Reading:TheOnlineEnvironment

Thisreadingisexcerptedandeditedfrom"CraftinganEffectiveWriter:ToolsoftheTrade

(https://www.coursera.org/course/basicwriting)"byMt.SanJacintoCollege

(http://msjc.edu),licensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttributionNonCommercial3.0UnportedLicense

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0/deed.en_US).

Whattypesofonlineclassesexist?
Therearemanytypesofonlinelearningenvironmentsavailableinthecollegelevelexperience.Wehaveidentifiedfivetypesofonlinecourses.However,asyouread,there
couldbeothersdevelopingoutthereintheworld.Itsafastmovingconcept.
TraditionalUndergraduateLevelOnlineCourses:Fullyonlinecoursesofthistypeusuallyhaveagreatdealofinstructortostudentinteractionandfollowthecourse
contentofthefacetofacecounterpartforthosecoursesatthecollegeoruniversityinwhichtheyarebeingoffered.Theyaregenerallynotselfpaced,whichmeansthat
youfollowalongwiththeentireclasswithinaweekoradesignatedtimeperiod,doingactivitiestogetherwithothermembersoftheclass.Theinstructorisfullyinvolved
withtheactivitiesandkeepsinclosecontactwitheachstudent.Theyarealsolimitedinsize,withmostbeingunder50students.
TraditionalGraduateLevelOnlineCourses:Ingraduateschool,onlinecoursesrequirethestudenttobemuchmoreselfdirected.Theassumptionisthatthestudenthas
maturedinhisorherabilitytodotherequiredworktocompleteagivencourse.Theclassesusuallyarenotselfpaced,butthereismoreinteractionamongthestudents
withtheinstructorinafacilitationrole.
MassOpenOnlineCourses(MOOC):ThetypeofcourseyouareinnowiscalledaMOOC.Theinteractionwiththeinstructorislimitedbythenumbersofstudentsinthe
course.Theinstructormainlyparticipatesthroughdesigningthecourseandofferingitscontent.Theinstructorwillalsoparticipateinsomeofthediscussionactivitiesandis
usuallyassistedbypeertutorsorteachingassistants.Muchofthecourseisconductedwithtechnologyprovidingtheevaluationthroughmachinegradedtestsand
assignmentsaswellastheuseofpeergradedwork(thatmeansstudentslearntogradeeachother).Thesecoursesmayormaynotbeselfpacedbasedonthecontent
andthedesignandusuallyhavehundredsorthousandsofstudentsfromallovertheworld.
Hybrid(sometimescalledBlended)DistanceEducationCourses:Thesecoursesusuallyoccurinthetraditionalcollegesettingandarepartiallyonlinecourses.That
meansthatthestudentsarerequiredtoattendfacetofacemeetingsaspartofthecoursedesignaswellasparticipateinonlineactivities.Nomatterwhattypeofcourse,
onlineclassesaremoredifficultforsomestudents,butforotherstheyareeasierdependingonlearningstyle,computerskills,internetaccess,personality,motivation,and
timecommitments.
FlippedClasses:Thesearecoursesthattakeplaceinfacetofaceclassroomsinmanycollegesanduniversities.Theyimplementonlinecontentandactivitiesasamajor
componentofthecoursedelivery.Instructorsdeterminewhatcontentforthecoursecanbestbedonebystudentsontheirown(watchingvideolectures,reading,doing
tutorials,etc.)andwhatpartsofthecoursethestudentsusuallyneedhelpwith(writingessays,solvingproblems,creatingprojects,etc.).Studentscompletetheworkon
theirownonlinebeforecomingtoclasstoworkwiththeinstructoronthecomponentsthatarebestdonewithinstructorassistance.
Manyfullyonlinecoursesrequirethestudentstogotoaspecificplacetodotesting.Usually,thesitefortestingisthecollegecampusoranalternativesiteagreedtobythe
instructorandtheindividualstudent.(Thisclasshasnoproctoredtesting.)Studentintegrityisveryimportantindistanceeducationprogramsbecausethecollegehastobesure
thattheircoursesmeetrequirementsofgovernmentalagencies.

TheDifferenceBetweenSynchronousandAsynchronousLearning
Mostonlineclassesoperateinwhatiscalledan"asynchronous"mode.Thismeansthatthecourseparticipants,includingtheinstructor(s),arenotinthecourseatthesame
time.Theymaynotevenbeonlineinthesametimezone,asisthecaseinthisclass!Becauseofthis,therearecommunicationtoolsthatallowforpeopletopostinformation
atonetimeandthencomebackandgivefeedback(reply)atanothertime.Blogs,wikisanddiscussionforumsaretypicaltypesofasynchronouscommunicationinonline
classes.
"Synchronous"activitiesmayalsotakeplaceinanonlineclassbutareusuallyoptional.Thecourseparticipantswouldbecommunicatingintheonlinearenaatthesametime.
ExamplesofsynchronousactivitiesareusingwebconferencingtoolssuchasGoogleHangouts,BlackboardCollaborate,WebExandothers.Fullyonlineclassesrarelyhave
mandatedsynchronousactivities,butyoushouldcarefullychecktheclasssyllabusorscheduleofanyonlinecoursethatyoutaketomakesurethatyouarenotrequiredtogo
toalocationataspecifictime.

