The Summary of an Article "Read-Only Participants: A Case for Student Communication in Online Classes," by Nagel, Blignaut, and Cronje
Communication is power they say, but it works hand in hand with technology. For society or organization to work in harmony there must be strong communication link that binds them together. Nagel’s "Read-Only Participants article on Case of Student Communication in Online Classes focuses on the impact technology has created in mode of communication on academic field, and how its reliable deeds has encouraged educational system in creation of successful online program.
According to the article, online program is recently the leading trend of continuing education in our society. Most schools in the developed
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It also created different category of students which he called Read-only participants. Prior to that discovery, “Beaudoin discovered that online students sometimes engage and learn more when not participating in online discussions. But sometimes poor communication hinders them from learning at all. Because of that they conducted a study in university of Pretoria on online master’s degree in computer integrated education program. Using “mixed methodology approach to investigate how online activity and discussion postings relate to learning and course completion. By investigating how student collaborative behavior and integration into the community relates to their academic success” Nigel, 2009). In lure to that he further discovered that there are different groups of students, who their attitude contributes to the downfall of online learning, inclusive; read only students group, non – discussion participant group. Out of point participant group, and internet blamers of wrong doing”, (Nigel, 2009). By analyzing these groups, Nigel was able to come up with an idea, on how to create communication trend between student and their instructors especially, the Read-only-participants. This he did to encourage the whole online students group to communicate the required number of online classroom postings, and submit high quality, thoughtful postings. He also created grade discussions and
Fierce competition makes the company hard to survive. Currently, there are universities and colleges, such as the University of Massachusetts, providing online degree programs. Not only them, but also publishers, some start-up companies and established training companies were offering computer-based
The issue with this essay is the way it handles its negative views. It’s handles in a very black or white situation with only negative views being shown, ”Entertaining, and successful participation requires no real effort and no real accountability. Serial use of YouTube clips, Prezi presentations, films, and “student-centred learning activities” continues to be peddled for pedagogical relevance (Srigley),” depicted in the essay, technology is the big scary monster going after and attacking the teacher and making his students ignore him, and inconveniencing his everyday life, ”That’s when I understood that there were several entertainment options available to students in the modern university classroom, and that lectures rank well below Twitter, Tumblr, or Snapchat (Srigley)” The essay also attacks online courses without showing the positive side to them. Shown in the essay, they are worth nothing and teach nothing, ”online courses are perhaps one of the most complete expressions of the denigration of university education (Srigley),” there is no good side of online classes shown. There is nothing to show how online learning is making learning accessible,”work online with no direct support from a faculty member. Digital lectures for live classes with real students? Sounds expensive. How about no lectures, no students, and, best of all, no professor (Srigley).” Overall, if the essay were to show the second side of technology as a whole, the argument against technology within the essay would be stronger, and appear to be more of an argument based in logic, rather than a person who refuses to come to the reality of the times and just attacks technology for this failure to understand
Students can also interact with each other or teachers using online methods of
If students have posted on the bulletin board for electronic conversation, they will sometimes read the posting or sometimes not. Keifer argues that by the time students read and to respond to a post the time has passed and at which point the issue seems dead. Keifer is concern that some students do not have the tools needed to submit work in the allot time, some students are borrowing computer time from friends or using a public computer at a coffee shop or library. When student have to add to these constraints due to family, work and other obligations that keep them tied to schedules which do not allow for frequent trips to college campus. With the lack of computer access, the chances of spending ample time online to engage in extended interaction with their professor or other peers writing contexts diminish over more.
Education plays a key role in the development of one’s character and future achievements. The importance of education has elevated in numerous ways over time. The higher an education a person receives is expected to give an individual a better occupation and therefore result in more earned money by that individual. Human desires have led to the great want to achieve the best education in order to ensure that more then just the basic needs and wants are met by that individual, whether it is for themselves or for those that are dependent upon them. Hence the best education one can receive will contribute to the fulfillment of their desires and wants. In recent years the internet has played quite a major part in education. The internet has become almost more significant in the classroom then a piece of paper and a pencil, to a class. It has become more then just a resourceful tool for finding information it has become a means of a must have item. Such dependence is very detrimental to the educational process for although the internet seems to be everywhere, there are still many people, willing to learn, who lack such a resource.
