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Browse Topics Faculty Focus Articles September 28, 2010 Online Teaching Challenge: Creating an Emotional Connection to Learning, part 1 By: Rob Kelly in Online Education Add Comment Learning research indicates that people learn better in the presence of some emotional connection—to the content or to other people. Creating this emotional connection is particularly challenging in the online classroom, where most communication is asynchronous and lacks many of the emotional cues of the face-to-face environment. Nevertheless, it is possible to do, with a learner-centered approach to teaching and a mastery of the technology that supports it, says Rick Van Sant, associate professor of education at Ferris State University. “One of the things we know about learning is that learning with emotion is a far deeper experience than learning without emotion,” Van Sant says. Citing recent research (see reference below), Van Sant notes that a little bit of stress and the corresponding release of cortisol makes “neural connections grow thicker, stronger, faster.” However, too much cortisol degrades memory performance. Creating an emotionally stimulating environment is something good face-to-face instructors do intuitively. “We live and thrive on the positive feedback from students. Students shape our behavior all the time. When technology is mediating between the learners and me, I lose the capacity to read my audience, engage my audience, and alter my style and cadence. I have no capacity on that kind of intuitive level [in the online classroom]. It all has to be intentional and cognitive,” Van Sant says.

Creating an emotionally stimulating environment is something good face-to-face instructors do intuitively. “We live and thrive on the positive feedback from students. Students shape our behavior all the time. When technology is mediating between the learners and me, I lose the capacity to read my audience, engage my audience, and alter my style and cadence. I have no capacity on that kind of intuitive level [in the online classroom]. It all has to be intentional and cognitive,” Van Sant says.

communicate with your students, right from the start, what will be required of them as an online learner

encourage students to seek help when they don't understand something about how the course is facilitated or course content

Guest presenters The advantage of the online learning means that guest presenters can be located anywhere throughout the world. This potentially increasing their availability, flexibility and quality.

The major concerns are centering on the following questions: What will be the new role for instructors in online education? How will students' learning outcomes be assured and improved in online learning environment? How will effective communication and interaction be established with students in the absence of face-to-face instruction? How will instructors motivate students to learn in the online learning environment?

Instructors have many concerns about online education. Their primary concern is how online education changes their roles and responsibilities, and how they can adapt to this change. Online education is widely accepted as student-centered education, and the traditional education is regarded as professor-centered education. Due to a shift to online education, the instructor's role has become more of a facilitator than a traditional lecturer. Therefore, the traditional professor-centered educational environment and student-centered online educational environment will have many differences. Besides their role shifting, the role of the virtual instructor is to select and filter information for student consideration, to provide thought-provoking questions, and to facilitate well-considered discussion (Kettner-Polley, 1999).

Clark (2002) pointed out that online learner must be a constructivist learner. This suggests that the learner must be active in the process, cognitively complex and motivated. According to Clark , motivating factors in the learning process include self-reference, personal goals, control and autonomy . Howland & Moore's (2002) study examined 48 students' experiences in online environments. Their results confirmed that the students who were the most positive in their perceptions of online learning were those with attributes consistent with constructivist learners. The most positive students were more independent, proactive and responsible for their learning.

Bates (1995) suggests that newer technologies are not inherently better than old ones and many of the lessons learned from the application of older technologies will still apply to any newer technology. Again, the instructor should be trained to take advantage of both their experience and being able to adapt that experience to the new environment of distance learning.  The instructors must be trained “not only to use technology, but also to shift the way in which they organize and deliver material” (Palloff & Pratt, 2000, pg. 3). 

In a 1995 study, Olenski et al., found that technicians could indirectly influence the learning environment by “orientating participants to the technology, reducing the anxiety of the participants” (including the instructor), “and by advising the instructor on instructional techniques”(pg. 3).  This type of role, if viewed negatively by the instructor, can have a huge impact on the quality of the presentation, yet many times the instructor and the technicians do not meet until the initial class meeting

The technology will undoubtedly keep improving and the price will drop, as technology is prone to do once it comes into general use.  Already we see improvement in the delivery systems of compressed video and computer assisted instruction.  Despite student problems with distance learning, studies indicate they are relatively satisfied with what they are receiving.