BeingaStudentinFullyOnlineCourses
Noteverystudentcaneffectivelytakeadvantageofthefreedomandresponsibilityassociatedwithlearningwithinanonlineenvironment.Manystudentsfindlearningeasierina
classroomenvironmentwithfacetofaceencouragement,immediateinstructionalfeedbackandpersonalinteractions.However,formany,learningonlinefitswellandprovidesa
valuablealternative.Comparedtoastandardclassroomsituationinwhicheveryoneisinthesameroom,atthesametime,doingthesamework,theonlineclassroomhasless
facetofacecontactandlessimmediateaccesstoyourinstructor.Interactionwithyourfellowstudentsusuallyoccursthroughelectronic(asynchronous,notrealtime)
communicationinsteadoffacetofaceconversation.Incontrasttoongroundclassrooms,manyonlinestudentsaresurprisedtofindthattheygettoknowtheirfellowstudents
betterinanonlineclassduetotheincreasedlevelofstudenttostudentinteraction.
Whatkindofworkcanyouexpecttodoinanonlineclass?
Onlinecoursesdonothaveclassworkandhomework.Sincealloftheworkyoudoinanonlineclassisdoneathome,oratleastnotinaclassroomsetting,thereisno
distinctionmadebetweenthetwotypesofwork.Instead,therearecontentactivities,interactiveactivities,andevaluativeactivitiesthathelpyoulearnthecontent.Someofthe
activitiesarequizzesandassignmentsthathelptheinstructorevaluatewhetheryoureallyhavelearnedthecontent.Othertypesofactivitiesrequireyoutocommunicatewith
studentsinyourclassandwiththeinstructorbymeansofdiscussionforums(asinthisclass),blogtools,webconferencing(likeGoogleHangoutsandBlackboardCollaborate),
wikis,andothertypesofcommunicationtools.
Examplesofworkinanonlineclass:
ContentActivities:Viewingvideoslisteningtoaudiorecordingsreadinginformationaldocuments,PowerPointpresentations,textbooks,libraryresources,etc.
InteractiveActivities:Participatingindiscussionforumsattendingrealtime(alsoknownassynchronous)sessionswhereyougettospeakwiththeinstructorand/orfellow
studentsviaawebcamandmicrophonesendingemailandothercommunicationactivities
EvaluativeActivities:Completingassignmentsquizzesandtestsandwritten,videooraudioprojects,individuallyoraspartofateam
Asanexample,thedocumentyouarereadingrightnowiscontent.Youwillhavetotakeaquizonwhatisinthisdocument.Thequizisanevaluationactivity.Viewingavideo

Asanexample,thedocumentyouarereadingrightnowiscontent.Youwillhavetotakeaquizonwhatisinthisdocument.Thequizisanevaluationactivity.Viewingavideo
lectureisbothacontentactivityandaninteractiveactivity.Whenthevideostopsandasksyoutotestyourunderstandingofwhatyoujustsaw,itbecomesaninteractive
activityasaninvideoquiz.Theinvideoquizzesexisttogiveyoutheopportunitytotestyourownknowledgeimmediatelyafterviewingthecontentofthevideo.
DiscussionForums
Anonlinediscussionissimilartoavoicemailoranemailconversationwithafewimportantdifferences:Anonlinediscussioncaninvolveanumberofparticipants,suchasa
teamofstudentsoranentireclass.Allmessagesstaypostedinthediscussionboardforparticipantstoreadatanytime.Adiscussioncanlastforaweekorlonger.Youwill
findonlinediscussionsasrigorousasanyfacetofaceclassroomdiscussion.Thepurposeofadiscussionisdialogueasameansoflearning.
Suggestionsforstudentsparticipatinginanonlinediscussion:
Useappropriate"netiquette

(http://blogs.lsc.edu/expectations/netiquetteguidelines/)."Berespectfulandappropriatelanguageinyourresponses.

Youareexpectedtorespondtoeachother.Anonlinediscussionresemblesaclassroomdiscussioninitsentirerigor.
Allmessagespostedarepublic.Inaninclassdiscussion,youshareideaswithallclassmembers.Inanonlinediscussion,youcanexpectthateveryoneintheclasswill
readyourmessages.
Useaperson'snamewhenyoureplytoamessage.Usingaperson'snameinareplyhelpstokeeptheclassoriented.Thispracticehelpsmaintainaclearersenseof
whoisspeakingandwhoisbeingspokento.Astheclassbeginstoassociatenameswithtoneandideas,wecometoknoweachotherbetter.
Changethesubjectlinewhenyouintroduceanewtopic.Thevalueofthistipwillbecomeapparentasthenumberofmessagesgrows.

Quiz:
Online
Classes