From Both Sides Now: On Being an Online Learner and an Online Professor
“I've looked at life from both sides now.” —Joni Mitchell, excerpt from the song “Both Sides Now”
Most people have not experienced e-learning yet or have done so in one role; I have experienced e-learning over a long time span and from a diversity of roles: student, professor, and program director. The insights from each role allowed me to function more effectively in other roles and have led to a unique perspective on what makes online learning successful.From 1986 to 1993, I directed what was probably the first online master's program offered by a higher education institution. From 1988 to 1991, I was also a student in a doctorate program that was delivered in a large part through an online learning environment. From 1993 to the present time, I have been a full-time professor in a graduate school teaching online and campus courses in the subject area of human-computer interaction (HCI). I have learned many lessons about how to be successful in these roles and view them as a continuum of roles and responsibilities, of participation and effective practice, and of influence and engagement to advance the online learning environment. In most traditional educational settings, learners and teachers are partners in the advancement of scholarship and community; the online world is not different in this way, as I've discovered through my dual experience as an online learner and teacher.
Working in an online learning environment has become a very stable part of my daily life for 15 years, so that many activities and tasks that others are learning and struggling to do online are routine for me. Certainly, computer-mediated tools change and the use of tools evolves and changes, so I am constantly learning as online learning environments advance. However, online learning is ingrained in my academic belief system. Many faculty members and students are new to online education and question the long-term feasibility of online learning and many need assistance to become acclimated to an online learning environment.
To share my experience of being an online learner
and an online professor, this article is organized into several main issues.
First, some history is given to provide context to the perspectives being
shared in this article. Then main perspectives are given to provide focus
on several issues that are vital to the success of online learning environments.
The main perspectives are organized into the following categories: energy,
reaching out, real people, synchronous or asynchronous interaction, tools,
structure, convenience and flexibility, checks and balances for quality work,
characteristics of an effective online learner, and characteristics of an
effective online teacher.
Some History
In order to understand the context of the
perspectives I will share, I offer more background on how this experience began.
In 1983, Nova University (now Nova Southeastern University) started a graduate
level program that would offer information science professionals the opportunity to
earn their doctorates by attending weekend cluster meetings and through extensive
communication and interaction in a computer-based format. The early day pioneers,
including Dr. John Scigliano, developer and Director of the Center for Computer-Based
Learning (CBL), a small group of faculty members and national lecturers, and a
pilot group of five students, were so excited by the prospect of online communication
and learning that this online learning environment evolved quickly [2].
Although mainly a UNIX text-based, command line interface before the advent of the World Wide Web, Nova's online learning environment became a complex and resourceful environment for students to continue their studies and to interact with their peers and their professors during non face-to-face meetings. By 1984, I had joined the group in the CBL (eventually the Center evolved to what is now The School of Computer and Information Sciences), and by 1986, I began to direct the first online master's program. During part of my tenure as a program director, I was also pursuing a doctorate in information systems, a program offered by our Center. The information systems program was offered to working professionals through a combination of weekend campus meetings and participation in our online learning environment.
