One major aspect of online learning is centering the learner. It is a simple idea on the surface, yet digging deeper, presents many complex roots that are intertwined and woven all around. How do educators, parents and people who support learners, help create an environment for learners to foster community in online learning? In this week’s readings, Barnes shared that the teacher being put in a learners position can help simulate what it is like being a learner and make required adjustments in teaching having been put in their “shoes”. I believe it is important to explore ourselves (educators) better, and unravel pieces including our strengths and weaknesses as a learner. From here, educators can gain empathy with learners and use that to develop insights and transition to looking at the community of learners, classrooms and peers, with an eye on creating equity, support, and ways in which we can help each other whilst achieving personalized goals.
I believe gaining empathy goes hand-in-hand in what Barnes says with, “Deep knowledge of subject matter is only one piece of being a quality instructor. Keeping students engaged in that content, particularly online, involves understanding learning theories, student motivation, and how to use resources to deliver the content”. One approach to develop understanding on what works, is to be the learner and go through some of the experiences a learner might go through such as aspects of success and struggle. It reminds me of myself and being an athlete. I know how to be successful in rowing and can hop in a boat and start rowing with my eyes closed and make it appear effortless. However, even though I have a lot of knowledge in the domain of rowing, when the roles are turned and I am put in a position of teaching others how to row it is not as simple as I would have thought. My tacit knowledge takes over and it is extremely hard to translate my own experiences and feelings into words to convey to others. That has taught me to try to look at the problem or subject from the learners point of view so I don’t have any assumptions on what they may already know and break it down in constructive ways that suits more than one style of learner.
Evidently, clear communication is a key factor along with understanding learners and their needs. I believe that building community and trust can help with social presence which in turn can help with collaborating and learning educator-to-peer, peer-to-peer, community-to-peer. Kilgore’s and Lowenthal’s (2015) study points out that the trust aspect of social presence in establishing a Community of Inquiry can be diminished, as learners felt they could not question one another because there lacked a sense of boundaries and atmosphere of safety. I thought this was interesting and made me reflect on my teaching assistant position I am currently in. As I teach first year students how to code in a synchronous online environment, there are moments where it does get overwhelming when I am talking in Zoom and at the same time there is a stream of questions coming in, most not even related to what I was currently talking about. With in-person structure, that would not happen or else you would have people talking over each other and perhaps the physical presence of the audience helps keep the topic related to what is being discussed. Setting boundaries at the beginning may be very important to have structured discussions. Although,  setting boundaries would have to be done in a way that does not discourage participation and the feeling of trust. I would be curious to learn about more approaches to simulating an in-person experience with commenting on chat in real time.
References:
Barnes, C.L. (201). 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/
Kilgore, W. & Lowenthal, P. (2015). The human element MOOC. In R. W. Wright (Ed.), Â Student-teacher interaction in online learning environments. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
September 25, 2020 at 3:21 pm
I really like the the complexity of how you define online learning in your blog. Finding out the strengths and weaknesses as to where you can improve as an educator or learner is a great place to start. For online learning, educators need to understand the needs of students and how to properly break down material so that everyone can understand. Students need to also identify how their work habits can be improved and the ways they can influence themselves to get more accomplished. I like your relation between empathy and Barnes’ quote on knowledge of course content as it really explains what instructors should understand about online learning. The example of how your tacit knowledge from your own experience as a rower makes it easy for me to understand the difficulty of “dumbing down” content in courses. This should be in consideration with all teachers so they can properly communicate with students. Influencing students to ask questions in online learning is also important during these times. As most classes all have mic’s and cameras muted, it is hard to get a word in especially when sometimes your question won’t be answered for 10 minutes. Sometimes the chat tends to get off topic and sometimes your important question can get overlooked and not answered. This is frustrating and teachers should work to find a way to maximize the learning in all zoom lectures.
September 25, 2020 at 3:56 pm
I enjoyed reading your blog. I liked that you a clear distinction and definition of online learning and what constitutes online learning. I can see that your findings are directly in line with your opinions, feelings, and beliefs. That’s great to see as it adds credibility to your blog but also shows that you can connect personal beliefs with readings/findings. The fact that you bring up empathy is a great thing. An instructor should recognize what it’s like to be a student so that they can understand the issues a student might face due to online learning. Furthermore, empathy allows the development of relationships and a community. You mention that you have to have difficulty sometimes putting your personal experience into words. I think that is an issue in a classroom at times; instructors are humans and sometimes they also have difficulty translating their own experiences into words. However, you say that in such a case, you look at the problem or subject from a learner’s point of view and try to convey the information in diffirent ways to suit more than one style of leaner. That is amazing as learning should primarily revolve around the learner and flexibility or alteration in the method of teaching should be done to benefit the student. This goes hand in hand with our reading from last week. I can see that you reflected a lot. Enjoyed reading your blog!
September 27, 2020 at 1:06 am
I really enjoyed reading your blog and I liked how you talked alot about centering the learner! I think it is so important to be put in the learners’ shoes as it helps us relate to our students and better understand the challenges they may be facing. I really like your rowing example and I believe it is important to assume that the learners have zero prior knowledge. By having this assumption it allows us to meet the needs of all learners. I like how you talked about creating a safe environment and establishing boundaries. Forming a safe environment allows students to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Whether online or in a class establishing a safe and welcoming environment should be top priority. I am curious if you think we should share our strengths and weaknesses with our students. Do you think this would create a stronger sense of community in the classroom knowing that the teacher is learning as well. I thought your blog post was well laid out and I like how you included a practical example for your major points.