August 2001 — Features
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Online Lectures: Benefits for the Virtual Classroom
For many teachers, this learning moment is one of the greatest rewards to be gained from the teaching enterprise. We have spoken to instructors who avoid Web-based instruction because they believe it is not possible for them to experience learning moments in the virtual classroom. This is an unfortunate misconception, and our response is that these instructors are thinking solely about asynchronous communication for Web classes and have not considered the potential of synchronous chat rooms for revealing these learning moments. Indeed, we have never experienced a learning moment by opening a student's e-mail or forum posting. However, frequently during a semester a learning moment is revealed in a chat room. This typically occurs when we have just finished discussing a complex issue or concept for the class. If we've done it right, our students spontaneously respond with positive remarks.This is the essence of a cyber-learning moment in the virtual classroom. We believe that spontaneous expressions such as these are learning moments that can only be experienced by online instructors using chat rooms. In this regard, there is another benefit of chat rooms – learning moments are experienced and documented by all of the participants in a chat room.
Alvin Wang received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from SUNY at Stony Brook. When he is not teaching and writing at UCF, where he is a professor of psychology, he is reading and writing at home.
E-mail: awang@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
Michael Newlin received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Purdue University. His primary teaching interests include experimental design, statistical analysis and the psychology ofteaching. He is currently researching pedagogical issues relating to Web-based instruction.
E-mail: mnewlin@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
References
Fraser, A.F. 1999. "Colleges Should Tap the Pedagogical Potential of the World Wide Web." Chronicle of Higher Education, August 6, b8.
Gunawardena, C., and F.J. Zittle. 1997. "Social Presence as a Predictor of Satisfaction Within a Computer-Mediated Conferencing Environment." American Journal of Distance Education, 11, 8-26.
Holmbery, B. 1989. Theory and Practice of Distance Education. London: Routlege.
Laird, E. 1999. "Distance-Learning Instructors: Watch Out for the Cutting Edge." Chronicle of Higher Education, May 28, b6.
Presby, L. 2001. "Increasing Productivity in Course Delivery." T.H.E. Journal, 28, February, 52-58.
Wang, A.Y., and M.H. Newlin. 2001a. "A Discourse Analysis of Online Classroom Chats: Predictors of Cyber-Student Performance." Manuscript accepted for publication in Teaching of Psychology.
Wang, A.Y., and M.H. Newlin. 2001b. "Integrating Technology and Pedagogy: Web Instruction and Seven Principles of Undergraduate Education." Manuscript accepted for publication in Teaching of Psychology.
