I’ve always enjoyed working in an online environment (well before I got into teaching), and so the thought had crossed my mind that I would, at some point, want to teach in an online environment. But, the more I learn the more questions I have. Based on what I’ve seen in the classroom, how would the average student respond to an online classroom? Is it possible to provide differentiated instruction online? How do you ‘connect’ with students and get to know them in order to enhance the effectiveness of your teaching, like you would in a ‘regular’ classroom? And, of course, how do you provide adolescents with the much needed direction … and prodding … and, let’s be blunt, the daily nagging that some of them need? What about their social and oral communication skills?
I’ve read a few articles written by teachers who hesitantly embarked on their own online classrooms, only to find that their experience and that of their students was much more positive than expected. Though they’re still left with questions around effectiveness, they often make the point that this would also be the case in the brick-and-mortar environment. (Stephanie Imig’s article “Innovative Writing Instruction” in the English Journal 99.3 (2010): 80-83 is worth checking out.) Other teachers on the EC Ning have pointed out the following advantages to the online environment:
- “Online courses serve to meet students in the cyber-setting that many of our students inhabit.” — Tom Liam Lynch
- “I think the major benefit of online teaching is that it enlarges the world of the classroom. In my online courses I have had students from all over the United States and from as far away as China.” — J.D. Wilson Jr.
- “The argument many administrators use to keep the technology at arms length is the dangers involved. But that seems to me more of a reason to teach it than not teach it.” — J.D. Wilson Jr.
- Online courses “take into account different learning paces, styles and ability levels.” — Rachel Ernst
However, I’d never taken an online course myself. What better way to learn more about it and see how it works? So, for the month of July, I took one in Special Education. Some of the shortcomings I observed were:
- No differentiated instruction. While it’s so essential for a successful, mixed-ability classroom (a key topic in Special Education and the Inclusive classroom), I really didn’t see it demonstrated in this online environment. So, I’m still asking, how would it be done?
- Minimal technology integration! Surprisingly, there was very little mention of technological tools and methods that we could use in our classroom. When we were resource sharing, I think there was maybe two of us that used technology resources, out of a class of twenty-three! I remain puzzled by this one. Why was this case?
- Very little interaction with the instructor. Many of us posed questions in our posts that were never fully answered because the instructor didn’t participate in the discussions. There was a Question & Answer Forum but, again, the possibility of opening up a challenging discussion with the instructor wasn’t there; we asked questions, he answered them.
- Poor communication with fellow students. Everyone was too busy meeting the requirements for their postings and really didn’t care to ‘connect’ with one another. I wasn’t necessarily looking for life-long bonding, but I missed the general camaraderie.
It wasn’t all bad though. As a confirmed intrapersonal/linguistic learner, I really enjoyed the number of resources we had access to and the time we were given to write and reflect. I’ve come out of that course feeling very confident in my knowledge of the material and I found every bit of it fascinating.
I’ve also come away with some of my own ideas for an effective online class environment:
- Create a community. Off the top of my head, you could use online conferences, interactive games, online teams, chats for think-pair-shares … I’m sure there’s many other ways to get it going.
- This goes with the first one — get to know your students! How else can you meet their needs and “get” where they’re coming from?
- Interact everywhere. When the students are discussing a topic, know when to jump in to enrich their learning and do it!
- The first three all lead to this one — differentiate instruction. Once you know your students, you can group them, assign different online tasks, activities and assignments, provide different levels of instructor interaction, etc…
Admittedly, a lot of my questions remain unanswered and I’m still not sure that an online classroom /community could ever take the place of a classroom filled with ‘real people’. And really, the take-aways I just listed are equally true for the brick-and-mortar classroom, so I haven’t discovered anything ‘earth-shattering’. For high school students, I can’t help but wonder if the way to go would be to give them the best of both worlds so that they are given the opportunity to learn the valuable skills and knowledge intrinsic to each one.
