To begin this discussion, let’s take a step back and look at online learning from a more academic perspective. In the edited collection “Interactions in Online Education”, Atsusi Hirumi’s chapter on “Analysing and Designing e-learging interactions” calls for a three level approach to online learning, detailed below.
Level 1 is the most basic. It is the interactions one has with their own mind on the topic. When you are thinking about a course concept while mowing the lawn or stuck in traffic, you are experiencing level 1 interactions.
Level 2 interactions are between the learner and humans, or the learner and resources. This can include group projects, discussing the course with a friend, emailing the professor, reading posted content, accessing education tools and interacting with the outside environment.
Level 3 interactions are course instructions that will sequence level 2 interactions. This format feeds backwards a bit and suggests that level 3 interactions produce level 2 interactions which in turn produce level 1 interactions.
In today’s interactive world, there are plenty of options for level 2 interactions. If some of your fellow students are in the same area you can always meet at a library or a coffee shop; however, this may not be realistic in the engineering world where the ‘world is our playground.’ Luckily, there are plenty of tools that come in handy as alternatives.
Google Docs are great for group projects. Students can set up a meeting time and type away concurrently on the same document, seeing who is writing what and where. There is also an included chat, but this is often unnecessary given the format of the program. If you are unable to meet at the same time due to time-zone issues, then the Google doc can be saved and accessed by all teammates over the cloud – and all for free with a basic Gmail account.
General meetings and lectures are well suited to Skype, GotoMeeting, Google Hangouts, and various other webinar tools. Many of these programs also allow for desktop sharing options and instant Q&A. Again though, this is best suited to situations where everyone can meet at the same time and can affect the learn-as-you-go convenience of online education. Finally, these lectures can be recorded for later viewing if necessary, though some intractability may occur as a result.
Forums and posting boards like those found in LinkedIn, Facebook, or even Reddit are a great alternative for classroom discussions. Lee University’s Kevin Brown suggests that professors take these message boards into consideration when forming their lectures.
Level 3 interactions align with Brown’s claim that the interactions of students should be incorporated into the course content of online-classrooms. With the conjunction of the webinar format, forums could create an engaging and very interactive classroom format. Students will see the effect their interactions have on the course content and in-turn may be more inclined to comment or speak up in threads and assignments.
The internet is a social place. Though there are advantages to on-campus learning, it is short sighted to suggest that a lack of interaction exists within online courses. Any issue is more likely a function of the school or professor, rather than the larger concept of online education. After all, at some point in life we have all had that professor who stares at the blackboard, writing gibberish, and refusing to take questions.