Establishing the Online Environment

        

How many of us are old enough to remember Max Headroom? This is a character from a 1980’s TV series about a newsman who escapes a threat to his life by becoming digital and operating within a computer. The character is only seen as a human image via the old-time clunky computer monitors of the era. 

I often like to make unusual allusions especially to pop culture to see if there are any students who tend to think and operate beyond their own world. To help students understand that there is a real person on the other end of their computer I often make reference to Max Headroom. In doing so, I’m trying to break through the electronic barrier and distance associated with computers before the advent of social media and mobility.

In a very real way the primary goal of a teacher’s preparation of the online environment for students is to make it seem personable.Palloff and Pratt in this week’s video (n.d.) provide a number of great suggestions for humanizing instruction which will occur through distance learning.Much of the success in creating the desirable online experience calls for the instructor to personalize the environment and to think and respond proactively.They for example mention a simple strategy used in face-to-face instruction which is to get on a first name basis with the student. They also suggest drawing out the reluctant student by engaging in private communication to discover the reason for their resistance to a fuller participation.

Boettcher and Conrad (2010) approach the issue of preparation by considering the tools and technology that the student will be using.Just as one checks a flashlight by turning it on and off before journeying into the darkness, the online teacher should make sure that students will have access to the right tools for the planned activities and also make sure that the tools and links are operational. It’s similar to the pilot walking around and checking the perimeter of his plane while on the ground as well as going through any pre-flight check with the engine revving up.

When I first started working with a computer, I generally would allow for more wait time for a download or for a video to start.With a bit more experience, though, I’ve noted that I’ve become as bad as my high school students in that if it doesn’t work right away, I’m off to a new site.My experience expects the technology to be operational and if it isn’t, it establishes a critical attitude toward the site and learning, a breach of the trust that the technology will and should work first time and every time.

E-learnspace.org provides a rather thorough analysis of the preliminaries that are important to assure the success of an online experience.Its web article “Preparing Students for Elearning” (n.d.) considers the prerequisites of the “ecosystem” as well as the prerequisite skills of the instructor and the student.It mentions the need for support documents that provide the explanation that the traditional teacher gives orally from the front of the room.Such documents explain how to use the tools but also convey the expectations for performance: staying on schedule, communicating, procedure for executing an activity, methods of evaluation, listing of assignments, etc.

An instructor is not only the “subject matter specialist” for any course, but the instructor also is a model for students.The more inexperienced a student is, the more he relies - whether he is aware of it or not - upon the instructor to show him how it is done, or where the bar is set for successful completion of the assignments.Consequently, the instructor must be able to use the tools “fluidly” and be able to explain the use of those tools.There probably will be times when the student’s knowledge of the technology exceeds that of the instructor, but the instructor needs to have practiced with each of the tools that technology has to offer.

Palloff and Pratt also spend a good deal of time discussing the first activities one creates that will establish the right mindset for the online experience.Because the online experience relies heavily on social learning and collaboration, it becomes necessary to establish a learning community that supports these important elements of learning.Beginning a course in “Week Zero” with activities not related to course content initiates the development of the learning community.Establishing a personable biography and later participating in an icebreaker activity helps bridge the isolation gap evident in online instruction and begins to establish a community that will operate on the basis of good communication as well as cooperation and collaboration among the students and with the instructor.

If for no other reason, such opening activities go a long way toward helping students realize that “Max Headroom” is a real person who resides at the other end of their computer.If he’s real and he approaches you in a humanizing and personable way, how could you not respond in kind and make the decision that you are going to try to do your best and get something out of the course.How could it not help to establish a positive experience?

