In reading Rani's blog I found many points I agreed with. Like Rani, I liked Fotobabble and feel it is a quick and easy way to connect with those participating in a class. Rani suggests instructors use Fotobabble as a way for instructors to help establish guidelines and community. Humanizing the online course gives the learner a sense of others in the course and may keep students from feeling isolated (DuCharme-Hansen & Dupin-Bryant 2005).
The concern over too many passwords, profiles, and privacy is one I share and also mentioned it in my review. With the online environment learners can be uncountable with not knowing who is reading their work and what they think about it. Rani touched on the lurker which makes many students uncomfortable. In an article by A. Bishop (2002) the author discussed being inhibited by not knowing everyone in the class and who was reading her work. I experienced the same feelings when working for IBM. During a project we wanted the Distinguished Engineers to blog about specific topics. There was great reluctance. We we explored the issues behind the reluctance, much of it was based around not knowing who would read it and what their thoughts would be. There is a level of discomfort in putting yourself out there.
The one area I had a little difference of opinion was with wikis. For very small groups it can be a good collaborative technology. If the group is large, they can be hard to follow. Depending on the wiki technology used, sers can also remove others postings and actually delete the entire wiki.
Thanks Rani for a thoughtful post.
No comments:
Post a Comment