Projecting Community in Web-based Courses: What to Say and How to Say What You Mean
Introduction
Designing systems informed by current research
Distance education, web-based learning, online courses — all offer opportunities for creating a new and exciting learning environment for students. Several recent research projects focus on not only opportunities for instructors and facilitators to make this environment both enriching and enlightening but also offer up challenges in the areas of interaction and community in creating a learning environment which will promote student success. McKenzie, professor of media and instructional technology at the State University of West Georgia has stated, "Distance instructors can make or break a distance learning course." (Kopt, 2003, p. 2) This "making or breaking" of distance courses is heavily reflected in student success. Wegerif (1998) relates the success or failure of individuals who enroll in "open university" (p. 38) courses to the degree to which they could "cross the threshold" (p. 46) from feeling like outsiders to becoming a part of the online community. Bata-Jones, and Avery (2004) noted that the perception of some students is that" . . . online courses create a sense of isolation." (p. 185) This perception and the transition away from this perception depends heavily on the course facilitator's communication skills in creating student interaction. (Gueldenzoph, 2003, p. 176)
Recent discoveries through distance education research suggest that communication at several levels may be a major part of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction that students feel when participating in web-based courses. Shea, Fredericksen, Pickett, Pelz, and Swan (2000) stated, ". . . researcher argue that the structure, (Romiszowski & Cheng, 1992), transparency (Eastmond, 1995), and communication potential (Irani, 1998) of course interfaces heavily impact students' satisfaction, learning, and retention in online courses." (p. 3) Richardson & Ting (1999) found that students who were learning primarily through written correspondence with instructors were more concerned with instructors' feedback. Researchers Hawisher and Pemberton (1997) compared the perceptions of two groups of students, who were involved in asynchronous learning, and contend that all interaction with instructors including instructor participation in class discussions played a key role in student success and retention in online courses. In Implementing the Seven Principals: Technology as a Lever , Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) lists the first principal as; "Good practice encourages contacts between students and faculty" and explains, "Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is a most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working." (p. 4) Kearsley (2000) maintains that the web-based classroom is a special social environment and is very different from the face-to-face classroom. Picciano (1998) found that instructors' activities were related to students' perceived learning in online education courses.
A profound lack of "sense of community" (Haythornthwaite, Kazmer, Robins, & Shoemaker, 2000; McCarthy, Pretty, & Catano, 1990; Morgan & Tam, 1999; Palloff & Pratt, 1999) and "feelings of isolation" (Macchia & Freedman, 2004; Morgan & Tam, 1999; & Want & Grimes, 2000) is often reported in studies. (Vonderwell, 2003, & Woods, 2002). Students often report that they are unable to connect with the instructor on a personal or professional level. Quitadamo and Brown (2001) went so far as to state that "quality of human interaction determines online learning success." (p. 7)
These essential research findings present both opportunities and challenges in the manner in which we communicate and help to "sweep" students away from relative isolation into web-based communities and create the interaction that students need and expect from learning environments, in general. "Maslow posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs. (Maslow, 1943) Within the deficiency needs, each lower need must be met before moving to the next higher level." (Huitt, 2004, para. 1). It is within the first four levels of deficiency needs that we must look for opportunities to provide that interaction and communication in web-based courses. In level one, individuals basically relate the physiological need to having the resources to undertake the web-based learning. First tier needs may include access to an adequate computer system and the skills to use that system. It is within the next two need deficiency levels of safety and belongingness that we as instructors and facilitators have the opportunity to impact student success and retention. By providing positive interaction in web-based courses we can contribute to the "feeling of community" and in turn, to student success.
In web-based courses, two basic facilitator or instructor interpersonal skills contribute to positive interaction relationships: sending information to others and receiving information from others. For positive interpersonal relationships to form there must be appropriate amounts of both sending and receiving. For many people, one or both of the above skills may be difficult to master. Some people share information about their own ideas, reactions, and feelings easily while having particular difficulty paying attention, relating to and understanding information others may share or send. On the flip side, some people listen, understand, and sympathize; easily and comfortably comprehend existing sentence structure and tone; but find it difficult to reveal or send information about themselves.
Healy (1999) suggested that a major impact of web-based learning could be the negative effect it has on the ability of the user to achieve community. As facilitators and instructors, we have several opportunities to encourage "community" in the web-based environment. By carefully choosing what we say and how we say it, web-based courses can begin to project the learning environment which lends itself to community and to provide the personal aspect of learning that is so prevalent in face-to face courses. The following is a list of ways to foster "community" in web-based courses for students.