References:

Boettcher, J.V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Elearningspace.com (n.d.). Preparing students for elearning. Retrieved from http://www.elearningspace.org/Articles/Preparingstudents.htm

Max Headroom [image]. bing.com/images/search?q=max headroom

Max Headroom (TV Series). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_(TV_series)

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (n.d.). Online Learning Communities [video]. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493411&Survey=1&47=7443671&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Building a Community of Learning in the Online Environment

To develop our understanding of online instruction and to address many of the issues and concerns of this way of teaching, one must think of the environment, the virtual classroom, as a community.  Community as a vocabulary word is derived from the root word “munio” which means “build.”  But it’s not a construction performed solely by the instructor.  The prefix “com” incorporates the idea that the building process is a joint endeavor.  The student has a responsibility in the construction of his own learning and his learning environment also.  In that sense then the student and teacher are partners, and the professor takes on a role different than the traditional center-stage source for the learning.  It also suggests that the student is expected to be a “professional participant” as Dr. Keith Pratt reveals in the video “Online Learning Communities” (n.d.).

As a community, it’s important to establish the purpose of it and the parameters for it.  This the instructor sets up before students enter the virtual classroom.  He prepares the way, as he would in a traditional classroom, by posting the syllabus which outlines the purpose for the course and the guidelines which outline the way all participants are to conduct their efforts.  A website devoted to model train enthusiasts will establish the specific way in which the site will address the interest in model trains.

Something else, beyond course content and establishing the why and how of the course, that the instructor will consider ahead of time is the logistics of the technology.  He needs to be familiar and comfortable with all the tools that the students will use, and just as in a traditional course, he needs to check everything out before the first student arrives.  Are all the lessons open and accessible, or has clear notification been made to the learners that the lessons will open upon completion of the requisite activities of the previous lesson?  Is the sequence of the lessons and access to the materials established?  Nothing will probably turn a student off faster than to face technology that doesn’t work.  Is the navigation clear and easy with no broken links?

To help the community work effectively, the participants may need training in the use of the technology.  Drs. Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt in “Online Learning Communities” both agreed that exposure to too much technology at once, especially for the “native immigrant,” may be overwhelming and create anxiety and a negative force working against the intent to build a successful online experience.  Dr. Pratt further mentions that the online experience may not be for everyone and thus recommends that participants attend an orientation mini-course that explains the expectations of the students but also provides opportunities to learn and practice the technology before proceeding to the academic side of the course.  I might add that the orientation should include simulations which replicate not only the typical activities but also the time-restraints associated with online instruction.  I might add even further that for high school students and their parents that an online course needs to be advertised in a realistic fashion and not be “sugar-coated” as an “easy” alternative to face-to-face instruction.  One of the first concepts to dispel then is the notion of self-pacing.  No course that is presented for credit can be self-paced until the educational institution is ready to establish the logistics and management for open-ended completion of a course.

I’m glad to see that our course work will focus on a major factor of success in the online environment, i.e., social presence.  In traditional classes the relationship between student and teacher has as much value as the academics.  The “affective domain” is for some, especially for the student who needs greater support, just as important as the course content.  In the online environment, the separation by the internet between the participants requires even more of an effort to build the community with emotional mortar.  A bond needs to be established (instructor to student and student to student) that can minimize a natural anxiety generated by the isolation. As such it’s important to emphasize early – before the class begins through the orientation module and the welcome letter/e-mail/audio podcast/video introduction - the collective and collaborative aspect of online instruction.  The collaboration more than likely will be simple through the discussion board or more elaborate through group activities.

Drs. Palloff and Pratt also mention in “Online Learning Communities” the importance of the instructor’s careful observation, especially in the first few weeks, and response to students who may gravitate to the periphery of the course.  The instructor must be proactive and reach out to the student to be inviting and to assist.  He will want to draw the student back into the course and that may simply be the idea of showing that there’s a real person on the other end of the computer or providing assistance with the technology or the content of the course.  Encouragement as well as explanation goes a long way toward showing students that someone cares.  Content + Support (academic, technological, moral, emotional) increase the chances of success in the online experience and become important building blocks in our constructing a community for learning.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.)  Online learning communities.  [Video]  Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt. [Presenters]  Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6493411&Survey=1&47=7956863&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1