The linked article, Discovering the Meaning of Community in an Online Master's Degree Program, examines an online learning community from the perspective of adult learners in an online master's degree program in instructional design and technology (sound familiar?) at California State University – Fullerton. The paper was prepared by several instructors in the program and summarizes a survey of students conducted by the university. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate online learning community development within the program.
The authors conclude that an online learning community creates "foundations for transformative learning." Further, they cite prior findings that, "strong feelings of community increase the flow of information among all learners, the availability of support, commitment to group goals, cooperation among members and satisfaction with group efforts". The authors report that the following program characteristics assist in online learning community development:
– Positive peer interactions: The survey supported prior findings that student satisfaction "is strongly related to the amount of active interaction with other learners" and that "small group activities can enhance learning motivation". However, it is important to note that while peer interactions contributed to satisfaction, only 26% felt that the most meaningful learning in the program came through interactions with others (!!!) which supports other cited research.
– Positive instructor interactions: The survey also supported prior research that positive teacher / student interactions positively influence 1) motivation, 2) course engagement and 3) learning achievement. The lack of teacher involvement had the opposite effect. Noted important instructional factors included teacher:
- responses to students' contributions in discussion topics,
- constant presence on the discussion boards,
- supportive phone calls,
- good response time and
- exhibited "thoughtfulness and caring".
– Adopting constructivists approaches to teaching and learning: The authors highlight the distinction between a "teaching" curriculum and a "learning" curriculum (their objective) in which "knowledge is co-created by members of the learning community, with each person contributing his or her additional resources to the curriculum of the course." Say it together now, "social constructivists"! The results of the survey indicate that 86% felt they engaged in constructivist learning activities and that the interactions were beneficial to their learning.
– Cognitive growth through effectively facilitated critical discourse: 80% agreed that online discussions challenged them to think critically and provided a "safe" venue to express ideas.
– Accessibility and reliability of web-based technologies: Not real surprisingly, the study validated that technical difficulties diminished the "sense of community". However, the variety and selection of the appropriate online tools (discussion boards, e-mail, etc) were shown to be important to students' success.
– Institutional collaboration: This section of the survey addressed how the university "support" functions viewed the online learning community. While all agreed they "contributed to the development of the online learning community", only 54 strongly agreed or agreed that the online community as an extension of the campus community! Coincidentally, I just received an "invitation" to an interesting on campus seminar some hundreds of miles away that would not be made available to distance students 🙁
– Members' prior technological proficiency: Students in the program "recognized and valued" each member's experience and contribution within the community.
My response as a student: As a student in a similar program, I agree with the major findings of this student survey. I agree with the importance of creating a sense of community within an online learning setting. The community (peer, teacher, institution) provides invaluable steering, insight, motivation and new ideas for me to ponder. Online learning can be a very lonely place . . . hello, hello . . . is anyone out there and the learning community can help you feel connected. Working for hours on the computer, I often think of the old "if a tree falls" story . . . I'm working away, but is anyone out there to hear me (validate?) my work . . . However, as I have been reminded elsewhere this semester, does it matter to my education if they are or not?
Yet, as the students in the survey noted, collaboration does not provide my primary source of "meaningful learning". While I truly benefit from the constructive feedback of my peers and I learn a tremendous amount from reading their work, collaboration has a downside, too. Beyond the headache of dealing with schedule coordination, collaboration on some projects leaves me feeling educationally short-changed. I sometimes feel I miss pieces of the puzzle when I am in a jointly collaborating on assignments. While teamwork and project management skills can be gained in a collaborative environment (don't adults get enough of that practice at work?), I feel that attaining such experience can stand in the way of learning. I learn the most when I think things through (construct) on my own. Granted, in life most "projects" are usually best done when tasks are shared and delegated. However, I don't view learning in the same way as completing a "project". Unlike a project, my education is not something that needs to "get done" in a speedy and efficient manner.
Finally, I found the the comments on the connection with the "institution" and the accessibility of the web-based technologies to ring true, as well. While the technology does not make the "education", it certainly is a primary facilitator. If the system is down, you can't get to your learning community or most of your resources or materials. If the system is poorly designed, you can't find things and time and opportunities are wasted. In an online setting, you must not only rely on technology to facilitate your education, but to also provide a connection to the institution. It is amazing how many things you take for granted in a f2f learning setting, such as using the library, getting a student ID card and attending ad hoc seminars with fellow students and professions. Also, when your only interaction with the institution is mediated by a piece of technology, you must work within the confines of the system's capabilities to get and stay connected with information gatekeepers and the resources they control.
