Institutional Issues
In your opinion, what is the biggest institutional obstacle when it comes to supporting active learning in the online environment?
While the technology for instant communication on a mass scale is in itself an amazing collection of software and hardware tools, there are still those moments when issues arise with sound or video transmission, software incompatibilities that render what should be a smooth presentation to learners into a potential nightmare. Like this run-on sentence,we tend to anticipate issues with the broadcast aspects of live online presentations, and so we try to get it all in – before an issue occurs that prevents us from doing so.
The more "human" aspect that can often create a "problem" is attendance to the lectures by students since there is no mandate to compel them to attend, as would be the case in an on-ground classroom scenario. It will be interesting to witness how much schools will change in the future.
The biggest obstacle is the fact that Active Learning is to be done face-to-face with students--not by communicating via laptop.
Teachers who are not student-centered and instead curriculum centered are usually the issue.
I think that the future holds very little for us teachers. Soon, schools will be paying one teacher to "run" 8-10 online classes and the rest of us will be on Food Stamps and looking for work.
Teachers are getting laid off and we should be hiring more teachers now than ever and "beefing up" our unions again. Teacher unions used to be great and now they are all working for the schools best interest instead of yours, it seems.
Ben,
Very true. We hope more instructors are becoming student centered but I run into many who are not.
Renee Shaffer
Technology , the ability to have an efficient and use friendly environment which is easily understood and easy to utilize. During my educational training for my doctoral degree, I had an opportunity to utilize online technology in some of my classes. It was a learning curve for me , too a few weeks for me to be comfortable and understanding the web-study forums and the different navigation tools. After the bumps it was exciting to use online learning tools. The biggest challenge from my perspective was to be able to utilize this environment without any prior verbal explanation from a single instructor. In the classroom setting you automatically recognize you instructor and connect right away, virtual learning has a slow introduction process in my opinion.
Hi Mrs.Shaffer
The biggest institutional obstacle is the critical thinking student believes and expects textbook and teacher will tell what them what to say and to do without any difficulty
Eric Andre
eric,
You are "preaching to the choir" here! So often students want it just handed to them without difficulty but often this comes from their prior experiences. Too bad.
Renee Shaffer
The biggest institutional obstacle in my opinion is the when technology is not consistence\up and running for the students. The students have place their confidence into the institutional technology and when the system is not available when they have set time aside to complete assignments, participate in discussion or take exams this become a huge obstacle for students as well as the instructor. This inconsistency of the institutional technology can become very discouraging and inconvenience to the online learner.
Shundra Mosby
Having been involved at several institutions of online learning, I would indicate that the biggest institutional obstacle supporting active learning centers on the learning management system (LMS). Some LMS's cater well to the active learning model and are robust enough to support this learning style, whereas, other LMS's have limitations that prevent the faculty from applying active learning techniques. As a result, institutions need to be careful when selecting an LMS or creating an internal LMS. What factors should institutions consider before selecting a LMS?
Jay Familant
Jay,
There are so many factors, but one of the pressing ones is the cost of developing, making, etc. an in-house LMS or purchasing one like Blackboard. Institutions will make different choices there. If they purchase one, all of the "bells and whistles" that the institition needs might not be there, but it can be a terrific option.
Renee Shaffer
Technology.
If logins are difficult or the technology is not user-friendly, we all get frustrated.
Sometimes technology changes are made which makes the system that worked well in the past, not as robust. Technology can be a very frustrating component to online learning. It must be available all the time to students, no to little downtime.
Renee, don't you think that many of these LMS systems you can buy continue to get better like eCollege or Blackboard?
They have made continuous improvements that are impressive.
Shundra, this is very true.
Good point and the focus must be made on not making changes for changes sake.
Janis,
Oh yes, technology can be frustrating. It should be easy and seamless so it is always good to have a plan "B" just in case something doesn't work
Renee Shaffer
Janis,
They are continually making improvements. But sometimes, they do seem to be trying to update/improve too fast and too often which can be aggravating and problematic because people need retraining.
Renee Shaffer
The technology. Either the glitches in the system or a student's lack of confidence/experience with the technology. I also think that being an online student requires the student to be self-directed and some students are better at this than others. In a traditional classroom, students that struggle with self-motivation will follow the group and do their work but may get lost when left on their own in an online, solitary environment.
Eleanor,
Oh yes the technology glitches can stop progress and confidence in their tracks.
Renee Shaffer
As an online teacher, the technology does not seem to be as much of a challenge as we have to have good student research with Adobe Connect , whiteboards, etc, How can the technology be a challenge unless in the brick and mortar environment it is more difficult for the students to have access to technology--
