Decentered, Disconnected, and Digitized: Why Students Successfully Adapt to the Online Environment

Beth Brunk-Chavez

Shawn J. Miller

Need for Research“What becomes problematic is the relatively low value given to proving claims made for social constructivism as applied to OWI [online writing instruction] . . . over time, as many people have posited a productive connection between social theory and OWI, this connection may have developed into a perceived cornerstone of OWI notwithstanding the fact that there is little empirical evidence to support it” (45).

Hewett, B. & Ehmann C. (2005). Preparing educators for online writing instruction: Principles and process. Urbana: NCTE.

Need for Research

Much of the scholarship concerning computers and writing makes the assumption that collaboration is a sound theory that leads to good pedagogy: it improves student learning; it improves student writing.

We found a considerable amount of research focused on the how of collaborative learning, but very little about the why and began to wonder if we in fact need to ask why.

Research QuestionsWhat we examine is the typically unexamined assumptions that collaborative learning married to technology will make for a better/stronger/faster writing pedagogy.

Is pedagogy being driven by the need to be technologically efficient?

Collaboration can be both efficient and inefficient, but is it effective?

Design of StudyStudent Surveys

– 1 administered in the beginning of the semester

– 1 administered at the end

– 3 hybrid 1312 (Freshman Comp) classes

– 3 f2f/traditional 1312 classes

Instructor Follow-ups

Outcomes/ResponsesOur initial assumption was that most students would, at the beginning of perhaps their first semester of college-level work, be somewhat apprehensive toward group work.

“Students generally oppose group work, so working with technology will aggravate their anxiety about having to carry all the weight of the work assigned.”

Outcomes/ResponsesLeader/follower dichotomy

Slower process

Accountability

Personality

Rigor/perception of ‘college level’ work

Outcomes/Responses

Distrust of community(peers)/trust in traditional authority(instructor)

“How can someone your own age know more than you and the instructor? Personally, I prefer to have my work revised by someone older and wiser.” “I trust my teacher more than my classmates.”

“The teacher knows what they are talking about so you will always do it right when they correct you.”

Outcomes/Responses

“I am engaged in this class; I am not just another student.”

“… we were able to give and receive constructive pointers in writing, this helped [us] look at assignments differently and helped in writing subsequent drafts. It was like a study group … and it made the information more memorable and fun.”

Outcomes/ResponsesSkillsVirtuesTechnology

Outcomes/Responses“[I can learn from my classmates] cause they are currently going through the same problem and can explain it to you easier cause we communicate at a student level, not at a professional level, where it can be difficult to understand sometimes.”

“[The] teacher may not always know how to teach, and make students understand the subject. But with peer help it’s easier, because students identify with each other and know what problems you are having. therefore they make it easier for you to understand them.”

Outcomes/Responses“The worst students were my worst for lack of effort mainly. The technology really had nothing to do with it; they are just as used to using the technology as the good students.” (Instructor Response)

“It would seem that most of the judgments about the hybrid really depend on the kind of instructor a person had and the course they had developed for the students. I think the hybrid format is wonderful, but it would seem that the format was less important than the type of instruction they received. It’s not for everyone, but just like any class, a lot depends on who teaches and how they teach. “ (Instructor Response)

Further Research/Calls for ActionHow much responsibility do we allow/give/force upon students for their learning?

How much responsibility are they willing to accept?

Further Research/Calls for ActionIn what ways does the Content Management System/Classroom Management System (CMS) affect the students as a space for learning?

We have a responsibility to critically engage the technological tools we have available, and continue to push the boundaries of these tools to expand and change to better serve the pedagogy.

Further Research/Calls for ActionIs cultural orientation a factor in approaches to collaborative learning? What about technology?