Proof of Learning, Week Three

The most interesting readings for this week focused on how we learn given certain mediums and environments. More specifically, they explored student perceptions of learning according to appraisal of their 'social presence' – the degree to which a person is perceived as real – and via asynchronous online interactions.

“Predicting Learning From Asynchronous Online Discussions” explored perceptions of learning via asynchronous interactions when they were supplementing face-to-face meetings. Asynchronous discussion and interaction is essentially a type of interaction where responses and conversation do not happen in real-time. (Just like the IDS 121 discussion board!) My initial perception was that asynchronous online interactions would largely be a boon to learning, and the results of the study seem to corroborate it. Wu and Hiltz report that, “Fifty-seven percent of the students thought online discussion increased their learning quality” and “over 78% of students thought online discussion was a great chance to share opinions among peers and instructor.” (Wu & Hiltz) We can see that a good majority of students perceived their online experiences as a positive forcing towards their learning, and an even greater majority found the online interactions a valuable means to communicate with other members of the class. It is also reported that the asynchronous nature of the communication “promotes higher levels of critical and cognitive thinking.”

Clearly, asynchronous online discussion reaps benefits for a large number of people, but are there downsides to the medium as well? Jeffrey cites a few potential issues. (“ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS” 6/1, 1:53 p.m.) One of the biggest hazards is that “the internet can fail a user at any time and it is uncertain that your assignments and homework arrive where they need to arrive.” This can certainly create a lot of stress if the technology is not operating as it needs to, and is a potential offsetting factor in regard to one of the most important benefits of the medium: freedom of time and place. Jeffrey also cites that, in the case of purely online classes, “the instructor does not get to see if someone is struggling in the class,” which I think is a great point. Without a personal component, the class ultimately resolves to favoring monotonous, rote memory answers. Part of learning is making mistakes and learning from them, something that an instructor from a purely online class (without some personal medium of communication) will not be able to appreciate and assist with.

Another thought that Jeffrey's post prompted was the role of lecture in a class. Classes that operate solely online will not have one, obviously; are online classes losing some value without them? I think that they do. Namely, I think that a good lecture can provide a great deal of synergy with the reading. Good lectures won't simply go over what you should have read, but it will expand on it in a way that uses the instructors expertise to increase ones comprehension of the subject. Michael H. also weighed in, noting that lectures can provide structure and direction to learning. This plays back to the role of the personal component of a class as well, and that presence of structure can greatly increase an individuals appreciation for the material.

“Examining Social Presence in Online Courses in Relation to Students' Perceived Learning and Satisfaction" focused on how our perception of feeling 'real' in online mediated interactions (social presence) influences our learning and satisfaction. The study validated and found strong, positive correlations for several hypotheses linking perceived social presence with perceived learning satisfaction. (Richardson & Swan) This seems rather intuitive to me, and a number of people on the discussion board echoed these sentiments. Emily N. notes that, “Students have to feel that they are included and learning something from the discussion and interactions with the students.” (“Social presence:” 6/2, 12:58 p.m.) She also highlighted the disincentive of posting when others in the class appear to not care about their responses and interactions. I think this is an important consideration in addition to personal resolve and effort. Students that really work and want to learn will probably end up doing it regardless of the atmosphere, but others that are more towards the middle may become bogged down in the prevailing group sentiments. The social environment can become a feedback mechanism, where otherwise good students may end up not trying as hard due to how the rest of the group responds.

Going meta: I am still making the effort to include our discussion board conversations here in my Proof of Learning reports. I think I have given a lot more space to exploring the way in which our discussion posts direct our understanding of the material, and less to the articles in and of themselves. I was also without internet for a few days this week – Jeffrey's predictions coming true – so I decided to spend more time reading and responding to other peoples' posts (rather than make my own) on the discussion board. Overall, the experience was rewarding to see a greater diversity of perspective, but I did miss writing up my own interpretations to start topics.

References

Richardson, Jennifer C. & Swan, Karen. (2003). Examining Social Presence in Online Courses in Relation to Students' Perceived Learning and Satisfaction." JALN Vol. 7 Issue 1 pp. 68-88. (download from google docs: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0vrL-DffM_dOThlMzk0ZWItZjdmYi00ODY1LWFjZGItMjFlZDdhOTE4Mzky&hl=en_US&authkey=CMeBu9oO )

Wu, Dezhi, & Hiltz, Starr Roxanne. (2004). "Predicting Learning from Asynchronous Online Discussions." JALN, Volume 8: Issue 2. pp. 139-52. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0vrL-DffM_dZWJkMzg0MGItMjNmOS00ZGM5LWI3NTItYWI2N2Q0NGJmMDIz&hl=en_US&authkey=CM75uZMC