Thursday, September 1, 2016
Significance of Online Community Building
The video on online community building as outlined by Dr. Rena Palloff and Dr. Keith Pratt was very significant as I have worked in all four of the industries represented by the audience; K-12, Higher Ed, Corporate Sales and Corporate Healthcare Training. Palloff and Pratt state that "research continues to show that the construction of a learning community, with the instructor participating as an equal member, is the key to successful online course outcomes and is the vehicle through which online education is best delivered." Dr. Palloff contends and I wholeheartedly agree that the instructor is part of the online learning community but should not be the focus of the community. Instead they should be a "Guide on the Side". The much used term "Guide on the Side" came from a 1993 article by Alison King published in College Teaching journal. In the article King contends that teachers, faculty, instructors and trainers need to change from being the central figure at the front of the room through which all knowledge flows to one of a facilitator of learning, guiding from the side as students learn to learn on their own by scaffolding that learning. As more online courses are being developed and delivered, this has become even more important.
This facilitator of learning is essential and must be present and involved however for positive student outcomes. Online learning communities significantly impact both student learning and satisfaction within online courses as students are able to develop ownership for their own learning and interactions. Mazzolini and Maddison found that the ways in which instructors post to forums can influence students' forum discussions and perceptions, but not necessarily how one would think. "On average, frequent posting by instructors did not lead to more student postings, and the more the instructors posted, the shorter were the lengths of the discussions overall. On the other hand, while most students rated their educational experience highly, instructors who posted frequently were judged on average to be more enthusiastic and expert than those who did not."
Palloff and Pratt say that online learning communities can be developed with the focus on sustainability of learning communities by focusing on the social presence, establishing guidelines for engagement, establishing minimum participation guidelines, allowing for student disagreement, and developing a course that is exciting, challenging, and incorporates collaborative activity and opportunities for reflection. The online community building includes social presence which also includes instructor presence. Danielle Hatchcock describes the importance of instructor presence as providing "a sense of leadership and security for the students, a central point person that guides them in the learning experience as well as instructor modeling, and (., establishing the purpose of community, the method by which the course is delivered, the ability or mechanism for interacting student to student or student to instructor?
Hathcock, D. (2012). Mapping Success: Essential Elements of an Effective Online Learning Experience. Higher Ed Teaching and Learning: Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/mapping-success-essential-elements-of-an-effective-online-learning-experience/
King, A. (1993). From sage on the stage to guide on the side. College teaching, 41(1), 30-35.
Mazzolini, M., & Maddison, S. (2003). Sage, guide or ghost? The effect of instructor intervention on student participation in online discussion forums. Computers & Education, 40(3), 237-253.
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4 comments :
Hello Amanda,
The research you quoted from Mazzolini and Maddison stating that, “frequent posting by instructors did not lead to more student postings” has not been my experience. At least my perception of my experience, as I have not been keeping statistical records. I also realize my experience is just that, my own, and unique just as others are. I have often questioned the need for minimum participation requirements. I understand the need to establish requirements for participation and grading purposes. I wonder if rephrasing the requirement to allow learners more freedom in choosing their level of discussion participation could actually produce more interaction. By eliminating the two post minimum, you eliminate the checklist style of working through assignments. This would also require an adjustment to rubrics. While there will always exist those who only do the minimum work required, expansion by the more motivated learners could produce a more robust online learning environment. Your thoughts?
Michael
Dear Amanda,
I very much liked your post. It made me think of the difference between the different types of community experiences we have explored at Walden. These are discussion boards, blogs and wikis. The best description I have found highlighting the difference between the three are that discussion boards are topic based with everyone able to create a thread, blogs are author centered where the author creates the content and others can comment, and wikis are content centered where everyone works together on one piece of content (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/myuni/staff/resources/tutorials/content/Differences_between_Discussion_Boards__Blogs_and_Wikis.html).
I find the difference between the three offers highlights a power distance, with discussion groups being the lowest and wikis being the highest (Stavredes, 2011, pp. 5-8). I prefer the discussion groups, but that may be because culturally I prefer a low power distance when in a learning community.
Thank you,
Sam
Reference
Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Great points about instructor presence and modeling. I look forward to future posts.
Great blog post! Do you feel healthcare training needs more traditional learning vs. online learning? Do you feel it is realistic to think healthcare professionals have time for online learning, blog, or building of a community? It seems like there is barely enough time to get continuing education training done, so, what would be the pros and cons of building an online community for healthcare professionals?
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