Speakers note All the mandatory continuing education programs may not be uniform and consistent, there may be a lack of quality and relevance to practitioners needs, which may not change the attitudes of learners. Some internet based CE courses are
Online education is a booming trend in the education world. It is something different than the traditional classroom. It is allowing student around the world the opportunity to get an education. Online education allows student to have a more proficient and cheaper way of learning. Having multiple ways to give a student an education allows all learning types to find their own way of learning. Education changes lives but it can be difficult for students to get to a classroom to sit through an hour class 4 times a week, this can be for many different reasons. There are many doubts about online education, but this a new world without borders it is a new opportunity for people from all over the world to get an education.
Some students within society need to have online learning to complete college degrees due to their lifestyles. While it is good to have online learning as an option if one chooses, it should not be the only option available to some students. Some may argue that online education is not creating discrimination within the educational environment. Furthermore, some may suggest that online learning is benefiting our students in society. There has been a breakthrough in time and geographical limitations of education via online courses (Ho, 2009).
Technology has had a negative impact on education by causing distractions during class lectures and assignments. The over use of technology is leading to a loss in communication skills and troubles in reading. The use of technology causes many people to have the temptation for cheating in and out of classrooms, resulting in students not wanting to study. Not every student has the capability of connecting to the internet or have contact to technology. This creates difficulties for those students without connection to the internet to complete online assignments or have accesses to their school’s resources. Also, for online courses, students have to wait for an email response in order to get help or to understand a lecture that the professor is
The study shows that online interaction has a positive impact on developing students’ communication skill and appreciation towards other people’s cultures. Chun (2011) investigated the effect of online communication tools used in asynchronous and synchronous communication to the students’ language style, and students’ performance in conveying various expressions related to speech acts in writing. The study found that while asynchronous communication contains longer and more complex sentences, synchronous communication reflected more engagement and evidence of the development of intercultural competence compare to asynchronous communication due to the lack of personal interactions. Online collaboration also enhances the development of opportunities that might not have been available in a traditional class setting. This opportunity enables the students to link theory and practice and has a practical dimension of their course by interacting with others (Dooly et al.,
Through new technologies including computers, World Wide Web, and email, we have seen many changes the way we think about and carry out the process of writing. While most seem to welcome new technologies others like Sven Birkets believe these new technologies are hurting the learning process. He writes, “Many educators say that our students are less and less able to read, or analyze, or write with clarity and purpose. Who can blame the students? Everything they meet with in the world around them gives the signal: That was then, and electronic communications are now (63). This “cyberculture” that we are a part of has truly changed the way we currently live our lives. If we use new technologies to enhance learning and not it’s primary source we as a culture, a “cyberculture” will be able to make even greater advances than previously anticipated. Presently the need for actual printed textbooks is on the decline and is sure to continue as we move further into the future.
Over the years it has been seen that education has taken up several forms. With the advent of technology, education has also been integrated with technology. Previously it was seen that education was achieved through written forms of paper with pen or pencil. The use of pen and pencil can be dated back to the Roman Empire. However, with the developing pace the traditional means of attaining education are changing. The introduction of information technology has brought forth a new way of learning through the internet. E-learning is the new form of education introduced by IT which helps people to attain knowledge through the use of their computers. A portal is introduced by the use of information technology which the students are able to access and to take tests. However, this new technology also brings with it other ethical issues of plagiarism and social contact. Online education is an inadequate alternative for traditional, classroom-based teaching for several reasons: there is no interactive communication between the student and the instructor, potential employers do not value online course work, class offerings are limited, instructor feedback to the student might be delayed for days, and group projects are nonexistent.
"The Teacher's Role in Developing Interaction and Reflection in an Online Learning Community." (n.d.): n. pag. Taylor and Francis. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Technology has had a large impact on the field of education. The proliferation of multimedia resources and limitless amounts of information available through the Internet has fundamentally affected the learning process. Students no longer search through cards and stacks for magazine articles; almost everything is at the click of a finger. Multimedia resources are increasingly utilized in the classroom to help instruct students. Some professors are making conscious efforts to use new technology, so as to introduce and familiarize their students with it. The significance of technology in education is now being elevated to a new plateau. Education through the Internet, the great equalizer, may make it more widely distributed through the phenomenon of online courses. It is the thesis of this paper that online courses are not an effective means to educate traditional undergraduate college aged students (people from 18-22 years old).
Education, no doubt, has been benefited by communication and information technologies in various levels. From both the sociological and economic points of view, communication and information...