Learner Focus: Attendance
Focus on the student: Attendance means what?
The distinctions between DE (distance education) and F2F (face-to-face) strategies are not as clear as they might have previously been considered. The advantages and distractions offered by digital advances are no longer the aegis of the technically inclined faculty members of the department. In a recent article in the Communication Education Journal Susan Easton shares the following observations. First she notes that in the past the language of DE
“…was peppered with more about the technology itself than with the pedagogy the technology presumably served… in the same vein, nearly all of the technology infused programs recognized for innovation and merit by the prestigious Hesburgh Awards are driven by the pedagogical concerns, rather than technology for its own sake.”[1]
With that in mind it seems that with online learning it is critical to always remember that in all environments it is “teaching and content first.” In this s site that means “Learner Focus and Knowledge Focus” are where we start. The technology should not be a distraction and logically should become progressively more transparent to the instructor and student as they both focus on the communication and learning. Not every person who drives a car needs to be a mechanic, not everyone who teaches needs to be a technician. It’s reasonable to anticipate the continued simplification of the tool use on the tech side and the ascension of the “platform” and third-party providers to fill the support needs instructors have.
Easton goes on to point out, on the instructional side, the role of the instructor may change as well.
… once instructors create the online courses, they change roles, such that the instructor needs to “take a back seat and gently guide the learners in their process by monitoring the discussion and entering it to prod participants to look at the material another way or to gently steer the conversation back on course.
Teaching online entails the absence of visual cues with which to send and receive messages, make quick assessments, or take corrective action. The… instructor cannot see who is taking notes, pondering a difficult concept, or preparing to make a comment. There are no visual cues that suggest when a student is frustrated, confused, tired, or bored. The online teacher does not know if the students are asleep, talking among themselves, or even still enrolled in the course. [2]
How does one draw conclusions about attendance when it is more than just role being called at the outset of class? In a digital environment attendance means are students attending to the assignments given and are participating. This can become more than just seat time. As noted earlier the use of clickers to engage students and even record their responses can be used to great effect in classes of all size. These small changes may cause major differences in the quality of participation.
But what is it to attend class when class is in the ether? Attendance comes to mean something different entirely. If students “attend” they are participating. Some of this occurs in physical or virtual class spaces. In the online environment one can record time on task when they enter a site and then record a series of planned interactions. Further, even discussion board give-and-take can be collected and counted. The instructor’s role changes in some regard at each point along the continuum between in class and out of class.
In this regard the instructor’s role everything it has been, but now includes much more. It may include lecture and chats in the office after class. It may include a textbook in hand. It also involves attention, interaction and content management, collection and delivery of resources and activities, and discussion and collaboration facilitation. Plus there arises a need for other kinds of support. Meyer shares,
Someone needs to design the instruction, develop the self-help tools and course content, answer questions, and guide the confused. Someone still needs to establish the learning outcomes and design the assessments that will establish whether learning occurred. Someone still needs to address the needs of students who are not well-equipped to learn online: the unsure, the inexperienced, and the needy. Someone needs to help students learn how to learn, and how to do so online. Someone needs to be at the other end of the connection to offer support, a well-timed question, a reference, and a critique of what was done and how to do a better job next time. These are the roles faculty have traditionally fulfilled throughout their professional lives, so the change from “me” to “thee” need not be traumatic, but a gentle transition.[3]
These requirements will also fluctuate and will, at some level be field specific. Regardless it seems clear that two things become needed to support the evolving instructional role: A virtual place to meet that is intuitive for instructor and student. This would be an extension of the previously mentioned “platform environment,” which environment is not any existing LMS. Secondly, there is a need for an external “support” team to both assist with curriculum, learning object development and organization.
Interactive Patterns 