Even though online learning has been around for a couple of decades there are still some instructors who still believe their purpose is to dispense pearls of wisdom which are to be picked up by the students. Moving the process to one of active learning and a more participatory educational experience is not something they support. I saw this a lot in the early days and in many did not accept online learning as a viable option nor an option that possessed quality outcomes. Another issue with the online environment is students cannot see the instructor’s body language and voice inflection which could lead to misunderstanding. Despite the fact I have been involved in online learning for almost 20 years I still find it a bit strange that I have never seen my students and/or faculty members and they are simply an avatar on a webpage.
The online environment also attempts to create an atmosphere of discussion through message boards but it still has shortcomings. Therefore, I believe it is important to provide supplemental engagement through videos, news articles, and simulations. Another challenge is the feedback from the instructor to the student. Nothing is worse than receiving “good job” and a grade. Many students would be happy with that response but for those who really want to learn it is of little value. The instructor needs to take quality time to fully review and critique the work so the student can apply that feedback in future assignments. Rubrics are very useful, but they need to be supplemented with comments in papers, possibly video feedback, and a live web-ex with students to go over the assignments. I have learned more from a 10-minute video conference than static feedback on multiple papers.
