I returned from Savannah, GA this week. I was attending the ITC e-Learning Conference. Both the conference and Savannah were fantastic. This topic seemed to recur in many sessions. And in many sessions presenters were quick to point to statistics that learners are not very appreciative of peer-to-peer collaborative assignments. Other stats seem to show that a majority of online students claim community is not very important to their learning.
I think these stats are mis-guided. I am not doubting that learners dislike being forced onto discussion boards and pushed into groups to produce reports. I am not doubting learners find these activities more wasteful than educational. I am quickly annoyed in courses I have taken with the post once, respond twice routine. This is forced conversation! Do you ever take the time in your F2F class to ask everyone for their answer and respond to two student answers? No, there isn't time for one, and more importantly the idea that everyone's voice is necessary on any given topic is a bit mis-guided.
So, pay no attention to claims that students do not like community. Instead focus your attention on how to better create thought provoking prompts for learners. And allow community to form more naturally. Remove the classroom picture from your head! The online structure is different.
*steps down from soapbox*
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