During the course of our 12 classes together, the online chat room became a place where students could share their personal stories through digital moments. This is what Connelly and Clandinin (1995) refer to as “collaborative story-telling.
The value of story-telling enabled us to learn more about each other. Sticking to “the content” was important, but straying to the personal became equally important to the learning experience. The affordances of Adobe allowing the class lecture, presentation and simultaneous live chat mirrored the informal learning that occurs in a face-to-face environment. In fact, it was ameliorated by the fact that the instructor was privy to all of the chat, so while it was challenging to attend to both, the formal and informal learning portions were seamlessly integrated. In a face-to-face situation, this may not have occurred as the instructor would not hear all side conversations.
relationship building
placerat
"Teachers in online environments should not underestimate the importance of investing in community building activities"
16 Digital Moments / Oct, 2013