We've all been allocated team members for a group collaboration project. I'm a little concerned because there has been resistance to a getting to know you synchronous meeting that I suggested. I've read so many times (no time to look up references) that it is dangerous to leapfrog this stage as collaboration might not be as effective without at least a small amount of getting to know you.
I'll obviously go with the flow but I'm not clear on how we can assign different topics to cover without "talking".
Watch this space ...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
How flexible is too flexible?
The advantages of flexible learning are clear. I for one would never have been able to combine living in a developing city, having a baby, traveling at will etc. if it weren't for the flexible nature of my Masters in EdTech.
Petrea, moderator of my current unit has kindly published a very detailed schedule of modules that will be covered and discussed in the WebCT boards. In previous units all students pretty much kept to this timetable. Now, however, I'm finding that modules not due to be attacked for weeks already have multiple discussions and I'm finding it hard to keep up with let alone stay ahead of the curve. I don't actually mind jumping into a discussion mid flow but maybe novices would find it a little intimidating.
Petrea, moderator of my current unit has kindly published a very detailed schedule of modules that will be covered and discussed in the WebCT boards. In previous units all students pretty much kept to this timetable. Now, however, I'm finding that modules not due to be attacked for weeks already have multiple discussions and I'm finding it hard to keep up with let alone stay ahead of the curve. I don't actually mind jumping into a discussion mid flow but maybe novices would find it a little intimidating.
Monday, April 2, 2007
You can lead a horse to water ....
…but how do you make it drink?
I was just looking at the stats on a discussion board topics page that I participate in. What I noticed was that there are roughly ten times more views per thread than posts. "Lurking" is certainly not a new phenomenon in both virtual and face to face contexts. A study of online learners showed that less than half “did not actively participate in discussions” (Beaudoin, 2002). I guess the question is whether it is possible to “passively participate” in a discussion. This seeming contradiction could just be a question of semantics as Nonnecke and Preece (2000) state that "Lurking is not free-riding but a form of participation that is both acceptable and beneficial to most online groups. Public posting is only one way in which an online group can benefit from its members. All members of a group are part of a large social milieu, and value derived from belonging to a group may have far-reaching consequences".
I think back a couple of weeks when Petrea encourage me to rethink a statement that I had written. Thanks to her my learning came not only from my original reflection but from my secondary reflection. If lurkers have their own systems of reflection that they are not sharing with fellow students, perhaps it’s those that participate actively that lose out as their ideas and thoughts are not being challenged or debated.
References:
Beaudoin M (2002), Learning or Lurking? Tracking the "invisible" online student, The Internet and Higher Education, 5, pp147-155.
Nonnecke, B. and Preece, J. (2000) Silent Participants: Getting to Know Lurkers Better? Chapter 6. pp. 110-132. In. From Usenet to CoWebs. Available online: http://www.cis.uoguelph.ca/~nonnecke/research/silentparticipants.pdf
I was just looking at the stats on a discussion board topics page that I participate in. What I noticed was that there are roughly ten times more views per thread than posts. "Lurking" is certainly not a new phenomenon in both virtual and face to face contexts. A study of online learners showed that less than half “did not actively participate in discussions” (Beaudoin, 2002). I guess the question is whether it is possible to “passively participate” in a discussion. This seeming contradiction could just be a question of semantics as Nonnecke and Preece (2000) state that "Lurking is not free-riding but a form of participation that is both acceptable and beneficial to most online groups. Public posting is only one way in which an online group can benefit from its members. All members of a group are part of a large social milieu, and value derived from belonging to a group may have far-reaching consequences".
I think back a couple of weeks when Petrea encourage me to rethink a statement that I had written. Thanks to her my learning came not only from my original reflection but from my secondary reflection. If lurkers have their own systems of reflection that they are not sharing with fellow students, perhaps it’s those that participate actively that lose out as their ideas and thoughts are not being challenged or debated.
References:
Beaudoin M (2002), Learning or Lurking? Tracking the "invisible" online student, The Internet and Higher Education, 5, pp147-155.
Nonnecke, B. and Preece, J. (2000) Silent Participants: Getting to Know Lurkers Better? Chapter 6. pp. 110-132. In. From Usenet to CoWebs. Available online: http://www.cis.uoguelph.ca/~nonnecke/research/silentparticipants.pdf
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