, much like Andrea, no one to talk to, to discuss assignments, topics, etc, and wondered why I decided on doing this course online. However, I have really enjoyed this class due to the interaction aspects such as blogs and Skype. I feel that if there were no synchronous aspects to this class I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. I believe I, and students alike, need this aspect in their learning so they minimise that isolation feeling. If this is apparent, then the student is going to dislike the class and poor learning and disengagement will result. They need and should feel they're apart of a class, a team... Go CC&E!!
ReplyDeleteThe general feeling here I believe is that we do not feel isolated because of the classes we are able to attend online using skype where everyone can be heard, there is interaction and participation taking place. I wonder how many other online courses offer the same 'real classroom' experience. Some courses might use Eluminate which is completely different in my opinion. The teacher does all the talking and the student has to pick up the microphone if they want to speak, which is a huge barrier in itself. My final subject next semester is also online, however, other students have told me that it involves reading a set of instructions and writing an essay. No Skype sessions (unless things have changed). Talk about isolation!
ReplyDelete