E-classes should be embraced

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After reading the Feb. 7 article regarding the debate at the Academic Senate meeting concerning online learning and the Feb. 12 story about Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe’s support of online learning, I felt compelled to share my thoughts.

Although I am employed by Distance/Distributed Learning, I would like to offer my thoughts as a temporary instructor at CMU.

I frequently use the Blackboard Course Management System to supplement my instruction with components such as e-lectures, quizzes and feedback, and supplementary materials.

If we embrace technological advances, the use of the Internet as an educational environment does not have to limit students’ ability to interact nor does it translate into isolated educational experiences.

Students already are connecting with each other via text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail and cell phones every day. For many, the perceived anonymity of the online classroom may encourage students who would be too intimidated to participate in a traditional classroom to participate in potentially deeper, more meaningful ways.

While it’s true that some are more effective educators and better at community building than others online, these things are also true in a traditional classroom setting. The methods required and tools available online are different, but just as in a classroom, it is an experienced, confident and dedicated instructor who serves as the cornerstone on which a course is built.

For those concerned they don’t have the personal responsibility and motivation it takes to participate in an online course, I challenge this notion. The amount of personal responsibility and motivation it takes to follow along with a syllabus and directions from your instructor online are the same as what it would take to do so in a traditional classroom setting.

In a well-executed online environment, you still have an instructor who’s keeping regular contact with you to assure that you’re completing assignments and comprehending the material. The idea of an online course as “do-it-yourself” or “learn at your own pace” is a common misconception.

Many of us are aware that Blackboard has a typewritten chat feature, discussion boards and an easy e-mail feature, but how many of us are familiar with the Elluminate Live! Collaborative Communications Framework? This is a truly interactive setting. While typewritten chat is common, students and instructors with a microphone can actually speak to communicate.

The instructor also has the option to share his/her desktop so that students can view lecture notes, PowerPoint slides, Web sites, etc. as the instructor displays them, just as one might in a traditional classroom setting.

Because of new legislation and changing times, Michigan students entering CMU in the future will arrive expecting online learning to be readily available.

Students’ opportunities for higher learning should be plentiful, not only in subject matter but also in format. We will then produce graduates who are lifelong learners with an appreciation and understanding of the Internet as an educational environment.

wicks1jm@cmich.edu