26.2: The Human Element in Technology Environments - An Overview of Techno Expression

“What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person. Are we not, for most of our lives, marking time? Most of our being is at rest, unlived. In passion, the body and the spirit seek expression outside of self”. – Boorman (1992)

Now more than ever, online learning environments provide opportunities for interaction and collaboration. The sonic boom of social networking echoes around the world, as more and more people enter MySpace, Facebook, ELGG, and other social networking sites. What does this tell us? For one thing, it tells us that people want technological ways to communicate their ideas and opinions to a small community of friends, to the entire world, or to any sized group in between. Despite the medium (or media), people are seeking human interaction. The bigger questions for educators are:

• How do we tap into students’ energy around social networking and channel it into meaningful, networked learning?
• How do we create a culture of expression that encourages students to consider what they say, how they say it, and who might see or hear it?
• How do we extend learning opportunities to include access to ‘outside and offsite’ expertise?

Students of all ages log into online environments to explore different forms of self-expression. Younger students want to differentiate themselves from their parents, to create and/or recreate an identity, and to interact with a larger world that they have only just discovered. Older students want to share their experiences with others, to connect with others who share similar views, and to make their mark on the world. As instructors, our job is to create safe and engaging spaces for all of this to happen and to facilitate activities in a way that advances learning success for everyone.

“When I taught pre-school and K–1 students, I found that half of the learning took place in the classroom and the other half outside it. Outside the classroom environment, my task was to help the children with social interaction skills, such as appropriate ways to express themselves, to communicate, or to act. Interestingly enough, when I began teaching graduate students, I found that not much had changed. The goal of working together peacefully in the sandbox had become the goal of working together peacefully in small groups or project teams. I was still required to help the graduate students with developing strategies for human interaction.

“Frankly, I am still not sure which group is more difficult to manage! In the online environment, I ultimately found that I had to set the stage—not only for students to succeed in reaching the learning objectives, but also for them to succeed in expressing their views in a public forum.” – Kevin Kelly

Bridging offline, real-life experiences with virtual communication can offer students of all ages access to a world of web-based resources, experts, international exchanges, and virtual fieldtrips. Cyberspace provides access to collaborations that would have been impossible in earlier eras. “Education is no longer the exclusive responsibility of teachers; it benefits from the participation and collaboration of parents, business people, scientists, seniors, and students across age groups” (Kozma & Shank, 1998, p. 5).

For example, in 1996, fourth- and fifth-grade students in Chula Vista, California, studied insects by collecting specimens, obtaining information from websites on entomology, and creating multimedia reports. A special school-university partnership provided these students with even more powerful learning experiences. Students sent their insects to nearby San Diego State University, which was connected to their school via fibre optic cable. Through two-way audio and video, scientists guided the students in examining their insect specimens under an electron microscope. The students were visibly excited as they prepared for each online session with the scientists. While many fourth graders may never have heard of an “electron microscope,” these 10- and 11- year-olds were actually using one (Chen, 2001).

In an example from higher education, health experts join students in an online class weekly. Students are required to post a minimum of three times weekly, sharing their own ideas and responding to classmates on challenging topics such as relationships, addiction, and death awareness. For more introverted students, or those self-conscious about public speaking, the safety of online discourse is palpable. Students are excited and affirmed by direct access to experts working in the field. For the guest experts, logging into the asynchronous discussion forum several times during the week and responding to individual student’s posts provided a very different experience than giving a lecture in real time. One expert reported that the online discourse provided the seed ideas for a new book. Bringing what happens “offline” in life into the online learning environment can enrich and deepen learning, creating a seamless exchange of ideas and experiences.