Online Education: a Non-Love Story (What's not to love?)
I just got around to reading this Hack Library School blog post from a week ago (with one online course, one on-campus course, 12 hours per week of internship, and a part-time job) blog reading (and writing) sometimes gets put on the back burner.
But that's time management for you!
I'm just surprised at the lack of attention that the author and various commenters pay towards the skills necessary to fully engage in online education. As if it's the environment that is at fault for a student's lack of engagement! As if it's the instructor that is at fault for a student not achieving the learning outcomes! Online education definitely poses challenges to those unaccustomed to a virtual environment (but the implication at the volume of time the HLS author spends on the Internet would indicate that she is rather comfortable in a virtual landscape--and the fact that she's an LIS student indicates that she is capable of mining value from this landscape). One might say (and I would agree) that an online/distance learner needs to bring more skills to the table in order to succeed in an online learning environment versus a traditional classroom:
self-motivation and a willingness to engage
an open mind about (unfamiliar) technology
are but a few. These are not secrets. A simple Google search on "online learning tips" will retrieve relevant blog posts that say the same thing (albeit much more elegantly). Do your pre-homework before you enter an online course, folks. Please. Or else you will be filling out the longest course evaluation of your life--poorly. Instructors cannot change a course because a student lacks the skills to take it.
Of course, if a class is structured poorly and the instructor is all but absent, then a student will definitely not reap the full wealth of benefits of the experience. But, in an university setting, there are usually quality controls monitored by vigorous academic technology departments to ensure that the learning environments function the way they are supposed to function, and that instructors do not enter the online classroom without undergoing training as online educators.
The HLS author proposes tips for online education, but really only offers one: make a schedule. Okay. That's a given. I would bet my left arm that is number one on every list of online learning tips. But the next two tips devolve into a sort-of incestuous campus favoritism. "Make friends with the other campus students in your online class"? Why would you not want to make friends with the other students as well? Why would you not want to expand a professional network outside of your geographic location? Do you not plan on attending professional conferences? Will you never move again?
Look at the big picture. If your school is invested in online/distance learning, it's not just for the benefit of students: it's for the school as well. They want their reputation to expand. Be willing to be a representative of your school. Who knows? Someone in your online class may be a library director in a location where you want to work one day. Don't let introversion be an excuse to limit your friendships to people within your own geographic location. If you don't hit it off with a student from Alaska, the wonderful anonymity of the Internet means that you will probably not have to engage with that person at your first professional conference (or in a classroom next semester). But that's no excuse not to try.
Also, don't think that your professors won't assign group work in an online class. Instructors might even be so diabolical as to divide groups up based entirely on geographic dispersion (this is experience talking, if you have not guessed). Think about that before you decide who is worthy of your friendship and who is not.
Unplugging is good, though. Really. Truly. In fact, I should have unplugged before reading this blog post and writing a lengthy response.
