Recently many colleges have been utilizing the Internet to facilitate the learning experience for their students. Programs such as blackboard , used by many universities like Miami, allow professors to place class notes, assignments, and grades on-line so that they are more accessible to students. Some schools have tried to perfect an on-line class experience. They are transforming the traditional college course to one based on technology and Internet format. Universities have focused on switching over core courses, using all technology available, and of course encouraging students to take full advantage of the WWW. Ideally, students would hand in all assignments electronically and handle all research via the Web.
Common student reactions to this movement have focused around having to adjust to learning without a flesh instructor to guide them. Teachers Sharon Solloway and Edward Harris kept kind of a journal of the hardships and successes that their pupils went through as they did this. In there class, since most of their students had minimal knowledge of the information technology, they assured them that there were no right or wrong answers as in a traditional class. The instructor's main goal was to see how well education could occur through this digital medium.
In the beginning the two instructors received many distress calls nightly from their students, but these were soon replaced by success stories of triumphs over technophobia. In the end, students who could barely send e-mail at the beginning of the class, were designing their own web pages.
Overall, this study was a study to learn how to better facilitate the learning experience on-line for students. Solloway and Harris made may observant suggestions:
1). On-line classes should use applications that give students many options with which they can communicate with each other and do assignments.
2). There must be a knowledgeable and patient instructional team.
3). Students must have adequate time in the beginning to get accustomed to the computer application system.
4). A survey should be taken in the beginning of class to get an idea of the class's technical abilities (Solloway, S.G., & Harris E.L., 1999).
Other Student Links:
Main Student Page
Minorities' views
Classroom Experience
| Works Cited |
This project was produced for Psy 380, Social Psychology of Cyberspace,
Spring 2000, at Miami University. All
graphics in these pages are used with permission or under fair use guidelines, are in the
public domain, or were created by the authors. Last revised: This
document has been accessed times since 1 May 2000. Comments & Questions to R. Sherman