I won’t single out the individual who identified this “disadvantage” of ‘distance education’ – you’ll find it if you look, I’m sure, and there’s more than one person who’s made it. It’s an excellent point:
I think that a major disadvantage is the lack of personal connection.
Here’s the problem.
I’m sure we’ve all been in classroom situations where there’s a guy who rushes in 30 seconds before class, says nothing unless asked a direct question by the teacher, offers no word of greeting to the students around him, and leaves as soon as the bell rings, never to be seen again until the next class meeting.
That person lacks “personal connection” but is it the fault of the teacher? The structure of the classroom experience? Something with the way the school is organized?
No. It’s because that particular student chooses – for whatever reason – to have no personal connection with anybody in the classroom.
I will grant that Blackboard is designed to keep you isolated from each other. It’s the classroom management thing where they want you “in your seat and paying attention to the teacher” and not socializing with your neighbor. There are no mechanisms built into Blackboard to enable that kind of conversation. They do that on purpose. Teachers want you focused on the content. Yes, you could use the chat room, but to find out if anybody’s there, you have to first log into Blackboard, go to the chat and wait to see if anybody joins you.
This class, however, breaks all those walls down. I have given you the capability to connect to each other with email, instant messenger, and blogs/feeds. I’ve taken you into Tapped In and shown you how to use it to chat. You have access to a listserver where you can invite everybody in the class to join you if you like simply by sending email to the list. You can have full conversations with the whole class that way, altho nobody has.
Furthermore, I’ve given you plenty to talk about amongst yourselves by forcing you to consider technology in ways that are totally foreign to you and the people around you. I’ve put you in positions of cognitive dissonance where some of your most closely held beliefs are being debunked before your eyes.
So you all have stuff to discuss. You all have the means to discuss it with your peers (and with me if you want). You all have *more* opportunity for “personal connection” than you have ever had in any class in your lives. That opportunity extends outside the four walls of the class, beyond the bounds of the classroom period, and gives you the opportunity to see who – exactly – is “in the room” with you every time you log in.
If, after all that, you still feel the lack of “personal connection” – and it’s an ongoing theme in this class – then I suggest to you that the fault is not with “distance education” but rather that personal connection is not possible unless you’re willing to make it yourself.
Even in the classroom setting, your personal connection is not with everybody in the room, but rather with those 3 or 4 (or 5 or 6) people with whom you have broken the ice and started talking with before, after, and even during class. You broke that barrier in the classroom because you recognized a fellow traveler on the road to the Final Exam by virtue of their sitting next to you, or behind you, or parked next to you in the parking lot.
That little green dot beside their name in the IM window is the person sitting next to you. I’d bet they’d love to talk to you, too, but somebody has to talk first. All of you people who are complaining that we’ve got too much reading and not enough doing?? Do something. Talk to your neighbor.
And if you haven’t added at least a few people into your IM Buddy list for the class, do that. It’s not an academic exercise. Note that you can only add people if you have an account on their service — MSN, Yahoo, whatever. But the idea isn’t to make a personal connection with *everybody* in the class – any more than you would a classroom based class.
The point is to explore how these tools – when used correctly – create a rich and connected environment that in many ways is better than this mythical classroom personal connection experience so many of you seem to be desiring.
Stop being wall flowers. Join the party.
September 5th, 2009 at 4:15 PM
I had a hard time critiquing this class so far for many of the reasons that you mentioned above in talking about lack of personal connections. It is hard for me to state that I have not liked something when I know I haven’t put forth the effort it requires me to. This class does make it easier to connect with others than those that just simply use the discussion boards on Blackboard. I have experienced both kinds of classes, and I can honestly say that the discussions held on blogs have been much more meaningful than any experienced elsewhere.
September 6th, 2009 at 10:31 PM
I will admit, I am a “wall flower” when it comes to the physical classroom setting. I don’t speak to people or participate in class discussions unless it will affect my grade. I’m extremely introverted and find online classes a MUCH more comfortable setting for me. This class has seriously pushed me out of my comfort zone. However, I have found it much easier to step out of that comfort zone online. I’ve interacted with more classmates more frequently than I ever would have in the physical setting. So far, the social interaction has been the true challenge for me in this class.
September 8th, 2009 at 1:57 PM
In my critiquing of the class, I took more of a personal stab at it because of my lack of abilities to get things done. I have to say, I am more comfortable and more open to talking in the class if I can do it via computer, blog, etc. …if I could just get my DSL!!! That would definitely make my life easier!
September 8th, 2009 at 7:01 PM
I never thought of the fact that there truly can be a lack of personal connection in a traditional classroom and a distance education course. It is up to the people involved. I can say, I have had several people from this class leave me comments and interact with me, and it has helped. It lets me know that either I’m on the right track of thinking, or maybe I’m way off base. I like the checks and balances that the communication links we have provide. I can say that I have been in classes where I felt I would be best suited to stay quiet and just listen, and that brought a sense of no connection to the people I was in class with, and of course, the professor. So…I can see both sides.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:26 PM
This course is deffinetly different then any other I have ever taken. I typically know everyone in my f2f classes. I sit close to the front. I always participate and am quick to volunteer. My children brought me out of my shy shell I grew up in from my high-school years, but that was over 11 years ago. Anyways, in this class, I actually have had people leave challenging comments on my blog. It has really surprised me. I have been told that I have an assertive attitude and therefore it makes it easier for people to be honest with me, but I recieved a slap down, lol. Which I’m okay with. I need to know what everyone believes. It’s hard to know an issue without having all the sides. This class has been good for me.