Welcome to my blog!!!
Just because my classmates and I are located in different cities does not at all mean that we are alone. On the contrary, by using various communication tools available at our disposal, we are able to communicate frequently and meaningfully.
In my limited experience so far in the virtual classroom, I have already gotten to know a few of my virtual classmates. I can recall many classes in both my undergraduate and graduate programs in which I sat next to people for the entire semester and we never communicated at all. Just because you are sitting next to someone does not guarantee connections to occur.
Our reading this week discussed that "those students who possess strong feelings of community are more likely to persist than those students who feel alienated and alone (Tinto, 1993)." How do we best avoid feelings of alienation and isolation amongst distance learners? I think the best way to do this is to foster a sense of community and belonging right from the very start. One way to accomplish this is to assign one or more icebreaker activities so that students can get to know each other. This can range from the basic "tell us a little bit about yourself" to the fun questions such as "if you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you bring?"
In my own experience teaching Freshman Seminar, icebreakers (or "bonding") was one of the main components of the course. On the first day of class, my students played a fun game called "People Bingo" (http://adulted.about.com/od/icebreakers/qt/peoplebingo.htm)
The ice was broken almost immediately and students were laughing and chatting with each other right away. Although People Bingo may be difficult in a distance learning environment, there are many other types of fun icebreakers that can accomplish the same tasks. My favorite icebreaker which can easily be adapted to the distance education environment is "Two Truths and a Lie" (http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/TwoTruthsAndALie.html)
In my own courses, aside from assigning icebreakers, I also plan on having my future distance education students work in groups of 5 to 8. I believe that working in groups fosters a sense of community and allows students to get to know each other. I am already enjoying working in our group, The Fab Four, and I think that each of our group members feels the same way. My Freshman Seminar students worked on a big group project and presentation last semester and I am learning now how easily group communication and collaboration can be accomplished at a distance.
Another way of developing online community in my own classes is personalization. I am a mother of an eight month old boy and I belong to an online community called "What to Expect"(http://www.whattoexpect.com). In the discussion forums, we post about issues regarding the parenting of young infants (everything from teething to selecting a stroller). Most people personalize their posts with custom signatures which include fancy fonts, photos of their babies, countdown to first birthday tickers, etc.
I think these custom signatures are very easy to make and foster a great sense of community. I feel that this concept of personalization can be implemented in distance education classes that I teach in the future. Students can create custom signatures with photos of their pets, logos of the favorite bands, etc. I really feel that this would help students get to know each other better, which again fortifies the sense of community.
This week's reading suggests that "social capital includes the knowledge and network resources that reside in and are available for a community to use toward the common good" (Imel, Stein). In my future distance education classes, I plan having my students benefit as much as possible from each other's knowledge and resources.
For example, I would have students post to a wiki in order to share resources and knowledge. Last semester my Freshman Seminar students were working on the theme of homelessness throughout the semester. If this were a distance education class, I would expect students to post to the wiki articles, resources, links, etc. relevant to the topic of homelessness. I believe that this wiki usage would bring about feelings that "we are in this together."
~Michelle Freeman~
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I love your ideas about community. I never realized that I know my online classmates much better than I know my f2f classmates! It's easier to talk/introduce online.
ReplyDeleteAs for ice breakers, i love two truths and a lie. I also do another activity where I get starbursts, and tell the students to take as many as they want, but not to eat them yet. Then, they have to share something about themselves for each one they took! Some students take 1 or 2, others take like 10!
I also do one where they take 2 or 3 things out of their backpack and talk about them, but I teach speech classes, and so little impromptus like that are expected in my class.
I also like your ideas about communinty. I think it is important to build in any setting because students are more apt to share. I didn't know how the group work would work on an online setting and I am getting used to it.
ReplyDeleteAs for ice breakers, the "two truths and a lie" seems to be a good one. It helps me get to know the names of my students. I have used the past two semesters something I got from the book entitled Successful Beginnings for College Teaching: Engaging your students from the first day by Angela Provitera McGlynn called a student disclosure exercise. The instructor gives each student a 3x5 card to each student. On one side the students write their names (email,phone also) and then on the other side they are to write something distinctive or special about themselves that they would not mind sharing with others in the class. It can be something silly. I give the example on mine that "When I see a sign that says Wet Paint, I always have to touch whatever was painted to see if it's really wet." The students then circulate and introduce themselves with this phrase and talk. It has been pretty fun and I get to know the students and they get to know each other. The affective filter is lowered at this point.
I think using a wiki will be good as well. It also can bring some discussions about "wikipedia" and its credibility since anyone can post to it. I know it's getting better at checking resources, but I still don't allow the students to use it as a peer-reviewed source. Any thoughts on wikipedia?
I want to add a "me, three!", to your comments about community. I never made connections with anyone I attended college courses with. I just blew in, listened, took notes and left. It's a big regret. I already have had more interaction Since Jan 16 than I did getting my degrees.
ReplyDeleteAnn -- When I teach bibliographic instruction sessions I tell the students that wikipedia can be used to find sources that they then must track down and read. I also tell them to use Wikipedia to get a general overview on their topic, the basic who, why and why, just as they would a general encyclopedia. But I emphasize that they should never cite it as a source for their paper.
Note: Recently, a professor made submitting an article to Wikipedia a class asignment: http://tinyurl.com/kqufnr
Excellent insight! I think a sense of belonging or community is key. I work in a middle school and when we do groups we always try to do an ice breaker. It does help create a sense of community within the group. As I have never taken an online class before these classes, I was worried about how working in a group would be. So far, it has gone very well.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first real experience with blogs and I have found it extremely fascinating!
Hey Michelle,
ReplyDeleteFirst, Sorry about Tuesday. Second, on the first day of class I form students into groups and they need to introduce one other group member to the class and tell us two fun and exciting things about him or her. Those groups then act as support for the student throughout the semester. It is there that I start to help them create the sense of community needed to persevere through multiple public performances given during the semester. Our professor has created a course that brings all of the issues of optimal on-line environment. My only question is: How do I do that with my debate class this summer? Icebreakers alike two truths and a lie are good f2f. But how do we bring that to the on-line environment? Any help would be appreciated!
I have used two lies and a truth with vocabulary words and it seemed to make a diference with retention. The two students had to come up with a lie (one student was given the word with its definition) and all of the students in class had to vote on whether it was a lie or truth. I don't know how I could turn that into an online assignment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that establishing a sense of community will definitely lessen the attrition rate. Wiki is a powerful tool for collaboration. We also use this in our office to work on our policies and procedures and also this is what we use to store them (policies and procedures). I would surely take a look at the websites you and other people who commented on your post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy with the technology we have today that we can personalize ourselves online as we do in society. Instead of a style of clothing you may choose to wear out in public, with technology we can change wallpapers, backgrounds, fonts, and add photos to webpage’s, emails, and blogs for the sense of this is who I am. Icebreakers are also fun and I remember one where they had a series of questions handed out to everyone in the course. These questions lead you on almost a scavenger like hunt, trying to find answers such as who also liked the same football team as yours, drove the same type of car, or even had the same type of occupation. This also helped greatly when teams were developed since you already knew what things you had in common with other students. I would like to incorporate this type of exercise into my online course but through a twitter like atmosphere. I feel it would severe almost the same purpose with the exception of not having to run around the room.
Robert