2019 Annual Conference

Distance Learning (Technology and Online Learning)

Roundtable (45 minutes)

This roundtable conversation is about the use of group messaging to connect online doctoral students outside the formal auspices of class. Thematic results of a content analysis of our cohort’s text messages will be presented. Discussion will focus on supporting online graduate students through learning communities and other approaches.

This session will appeal to a variety of attendees. Graduate students might be interested in methods to deepen interpersonal relationships within their cohorts. Program administrators might want to learn about group messaging as a way to connect learners who are separated by geography and time zones in meaningful ways outside of class. Faculty might have interest in using group messaging as a teaching strategy. Faculty and program administrators could also find it useful to learn from key themes of the private conversations of doctoral students in order to identify ways to proactively offer support to learners at their institutions.

After attending this session, attendees will be able to:
• List themes from the content analysis of this cohort’s offline e-conversations
• Describe ways group messaging enables this cohort to support and encourage one another
• Identify triggers that produced periods of stress for members of this cohort
• Discuss benefits of using group messaging to connect online learners outside of class

Online courses ask learners to interact within explicit parameters. When under supervision, responses and reactions from learners are typically moderate and polite. Students who are infrequently or never on campus do not have the benefit of encountering a classmate at a coffee shop and exchanging informal dialogue about class or the program of study. These chance encounters provide informal learning opportunities to hear different perspectives and reinforce classroom topics through repeated exposure. Online students may experience a lack of deep engagement with course content or ideas because their only interactions are, to at least some extent, contrived and monitored.

     Our cohort has found that group messaging is an effective way to foster informal learning opportunities while also aiding in the formation of a supportive learning community. Several members of our cohort are collaborating to conduct a content analysis of our “offline” discussions. Themes from this analysis will be shared, and we hope to engage attendees in discussion about other novel ways to support online graduate students.

Presenters will provide a brief overview of literature addressing the formation of learning communities among online graduate students. We will share the story of how we came to utilize group messaging, and thematic results of a content analysis of our group’s text messages will be presented. We will conclude with time for questions and open discussion about other novel ways to support and engage online graduate students.