CN: How to fill the missing link in online instruction

Roberson, Thelma J. & Jack Klotz (2002). How Can Instructors and Administrators Fill the Missing Link in Online Instruction? Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Volume V, Number 1V, Winter.

Abstract: As more courses in higher education move to an online format, a major concern is the lack of personal interaction between the professor and student. The literature provides evidence that online courses are often configured and delivered in a style more typically associated with independent study or correspondence work, i.e., students working independently to complete posted assignments at their own pace. While this format may work in some instances, it leaves a missing link in the learning curve for students because they lack the opportunity to benefit from the experience of structured dialogue and sense of community that can be created in a traditional on-site classroom environment. Distance education administrators and trainers should be cognizant of this gap and support faculty members in acquiring needed skills to increase the level of interactivity students experience in online courses. Although academic freedom remains with individual faculty members, assuring distance education programs have integrity is a dual responsibility shared by those who deliver and those who administer such programs. This paper supports the idea that students benefit from personal contact and access to the professor and learning is enhanced in courses with high degrees of interactivity among students. The authors suggest effective uses of e-mail, chat, and various Web-based tools to enhance interactivity and a sense of community within the online course. Sample comments are also included from students who have taken courses that employ the strategies described in this paper. (9 references)

Summary and notes:

  • What is happening to interaction between students and instructors with the move to online learning?
  • Chat rooms (synchronous communication) and message boards (asynchronous communication) can be effective in maintaining high levels of communication
  • Email and mailing lists can also help, but they need to be returned quickly and be of high quality.
  • Authors conclude that personal interaction between instructor-student and student-student is vital to the sense of community and the educational process.
  • Authors recommend that exposure to content AND interactivity be considered in evaluating courses regardless of whether they are developed in-house or by an outside contractor, and that interactivity be appropriate for the course and its content.
  • Course developers should be trained for creating community through online instructional tools
Interesting perspective. In situations where the learners are all over the globe (as in this course), it makes it very difficult to have synchronous communication, but if several time blocks were available it might be possible. In some ways it might actually be easier for me to communicate with my classmates on the east coast than my immediate family in the west, just due to time zones. There was a chat available in one of my other courses, but it was unfortunately at a time when I was teaching, so I wasn’t able to attend. I’m sure it would have been helpful for creating a sense of community with my classmates, however. 
While the idea of message boards can be helpful, in a lot of my colleagues who are or have taken distance program graduate degrees, many comment on how there seems to be a concern with minimum postings and not much for communication or conversation. I don’t know if that’s just busyness and prioritization, gluts of irrelevant posts, or something else. I think if the posts were not graded/assessed I might contribute more, but then again, maybe not. I had a hard time with the organization of the threads when there were more than one topic on a board, which lead to a visual overload (Also, with all the subject lines identical or very similar, it made it hard to see who thought what, and lead to a sense of sameness across all posters. I wasn’t interested in reading minimum-requirement postings, let alone comment on them. Much as, although it’s late, I won’t expect responses to this post. 🙂
What has been nice in my courses has been the rapid and generally useful responses to email across the board. I wonder, then, if something like a list-serv might not be more appropriate.

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Kimberly Hogg

As a child, Kim would take apart anything she could put a screwdriver in to figure out how it worked. Today, she's still interested in exploring the processes and limits of our tools, whether online or in hand. Kim enjoys exploring and learning about anything and everything. When not at a computer, she enjoys birdsong and the smell of pine needles after a rain. Kimberly holds an MEd in Information Technology and a BA in Communication Studies. You can contact Kim here or on Twitter @mskhogg.

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