Week 8 - Thinking About My Online Learning Experience

 After reading Ouyang and Scharber's 2017 article from this week's module, I began thinking about my experiences so far participating in asynchronous online courses. Before grad school, I had never participated in an online class. Upon starting in the ISLT program last fall, I was excited to engage with learning in a new way. I originally wanted to take traditional in-person classes, but the pandemic prevented that from happening. So I set up my school-space in my home and prepared myself for whatever was ahead. 

I quickly determined what I liked about asynchronous online learning and what I absolutely detested. The freedom to log in when and where I please is a luxury that is second to none – asynchronicity is my preferred method of meeting. However, I hated having to submit a certain amount of discussion posts by a certain day, not being able to do all my schoolwork on one day, etc. Some weeks I want to do the bare minimum, and unfortunately everyone feels the bare minimum a little differently. I thought I knew it all, I suppose. I asked myself, "Why are they making me do this? Am I not an adult learner? Why do I need to post on this schedule for an asynchronous class?"

Reading Ouyang and Scharber helped me think about the design process for online social learning a bit more and understand some of the decisions instructors make for their online classes. It's not easy to teach a class online when the majority expectation is that learning can happen passively, without providing meaningful contribution to the class community. That's the way most people engage in their online spaces: lurking, passively liking and hearting posts from other users, expecting others to generate ideas that lurkers can just consume. 

An instructor knows that active participation from a majority of students is part of what makes a class successful and learning happen. To that end, the Ouyang and Scharber article show us what instructors can do to achieve that participation level from students. In my experience, the classes that have large, class-wide discussions as well as small group discussions with 4 or 5 other students have been my favorite. While there is an expectation of a minimum number of posts, my preferred method is to not restrict when those posts must be submitted. One thing in the article that I would like to see more of in classes is base group discussion opportunities. Being paired with other students based on shared scholarly interest and professional goals would be an enriching experience that has the capability to extend past helping one learn material but also construct a professional learning network.