Online learning rocks

First week glitches, mere pebbles

On long path to gold

(Japanese Haiku)

In her weekly email to the class Verena mentions a few initial glitches in the system and why some emails are not being received, how not all automated grades are being received all contributing to a lack of feedback. This has caused a certain hesitancy among members in the groups and class and led to a mild confusion. While others may have felt it more than me, it does give cause for reflection.

Any course is a journey and as Lao Tzu put it every journey needs a first step. That first step requires a firm footing and a roadmap of where one is going, plus preparation for the path ahead.

The purpose of this reflection is not to apportion blame. 2020 has been an extraordinary year, one that hopefully will never be repeated and the pandemic has affected all aspects of life, filtering down to the classroom. The three presences fundamental to the community of inquiry converge in the classroom  and all three play key roles in ironing out initial glitches (The Community of Inquiry, n.d.). Lamb and Callison (2005) mention a “concrete interactive trail” which provides the instructor with a tool to identify issues by analyzing the cognitive presence among the groups (p.30).

If the group themselves feel that there is a lack of connectedness, this provides evidence as suggested by Nagel and Kotzé (2010) that work is needed on the social presence to increase a feeling of community to the whole group. As communication of feedback and such issues recede, confusion and/or any feelings of a lack of connectedness also fade leading to greater openness and improved communication and relationships within the groups.

Finally from the aspect of teaching presence, Barnes (2016) mentions the importance of drawing in the class members and making an atmosphere for learning, this has been done successfully as students were waiting, pen in hand (so to speak) ready to go. So, where facilitation and direct instruction are not the problem, perhaps the third component of teacher/instructor presence is, namely “design”. Barnes (2016) outlines indicators here including Organization and Technology. Without the correct use of technology and the smooth running of same, glitches will be inevitable.

Design is to facilitation and direct instruction as the foundations are to a building. If technology is not sound then it can upset all aspects of open learning as in this case where it was detailed and timely feedback, two of the cores of facilitation. Perhaps the increased pressure to integrate all aspects of privacy as we learned in Topic 1 were part of any technical issues but as constructive rather than destructive criticism is key to solving any issue, it is important to look at suggestions from all sides.

I feel that in the interests of increasing preparedness for online open learning, perhaps the idea of a dress rehearsal style quiz very early in the course could be beneficial. Students as part of the community of inquiry could be prepared on day 1, or even if it is possible within the frameworks of the technology or college rules to do a practice run, maybe even at T minus 7 days before the course begins, to test systems and ensure that everything is in running order, a bit like a soundcheck at a musical gig or concert. This would result in earlier communication between the group about how they did on the quiz or more importantly the purpose of the quiz, in seeking out through the three sources the basic and important information regarding data privacy.

References

Barnes, C.L. (2016). Where’s the Teacher ? Defining the Role of Instructor Presence in Social Presence and Cognition in Online Education. Humanizing Online Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://humanmooc.pressbooks.com/chapter/wheres-the-teacher-defining-the-role-of-instructor-presence-in-social-presence-and-cognition-in-online-education/

Lamb, A., & Callison, D. (2005). Online learning and virtual schools. School Library Media Activities Monthly, XXI(9), 7.

Nagel, L., & Kotzé, T. G. (2010). Supersizing e-learning: What a CoI survey reveals about teaching presence in a large online class. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1), 45-51.

The Community of Inquiry (n.d.). CoI Framework. Retrieved from https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/