The Lonely Learner

In reviewing a number of articles recently on synchronous online learning, one thread has continued to emerge - the need for students to feel "connected" to the learning community. Certainly, this need exists in face-to-face classes, and it has always been the responsibility of teachers at any level to draw their students individually into the larger conversation. Yet, this seems to be a particularly crucial component in e-learning.

Presence

In his study of synchronous learning courses for his article "Synchronous Learning: Is There a Future", Martin Sivula concludes that there certainly is. The convenience afforded online students to attend from their homes or other convenient locations on a schedule that fits into work and family time continues to drive the demand for online courses. Yet, no amount of convenience or technological wizardry takes the place of "instructor presence" and the opportunity to "work collaboratively with classmates" (Sivula, 2013; Burnett, 2003; Hastie, Chung & Nian-Shing, 2010; Wdowik, 2014).  Filiz Tabak and Rohit Rampal came to similar conclusions when they analyzed synchronous online instruction for undergraduates in senior level business administration offerings. As in the Sivula study, students enjoyed being able to exchange ideas on various subjects without the anxiety that often attends speaking out in traditional class (Tabak & Rampal, 2014). Their study suggested that the amount of time invested in online conversations mattered little, what was more important was that the opportunity be there. Collaborative projects were also singled out as being particularly enhanced in the online environment because students could "overcome traditional limitations of space, time, and distance" to connect with their peers for real-time research and writing (Tabal & Rampal, 2014).

Source: expertbeacon.com

The Ties That Bind

The thread was picked up by McBrien, Jones & Cheng (2009) in their more broadly based study among courses in social foundations, special education, and instructional technology. Undergraduate and graduate students were included who used the Eluminate interface in education courses at the University of South Florida campus. As with other platforms such as Webex and Blackboard, the young scholars pointed out that technological advantages came at the price of normal technological glitches, but, on the whole, they felt that the online approach fostered deeper learning (McBrien, Jones & Cheng (2009). Further, though, these students expressed the same need for "connectedness", and, like their counterparts in the Sivula, Tabak, and Rampal studies, they listed student interaction in a less threatening environment, quality discussions of content, and flexibility (particularly in group projects) as being paramount. Connecting for project-based learning also kept students from getting lost in a synchronous online media design course that was studied by Yun Jeong Park and Curtis Bonk. As I have come to expect, while combing through their findings, I found yet another plea for "connectedness" that afforded prompt feedback, meaningful interactions with other students, and support from the instructor (Park & Bonk, 2007). In this study students delineated not just having someone else at the end of the virtual tether, but, more specifically, a "sense of community" as being a decided advantage of the virtual component (Park & Bonk, 2007). The online platform took away the feel of cold print and substituted the human element, with one student confiding that, "when you actually hear the voice speaking those same words, there is helpfulness and kindness in the tone" (Park & Bonk, 2007). Florence Martin and Michele Parker discovered that the desire to create "social presence"  and a "sense of community" in their courses was a substantial motivator in adopting online synchronous learning (Martin & Parker, 2014). This would seem to indicate that, thankfully, the yearning for "connectedness" is a two-way one, with professors as well as students recognizing its myriad benefits.

Researchers across the spectrum of K-12, undergraduate, and graduate studies are consistently finding that, when students feel connected to their classmates and teachers, they are willing to endure, if not totally overlook, the complications that often attends dependence on technology. Further, the online platform used does not seem to matter. What does matter is purposeful design in which learning objectives are seamlessly tied to online tools and ports of entry. In the Tabak and Rampal research offering, as well as in another study by Wang and Reeves (2007), students actually said that, at the end of the day, they still preferred face-to-face classes, but even these skeptics saw value in including an online aspect to the course because the dialogue both in and outside of class was enhanced (Tabak & Rampal, 2014).

 

The Human Element

Source: mirabiledictu.org:

In the classroom as in our interpersonal relationships, meaningful and lasting connections normally do not occur by accident. We have to invest the time and effort into fashioning structures within which that communication can take place. In all of the studies that I have looked at, there are references to a framework that removes human contact from the realm of the shallow and incidental. When that framework is not there, loneliness ensues and learning is lost.

 

References:

Akarasriworn, C., & Heng-Yu, K. (2013). Graduate students' knowledge construction and attitudes toward online synchronous videoconferencing collaborative learning environments. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, 14(1), 35-48.

Burnett, C. (2003). Learning to chat: Tutor participation in synchronous online chat. Teaching In Higher Education, 8(2), 247.

Hastie, M., I., Chun, H., & Nian-Shing, C. (2010). A blended synchronous learning model for educational international collaboration. Innovations In Education & Teaching International, 47(1), 9-24. doi:10.1080/14703290903525812.

Martin. F and Parker, M. (2014). Use of synchronous virtual classrooms: Why, who, and how? Merlot Journal of Online Learning and teaching,10(2), pgs. 192-210. Retrieved from: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no2/martin_0614.pdf.

McBrien, J., Jones, P., & Cheng, R. (2009). Virtual spaces: Employing a synchronous online classroom to facilitate student engagement in online learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 10(3). Retrieved from: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/605/1264.

Park, Y.J. & Bonk, C. (2007). Is online life a breeze? A case study for promoting synchronous learning in a blended graduate course. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(3), pgs. 307-323. Retrieved from: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no3/park.pdf.

Sivula, Martin, "Synchronous Learning: Is there a future?" (2013). Technology. Paper 8. Retrieved from: http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/technology/8.

Tabak, F. & Rampal, R. (2014). Synchronous e-learning: Reflections and design considerations. International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology, 10(4), pgs. 80-92. Retrieved from: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/viewarticle.php?id=1793.

Wang, C., & Reeves, T. C. (2007). Synchronous Online Learning Experiences: The perspectives of international students from Taiwan. Educational Media International, 44(4), 339-356. doi:10.1080/09523980701680821.

Wdowik, S. (2014). Using a synchronous online learning environment to pomote and enhance transactional engagement beyond the classroom. Campus - Wide Information Systems, 31(4), 264. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.acaweb.org/docview/1658674473?accountid=13505.