All posts by Melissa Koenig

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Online Learning: Panacea or Curse?

I recently returned from a trip to Thailand, where I was teaching a cohort of graduate students how to use library databases for research. A common question that I was asked upon my return was why an in-person visit was necessary to teach these skills.

I find it interesting that many people believe that technology and in particular synchronous technologies are a panacea that can replace the face-to-face classroom environment. While I believe that these technologies are powerful and can and do extend the reach of traditional classrooms, I also believe it is important to make wise decisions about the use of technology based on the potential audience and their unique needs and attributes.

In this particular situation, where English was not the students’ first language, where their prior experience using libraries was mixed, and where their access to reliable technology was not a given, face-to-face instruction made the most sense.

I believe that instructors who are being asked to take their classes online need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages carefully. What is the motivation for moving to even a hybrid model? Can the students’ needs be met effectively?

I believe that there are certain courses and certain students that should be taught face-to-face in a real classroom. Statistics and math courses are two that come to mind. I suppose there are those that would argue that many people can and do learn these subject without the need to be in a classroom, but I would argue that there are many more students who require the personal interaction that only a live human standing in front of them can provide. This isn’t to say that there aren’t successful online math and statistics courses but more to argue that before you take the entire math department virtual, you take the students’ needs into consideration.

Undergraduates are another population of students that I believe benefit from the interaction of a live instructor standing in front of them. Again, I am sure there are undergraduates who successfully take online classes and have great experiences, but I would argue that this is more the exception than the rule. Most undergraduates that I know are just learning how to balance their responsibilities and adding the responsibility of managing an online learning experience to the mix is a recipe for disaster. I find it laudable that schools often want to find ways to extend their campus to those most vulnerable of dropping out or not even starting, those students for whom time is precious, since they are juggling home, work, and school responsibilities. However, I would argue that too often the time commitment of an online class far outweighs the potential benefit of not having to be in class on a particular day or time. I would also argue that these students are precisely the ones that need the extra attention that a live teacher in a face-to-face class provides. Perhaps the greatest benefit of this extra attention is that it makes students feel like they belong to a community.

Given all of this, you may think that I don’t believe online instruction is a good option, which isn’t true. Instead, I believe that we as instructors and instructional designers need to make good decisions about which classes and which students are part of our online classrooms.

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Will Pre-Teens Still Love Virtual Worlds When They’re Old Enough to Drive?

A recent article in the New York Times (see Web Playgrounds of the Very Young) led me to think about whether educators are simply ahead of the curve in the use of virtual environments for educational purposes. While Second Life and other virtual environments for adults have fallen short of anticipated use expectations, those for children have enjoyed unprecedented growth. The success of sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz begs the question that perhaps the generation of students now in elementary and middle school will be open to and expect their educational experiences to exist in virtual worlds. Then again, these students are currently not using virtual worlds for collaborative learning experiences. Instead, these sites exist as a social outlet for children who are often unable to freely travel to visit their friends in person. Will the fascination with virtual environments wane as these same students grow into their late teen years and are able to more freely socialize with their peers? I think this question has yet to be answered.

If our experiments with virtual worlds are teaching us anything, it is perhaps that our course management systems will need to change from the largely asynchronous environments that currently exist to “virtual classrooms” that more closely mirror the face-to-face environment. Such environments would allow for more natural social engagement, easier collaborative learning opportunities, and a better sense of community. In order to make these “virtual classrooms” a reality, educators should begin planning now in order to meet the needs of the generation of students who will be attending college in five to seven years.

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Facebook Makes 40 the New 50

There was an article in the Red Eye on Friday, October 19th about young people not wanting their parents or “creepy old people”—which includes anyone over 40—on the social networking site Facebook. (If you’re not familiar with local Chicago media, the Red Eye is a popular free newspaper. Although it’s unseemly for a librarian to be caught with one, the paper is the perfect length for a relaxing commute read.) There are a number of things that I found interesting about this article, especially as we in higher education examine ways to connect with students where they already are.

The idea that people over 40 are considered “creepy” in the Facebook world begs the question, “How do students really feel about their professors wanting to network with them?” Do students really want their professors in their social networks? Are professors and students really “friends?” I would argue that like everyone else, students need spaces where they are not “at school” the same way those in the working world need spaces where they are not “at work.” In that context, it’s easy to see why crossing these lines can lead to feelings of resentment about the infringement.

This is not to say that social networking technology can’t help build meaningful communities in the online environment. However, I would argue that what we really need to be pushing is for solutions that are integrated into the course management system (whatever that might be) or that were developed for an educational purpose. The focus should be less on what service is being used (e.g. Facebook) and more on what the technology does.

Providing social networking tools as part of the student’s classroom experience (be that online or face-to-face)—but not as part of their social experience—makes a lot of sense. For example, Ning is a free Social Networking tool that faculty can use to create a social network for their class (or perhaps for a cohort). Ning allows instructors to tap into the positive aspects of social networking technology without the baggage of being in a student’s personal space.

While there is something to be said about having everything in the same place, I would argue that we need to have lines in our lives to separate the different components. The hope, of course, is that these lines keep us grounded and more sane!

For more information on the “graying” of Facebook, you can view the original article, “73 and Loaded with Friends on Facebook,” on the New York Times website.

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The Next Best Thing to Your Own Personal Librarian

Daniel’s recent posts focused on social bookmarking tools, which use the power of social networking to help users find websites that suit their interests. On a similar note, I thought I’d share one of my favorite tools, LibraryThing, which serves a similar purpose for books. For those not familiar with this resource, it is an online service that allows people to keep and share their favorite (or least favorite) books. A free account allows you to catalog up to 200 books. Paid accounts allow you to catalog as many as you wish and start at $10 for a year or just $25 for a lifetime!

Even if you don’t keep your own list of books, LibraryThing is a great resource for finding just the right book for a lazy day at the beach or for a classroom assignment. Its strength lies in the tags that members have provided to categorize their entries. As any librarian will tell you, readers advisory—the practice of recommending books based on a reader’s interests—is a fine art. For example, knowing that you like Harry Potter, a good advisor should be able to tell you that you should also like the Bartimaeus Trilogy. Similarly, a good advisor might be able to recommend esoteric literature with a particular theme, e.g., Chick Lit that takes place in Greece.

My favorite way to find books on LibraryThing is to search using tags (which are the same as key words). If you want to combine tags, you can separate your key concepts with commas. This search is called a tagmash, and it can provide you with some interesting results. For example, a search for World War II fiction retrieves some expected and some unexpected results, including: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, Atonement by Ian McEwan, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.

Once you find a title you want to read, you can connect with your local library catalog via the WorldCat link. Before you know it you will be enjoying a new book that you might have otherwise never discovered.