Yesterday morning’s demonstrated passion around building teams in a distributed evironment raises challenging and exciting questions for our field of practice. If learners and facilitators have an aversion to communicating and forming teams at a distance, how can we best use technology to be inclusive and ensure that everyone has an opportunity to belong? In his article, Boyd (2004) mentions that learners with particular learning styles might prefer to operate in distance learning environments. There is much left to discover in this relatively new field. We have the challenge and opportunity to establish the practices that will allow all types of learners to belong and contribute to a team. If learners are never going to be face to face, how does that change the design of your program? Our profile activity was one example of engaging learners through technology to begin forming teams. These blogs are another example. Currently in my work, when learners log into our training site, they complete mostly asychronous courses that are interactive but without a collaborative or community element. I am struggling with these questions. How technology can create the sense of belonging for new learners in a similar way to face to face classes? Is the notion of community critical for self-paced learning?
Teambuilding through technology
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Hi Dave
I agree with you. It is an exciting time to be involved in online learning. It is such a young field and there is so much to discover.
I work with online high school students. “Common sense” (whatever that is) would tell us that if a student is part of a team, he or she will be more engaged and more likely to succeed. That is certainly true of my experience here at RRU. I believe the research bears this out as well.
The courses at our high school are all asynchronous and self paced. Students come to us from all over the province because of that fact. In an asynchronous environment, it is hard to have discussion groups about the curriculum, because, obviously, everyone is at a different part in the course. I did try to set up a general discussion on current events. That fell flat on its face. Many of our students report that they do not wish contact with the other kids. It’s as if they were saying “Gimme the course and get out of my way.”
We could argue that such isolating behavior is not good for the “socialization” of the kids. My personal experience is that this is not a factor – at least, not with our kids. They are some of the nicest kids I have ever worked with. (we do get the the kids from the Kamloops area together to go skating, skiing, swimming, etc.) They seem normal, well adjusted and happy. Maybe they get enough socialization from other contacts like evenings and weekends, and attending a regular school is not a factor. The “socialization” at high school can somethimes be brutal, with kids unduring frequent bullying. Our online kids are learning who they are and what they stand for, and entering the greater world at a later age, when their sense of self is fully developed and perhaps better able to deal with bullying.
I realize you work with adults, so the situation is different. I am not sure how you can build community in your courses either. Maybe it isn’t necessary. “Gimme the course and get out of my way!” We will ponder it.
Sue
Dave, I too work in corporate training and am anxious to understand how distance learning should take place. My understanding of the challenge is to make asynchronous learning feel like its synchronized, or at least be able to identify those elements of synchronized training that promote learning and emulate those elements into an asynchronous environment. This, at least, is the approach I have taken in the past.
After reading Mackeracher’s (2006) lessons about “self-direction as a personality trait” I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve taken the wrong approach. Maybe, instead of trying to make the training match the learner, we need to work on how the learner learns. In other words perhaps the goal of corporate trainers should be to help students understand that because the training is no longer the traditional classroom and instructor model, there are changes that need to happen in the learner, to learn new ways to learn. Putting it bluntly, corporate learners can no longer set back and wait to be feed their lessons; they need to understand that the new model is about them being actively engaged in their training, and that without their willingness to use self-discipline, the learning will not likely take place.
Hey Dave,
Being a teacher who has taught in the public system both on line and in traditional classroom settings, I have some experience dealing with team/community building in both venues. I find it a natural and easy process to create a sense of community in traditional settings. However in my work teaching online, I struggle with this challenge. As a student new to the online learning model myself, I have discovered an appreciation for the idea that online learners can feel “impostor-like”. This also brings feelings of inadequacy which can inhibit community building. But as I am learning, it is also this precise syndrome that can help support community building. Specifically, upon commencing this program, I felt as though I was the only one who had no idea what I was doing. I immediately felt comfort – even though we only communicated as a group from a distance. Quickly though, I gained confidence, a sense of camaraderie and comfort in discovering that I was not alone. This is an interesting paradox. I am looking forward, as I know you are too, to understanding this experience more fully during the online portion of this course, especially given the fact that it can help me support strong community building within the online classes I teach.