Building Community in Online Classrooms: Shaping Expectations of Adults New to Distance Learning
Session Abstract
This session will provide insight into why some online adult education courses develop healthy learning communities while other distance courses result in student attrition and apathy. The ideas shared are particularly relevant to educators who are facilitating courses at the beginning of an online adult education program.
Target Audience
Adult educators who facilitate online learning or who plan to. Graduate students planning to teach online someday. Students who have avoided or have difficulty learning at a distance.
Session Description
This session will provide insight into why some online adult education courses develop healthy learning communities while other distance courses result in student attrition and apathy. The presenter has distilled down her six years of experience in teaching online core adult education courses and filtered it through the current research in online pedagogy to provide tips on building successful online communities. The ideas shared in this workshop are particularly relevant to adult educators who are facilitating courses at the beginning of an online adult education program. Learning styles and the need to shift learners’ expectations of when, where, and how learning takes place are discussed with best practices shared and participant interaction encouraged. Incorporating student autobiographical narratives is highlighted.