Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Elements of Distance Education
Collaborative interaction is a huge contributor to the success of distance education. As Siemens (2008) points out in his video, as people enroll in these courses, their comfort level increases. This hold true in regards with collaborating with other students in a distance environment. In distance learning courses, the amount of knowledge that is shared is greater than what is shared in your face to face courses. Those students who are less likely to share in the traditional setting may be more comfortable sharing online. I am one of those individuals who does not speak much in the traditional setting, but I have a lot to share concerning education and how to improve the profession. However, along with this new level of comfort comes a mutual respect of the diverse class. Distance learning provides the opportunity to collaborate with others in your field who are located in other geographic regions. It is through these collaborations that educators are able to improve their educational pracitices and make improvements in their own environments. Typically, collaborations are done through discussion boards, blogs, or a media such as skype. Collaborations have helped me a great deal in all of the courses that I've taken and can't imagine what a course would be like without it.
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I have learned so much through the discussion board. It is knowledge of reinforcement. This allows collaborations to work best by using the community or team member to develop cognitive ability to understand the subject matter. I am one those learner who need collaboration. In teaching, I use peer groups because many of my students need additional help. Teamwork is a powerful tool. It has always worked in manufactory in building a product.
ReplyDeleteThe online format allows me to really pull my thoughts together before posting, that is not possible in a f2f class. But sometimes I feel that I am missing a personal element by getting to know my classmates only through written word. I am a people watcher and I learn so much about someone just by watching them in the classroom. Do you feel a loss of that element?
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