2nd focus group and reflections

My second focus group was held May 5th at 2pm. Out of 12 students I emailed, only one showed up. Frustrating to say the least. Tara was there and she was a big help. I was less nervous this time as I had her and this was my second time.

So my focus group was more an interview than a focus group. I did notice a big difference between interviewing two that were at the beginning of their degrees and one was graduating this semester. There was more of a maturity.

She had taken the class as an elective and had various experiences with online courses. She was a psychology major and she hit on some key points. She thought you should not take your major classes online because one doesn't learn as much online. It seems more self taught. And she got me thinking about the instructor and her role. We do create the environment. and if we are not facilitating discussion and highlighting what is or is not important and connecting to prior knowledge, how do the students do it themselves? The teacher has to be present and interact. I think of transactional distance theory . . . and the instructor as the main component in bridging that difference. I also think about the learning cycle of knowing what you think, expressing it and then hearing others and processing it to learn. (COI)

She wanted more synchronous interactions. She has never felt known as a person in online classes except for a creative arts class. Interesting. Pictures didn't seem to help a whole lot.

The other thing I have been thinking about is power and the Courtney article. I teach online and I think of who has the power and when a student questions my power . . . when is this due? why isn't it graded? and I get upset that she dare email me and question my authority. Did it threaten me? Was I clear enough in directions? I'm still pondering.

First focus group

I think that it went all right. It wasn’t GREAT but it wasn’t horrible as well. I think only have 2 didn’t really help facilitate the discussion I was going for. I need to really know the questions on the online class. I read the overall responses, but I need to be more specific for the online questions.

No one knew what a focus group was so I will need to do some type of modification, but if I include it in the focus group assignment email and offer a brief explanation. I asked all the questions and I tried to not lead the answers.

I was surprised about the feedback. It seems very critical and their emotions even now they are nervous about missing something.

I should have asked about types of students they noticed in the class. It seems they are disconnected even with pictures and they don’t help each other out.

I know I matched up questions with the research questions but I don’t know that I really got the answers I wanted for establishing a culture of teaching and learning. Part of it does rest on the small number of students so hopefully with 16, 8 will show up. I just wonder with more participants what it will be like.

Some other questions:

1. What do you think about your technology skills?

2. Do you think your technology skills are good enough or a good match for online learning?

3. Do you think F2F or public school prepares you for online classes?

I do think the next one will be better and meeting with Tara on Thursday will help me talk through it and get a little more organized.

They hated second life and the course layout is nice and very helpful but at the end of the day it’s still “I feel all alone and I’m going to miss something” they both agreed that you needed time management skills and be self-disciplined to be successful.

It is interesting that they both thought it was going to be read a book and take quizzes. That is no way to learn and it’s sad that one of them actually had a class like that. What do you really learn that way? They did acknowledge it adds a level of stress that can inhibit learning. On the right track.

First Entry

So I'm finally creating my blog for my reflections on this dissertation. I'm finally able to think about collecting data and it's a little scary. I hope and pray to get all the participants I need. I'm setting up the questionnaire, wikis and this blog. I need to get help of password protecting.

I also think that I shot myself in the foot by not doing all online classes. Maybe the sciences and other courses fall under general studies. I need to investigate the classes and under what program they are under.