Teaching with Technology

The article I read this week is titled “Mimicking Proximity: The Role of Distance Education in forming Communities of Learning” discusses the importance of utilizing the development in communication technology to facilitate communication between instructors, learners and help establish learning communities that enhances the learning experience.

The article represented social and psychological factors that encourage communication among distance education participants to mimic proximity factors found in face to face setting such as social activities in classrooms and campuses.

Learning is represented as a social process that involves communication and interaction within a group of players comprising a community of learning that encourages its members to participate and their contribution is accepted by all. The interactions inside learning communities develop common views, interdependence, shared values and trust between the individuals in those learning communities. Effective learning communities emphasize the importance of the learner and place these learners at the center of the learning experience. Participation of all individuals is encouraged to improve their interaction. The role of the instructor changes from a source of information to a social mediator of information and a participant in the learning community.

When higher levels of comfort among members of a learning community is established, new interests start to develop among subgroups within the same learning community which represent “sub-communities”

It is important to utilize the advancement in communication technology to build the needed infrastructure that will allow the participants in distance education to develop the interaction that mimics the social dynamics that develops in class rooms and campuses. When these social dynamics are not created in distance learning environment, students’ failure to complete distance courses is higher. Communication technology should be used to provide distant learning students the support services that are present in campuses such as health services, libraries, clubs and counseling which are the elements of the needed social space.

Virtual social space for distant learning students that are supported by communication technologies is an integral part to cultivate deeper collaboration among the students. Interaction helps the learners to form concepts, and new understandings that supports their transformation that is “defined by participation in a social community”

Socializing among the members of a learning community helps build their common interests, values and skills that identifies the culture. As learning is a process of becoming part of group, we need to accept that the interaction within a learning community will for sure involve activities that are not related to the content of the class. These facts need to be accepted by the instructors because they do solidify the building of common views and educational goals of the learning community. The article presents that it is important to support an environment of “camaraderie, safety, collegiality and feelings” that help counteract the sense of loneliness of students in distance learning and helps the collaborative efforts that enhances the learning experience.
Hanan

Hodge, E., Bosse, M., Faulconer, J., & Fewell, M. (2006). Mimicking proximity: the role of distance education in forming communities of learning . International journal of instructional technology and distance learning , 3(12), Retrieved from http://itdl.org/Journal/Dec_06/article01.htm