Hi Jennifer,
I agree with most of your opinions about the article. As a confessed discussion board addict, I feel that I am suited to distance education – I love reading and writing posts, so I might as well get a degree in the process, right? I, too, have found that instructor participation can “make or break” the quality of a course, much more so than a f2f course. I’ve found that an online instructor can easily slack off if they want to; a f2f instructor at least has to physically show up, but all an online instructor really has to do is seed the topics and grade the assignments.
As for the community aspect, that is something that I am less sold on; I feel that there is no more “community” in an online classroom than in a physical one – in fact, there’s probably less of one. I met some interesting people in my classes in my university days; we went for beers or coffee, skipped class to go see a Braves day game, etc. I have had none of those experiences with online learning. We are classmates, but the only thing I know about you is that you have a good blog – and I know more about you than any of our other classmates. Is that a “community”?
I can definitely relate to the technical issues. I woke up the other morning and fired up my computer to find that it was freaking out. It was having difficulty installing Windows updates and couldn’t start up; I had wiped a bunch of .dll files with Registry Mechanic a few days earlier, so I feared that there were some conflicts between my PC and the downloaded updates. It took over an hour for me to finally get it to boot up, and I was this close to wiping my system and re-booting the whole thing. At that moment, I realized that my “life” was on that computer – all the photos I’ve taken in the last 3 years, my resumes, my music, my movies, my papers from my previous classes, and papers for this term. In addition to these concerns, I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to work on any of my classes this weekend. Sure, traditional students would face similar concerns if the same problem happened to them (i.e. they might lose their work), but my computer is my lifeline to my classes and without it I’m in a bad spot.
I have to say that sometimes when I read these articles about how great online learning is, I get the feeling that the writers are crying out for recognition and validation. It’s like they’re saying, “See! People like us! We’re not a diploma mill out of the Caymans! We’re just as good as the f2f classes…aren’t we?”
At the end of the day, I’m not going to bite the hand that feeds because it suits my needs (wow, I just mixed metaphors and rhymed in the same sentence!). Distance education has given me the chance that I (living in Japan) otherwise would not have had – to get my Master’s while living in Japan – so for that I am thankful. Still, I don’t think that it’s “all that and a bag of chips.”
Ken
Thank you (again) for your comments! I often see (and feel) your perception about not experiencing a feeling of "community" in online education (or f2f for that matter), but I do feel my motivation and satisfaction increases dramatically in those moments when I feel more socially connected to my classmates. In one of my other classes, the students decided to share our personal IM contact information and I touch base frequently (outside of Oncourse) with my "classmates" when we happen to be signed on to the computer at the same time. "Knowing" them just this little bit more makes me more interested (in tracking their comments in the dicussion board, sharing information and resources, reading their assignments, etc). I agree that it is likely overstating it to call this type of interaction creating "community", but there is something within those interactions that is social and I feel it does enrich my online experience.
The question then to me is how (if) the institution should be part of encouraging those interactions. The survey notes ideas such as creating student lounges (probably just IM space) which is like what I do with my IM "buddies". However, this raises another issue . . . I prefer the casual interaction to be outside of the school's interface – I don't know of anyone that took a tape recorder to the student union, do you? Therefore, I like the idea of giving students ideas for creating social interactions outside of the course. Maybe an idea would be to create an informal student organization for distance students? Again, I'm not saying these informal social interactions make the education, but it sure makes the experience more egaging.
Thank you, again, for sharing your perceptions and insight! See . . . you motivated me to think more about this . . . what a great learning buddy!
Hi Jennifer,
I think online student organizations can be a good idea – networking never hurt anyone, right? In a way, I think that my experiences as a on-campus student influences the way I perceive online learning. I didn't have your classic "college experience." I spent the first few years of university at Georgia State University, a commuter school in downtown Atlanta. At the time, GSU didn't have any student housing; most of my classmates were scattered across the metro Atlanta area, working part/full-time and/or living at home. I met some cool people, but a lot of times they lived over an hour away from me and we both worked, so it was hard to hook up.
I moved to Seattle and finished my degree at the University of Washington. I was working full-time as a waiter and living with my girlfriend and going to school part-time – again, not the typical college experience. To me, school was one of many things I did, my main priority but still only a means to an end; the upside of this sob story is I paid my way through school and graduated with only $1700 in loans that I paid off within three months of graduation (thus not paying 1 cent of interest – thanks for the free loan, Uncle Sam
)
What I'm saying is that it depends on the individual. My lack of enthusiasm about online communities can probably be traced to my undergraduate f2f experiences. I think it is possible to create a larger sense of community – it just depends upon the individuals.
Ken