Siemens (Laureate, n.d) discussed how many more people are communicating on line. The evidence can be seen with social mediums like facebook and myspace. People with Internet relationships are meeting and marrying. I do agree with Siemens that virtual communication has evolved and it can be as intimate or as distant as desired.
As more people get comfortable using the Internet to conduct business and social issues, their ability to communicate through this medium increases. Like Siemens (Laureate, n.d.) stated who would have guessed we would be talking to one another on Skype with the clarity that is now available.
As I have said in previous posts, online learning gives that shy student who wouldn’t have communicated in a face-to-face environment a voice. Everyone has a voice and can be heard. Typically people think before they type and share their ideas and experiences. Online communication allows us to grow more because we are not afraid to take risks and have some think lesser of us. My thought is that the anonymous factor allows some students to more freely and without fear express their opinions and ideas.
Laureate (n.d.), Siemeans, G., The future of distance educationhttp://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4449103&Survey=1&47=6819412&ClientNodeID=984645&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
In your estimation, does communication in the context of online learning have more to do with the medium or discourse? Since you conflate the popularity of social networking tools with Distance Education (DE), what is the basis for you to locate them within the same class of education? Also, does the anonymous nature of the DE medium translate to the level of discourse expected of online higher education students? Do you think that the greater focus on computer mediated discourse (CMD) in the DE setting, compared to the classroom, might be more of a risk to learners (“shy” or otherwise) who are not adept at communication or communication at the level expected of higher education students?
ReplyDeleteDo you consider Facebook and Myspace the only social networks viable for education? How do you see these tools to be useful in DE?
ReplyDelete@ Bob,
ReplyDeleteNo I do not consider Facebook and Myspace the only social networks viable for education. Currently in my face-to-face class I use a wiki to communicate to my students after school hours.
In addition, I can't see how these tools couldn't be useful in DE. They give a platform for people to communicate and collaborate.
Aimee,
ReplyDeleteHave you had any experience with the negative impacts of the anonymous factor in online communication? We are struggling with online bullying at my high school. In the first nine weeks; we had a student posting pictures of her teacher and adding inappropriate comments on Facebook. Her defense was that she had done it outside of school. We had to amend our student handbook to include online bullying and online harassment. There are both positives and negatives to the anonymous factor in online learning.
Dave Harms
I agree that the anonymous factor does support participation for the shy learner. I believe that there are other factors that must be accounted for such as bullying and plagiarism. How can distance education regulate settings were accountablity is unstable?
ReplyDelete