So, I was having an interesting conversation with my partner who has written his applied project about Standards for Quality Matters for online learning.
Learning engagement is a concern for me. Ever since I took a course at ASU for history and the discussion board questions were required each week with individual responses but no replies to others. In an attempt to reply to others, I found the culture was already set by week 5 and no students would reply to me.
I did have a discussion with ASU regarding my input on this matter. In the online courses I teach, I require replies as well as responses.
However, recently, I had a student who asked if he closes the door on the discussion too soon himself. Good question.
This brings larger questions. What about students who do not post to the discussion in week 5 regarding something relevant in week 3?
My sincere belief is that without synchronous communication, the learning experience is not as effective.
In 1998, I envisioned experts and published authors teaching for multiple universities. I imagined that someone who was, say an expert instructor in copyright law, would teach at both ASU and at Indiana State and University of Colorado. Now, imagine if you could access these expert instructors no matter where you were in the country or world! These experts could actually make a substantial living being adjunct and accessible. I would pay more, in fact, for access to Karjala, Junger, or Seltzer.
Honestly, it would be fantastic if there was a weekly synchronous session - optional. This would be amazing.
In 1998, I had a computer science instructor who did weekly synchronous sessions with us. Of course, there were only 3 of us. However, this was really an amazing format. This would definitely be a great option. I am surprised that 15 years later, this is not the standard.
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