Notes from meeting to consider in regard to topic and interview...
I have GOT to dig up literature.
And here are the questions I need to address as I sift through everything...
- What research has been done with teachers' perceptions of online classess?...of the transfer from onland to online?
- What research has been done that explores the building of community -- the chemistry -- the bonding (or lack of) in online classrooms?
- What does the research say about the narratives of regarding online courses?
At least that's the way I interpreted my jottings and scribbles from the meeting.
Other issues and notes from the same meeting:
- perceptions - identity deception (song 'So Much Cooler Online' and recent issue in news of students creating false identities for their teachers)
- types of attitudes toward online teaching (resistant, positive, unsure)
- academic integrity
- learning
- learning on the fly
- resistance to teaching online
Maybe some instructors are asking 'How do I make my classes do-able online?'
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I am commenting on my own blog because of some glitch (I am probably the glitch) in getting logged into my own site. Oh well.
Anyway, the field notes on my interview experience and continued developments in my thoughts regarding that topic and ideas....
I have written a descriptive vignette over one of the 'stories' or 'scenes' from my interview. As I wrestle with some of the impressions that I have received from my interview, I continue to consider that my subject, Bryan, gave me the impression that there is nothing to talk about. He was kind and interested, but he's so not intruiged (sp?).
And it strikes me as I consider his explanations and his demeanor as we discussed issues, that he's DONE with online educaction. Not DONE like he's giving up on it, but DONE like he's got it figured out and he's using the capabilities of the CMS the way that he wants to and he's wrapped it all up.
He figured out where online education was going about 8 or 9 years ago; he predicted correctly, and now he's done his part for his Gen Ed course and he's done.
This is weird for me as an educator because I have never felt DONE. I always want to go back and reel in my former students and say, "Okay, I know I told you X, but we need to add Y to that....'
I would like to feel more DONE, but it may be elusive in my life and profession. Based on my theoretical perspective. I do realize that I am a huge process person, and I wonder how that fits into my study.
I wonder how process might fit into the faculty perceptions of online education. Is online education an inevitable process for all? Do others need to answer perception questions and face learning issues....or should they just learn the CMS skills and move on?
When I consider my observation of his confidence and his accomplishments...of his reactions to my questions...I want to analyze his reactions to the reactions of other educators embarking on this online education journey.
Comment by Stephoni— 2008/03/31 @ 03:34 PM — (Reply)
Written April 25. This isn't a separate blog b/c I am having trouble logging in to bloghi.
AFter working on the artistic representation thing for class, AND after my interview experience, I am wondering about a gender focus for my study. The discussion following my presentation was good and helpful. I just gotta think about what I want to do because I certainly manipulated the responses of my classmates by the artistic license I took with the digital audio. The reps and the echo did the trick.
I wonder if the now famous 'lady' comment by Brian was genuinely controling or maybe it was him just trying to be humorous and not succeeding. But I can't deny that I wasn't comfortable in the interview. I was worried about asking him questions that he would think of as stupid.
I was worried that I wouldn't know what to ask. He never delved into MY questions -- he just glanced off of them and went his own directions.
And in class someone actually asked if maybe it was weird because of that 'male female' dynamic. Maybe so. I have other male collegues I work with easily, but I definitely felt awkward here.
So I think before I decided if I wanted to weave gender into the purpose of my study that I would have to do this interviw with another male and see how that goes. Maybe it would 'feel' better and I could just consider this interview with Brian as a weird event (an 'outlier' if I am speaking quant.)
Another thing I am wondering here...is this enough? Would anyone anywhere care? Can this sustain a larger project?
I have to hold on to this for the long haul. I have this texting idea formulating in the back of my head, but I am not sure I feel free to pursue that until I complete this other project. A dissertation. Holy cow -- that may never happen for me. It seems to loom.
But another note about the art rep thing is that I realize Brian is not concerned about developing teaching methods or experimenting with ways to help students learn. He's a lecture guy. Maybe more data will lead me to discover that different styles of teaching yield different perceptions of online learning?
We'll see.
I want to re-design my questions and go another round. The reason that I think this may work is that I really care about online teaching and learning. Higher ed has shifted from a teaching paradigm to a learning paradigm in the past generation (or two) and I would like to know how teachers are adapting that learning and assessment in online settings.
Did Brian really adapt anything at all? I think Brian just figured out how to deliver exactly what he does onland ...in an online format. And maybe he just got lucky with its success.
Hmmmm...........
Comment by Stephoni— 2008/04/26 @ 12:08 AM — (Reply)
I am having to post this as a comment b/c of technical difficulties. I will not be defeated -- this workaround works.
I am gonna write this in Word on April 10, 2008 and post it to my field blog later. I am having trouble connecting to the Internet at this conference in Talequah, so this is my workaround.
I am doing this study on faculty perceptions of online learning. AND I am at this conference, and the theme of the conference is ‘Learning 360◦.’ An hour ago I was sitting in one of the breakout sessions on using rubrics to assess action research and these two older (nearly 60ish?) women who were seated at the table behind me were having a discussion. When I overheard the word ‘online’ I was sneaky and eavesdropped. Their conversation went something like this:
Bertha: I just don’t go for all of this online stuff.
Gertrude: Me either. I think they (the students) must be in class to really learn.
Bertha: I think the same thing. It’s the interaction (her actual word) that the students need to learn.
Gertrude: Yes, that’s why they are there.
Yada yada yada. Let’s complain about lazy students. Let’s stick to our guns and make sure that they tow the line, by god. Let’s assume they all know how to learn and what they are supposed to learn and that they are just choosing not to.
As I consider faculty perception of online learning, I know I am going to bristle at this anti-student attitude. I am definitely a go-to-the-student learner/teacher myself. I wonder if this is a characteristic of other online instructors. Bryan – my respondent in my interview project – with all of his cocky and confident attitude about online teaching and options – would definitely be a go-to-the-student kind of teacher.
So, will my bias (?) influence my research? Is it really a bias or just who I am? I can’t change the way I feel about making the student the center of the learning any more than I can change my preference for strong coffee or being a woman.
I better listen to this speaker. Half the people left after the second breakout session, so my lack of attention to the speaker and my focus on this posting are obvious misbehaviors.
Comment by Stephoni— 2008/04/26 @ 09:55 PM — (Reply)
I just ran across a note on some random stuff I had jotted down in class. I passed Brian in the hallway at church and he asked me about the interview and if I had completed my transcript. I told him that I had and he said he'd love to have a copy of the transcript.
How is that? Why would he want a transcript of that? See, his interest in this project makes me wonder if I have just misread him to a certain degree. I am confused.
And I wonder what he would think about all of the analysis I have written about various data chunks from the interview.
My plan is to try to get together and talk again some time. He's teaching online again this summer, so I have an inroad there. And if I take a gender turn in this project, I will definitely be talking to him more.
I am wondering how research works. I am learning so much, but I don't see how I will ever get closure on anything. The olaying field constantly changes, so data constantly grows. When/how does everything stop?
Comment by Stephoni— 2008/04/27 @ 10:40 PM — (Reply)