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
…show more content…
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
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
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
Analyzing the codes used in the University of Arizonas Natural Science On-line Class Attendance Policy, a genre emerges disparaging the traditional view that knowledge is sharpened through the exchange of ideas. To make the class more appealing to non-traditional students the University has designed an attendance policy which does not eliminate traditional forms of interaction, but instead devalues them subversively thus discounting their necessity. Connotations within the policy divert the unsuspecting student into a particular learning mode. This mode, unappreciative of the insights a typical class would normally culture, does not encourage the student to be "present" mentally, an imperative aspect of becoming educated in a cyber class. Therefore by establishing the existence of these de-prioritizing codes, and the extent to which they must inevitably shape the interpretation of the text, we can clarify the level of interaction the policy genuinely intends. We see then the probability of students relating to the individualistic tone of the policy and discounting the requirements to attend to and with others.
Many colleges have failed in achieving the perfect education by the excessive use of technology. Hacker and Dreifus support the use of technology in many cases, such as having interactive question where the software can give the chance to review your work or giving hints to find the right answer (182). Nevertheless, they are completely aware that the use of technology needs to be supported by a good instruction inside the classrooms (183). The University of the Ozarks’ technological resources out of class are a great advantage to improve the learning process in students’ free time. Online discussions, submitting assignments, and taking online tests are the most common online activities for students in this university, this activities challenge the knowledge acquired in class. Moreover, using technology outside the classroom provides the opportunity to use all the class time to go on new topics, to discus, and to answer questions. Nevertheless, the University of the Ozarks is not using all its technological resources appropriately. Most of the classrooms are provided with interactive boards, speakers, and projectors that are hardly ever used. If the university used every technological resource at its maximum, the positive results of learning would
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.
"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.
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
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.,
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).
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.
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...
...m based school with some online classes, I made a decision to continue my studies online. The teachers design and interaction meets my level of understanding and when I’m not sure of an assignment, I simply contact them via e-mail. I feel the author did a great job in addressing his chosen topic-showing both the strengths and the weaknesses of his study. His final suggestion to teachers is to, “fully reconsider their students’ specific needs and redesign their online courses and learning activities to involve their students…help them benefit from the online learning environment.”
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.
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).