Think about an example of an effective practice you have experienced with regard to online learning, either as a learner or a facilitator. Describe the story of your experience.
In my role as facilitator of an online Documentary Communications course, I was responsible to take students through a research process centred on corporate power. Students were tasked with exploring the business practices of major multi-national media conglomerates such as Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, etc. This assignment was eye-opening, as students were asked to do real-world sleuthing, based on the publically-available info provided by the company (ie: financial statements, board lists, annual reports, etc.), and info uncovered through news media, online forums, etc. The experience brought home the extent of the interconnections between the conglomerates, the extent of the profit gleaned through their international activities, various of their ethically-suspect activities, etc. The real-world understandings developed through the course brought the critical media theory at the core of the CMNS program to life.
This experience highlights the importance of applicability. When students see direct connections through the assignments they undertake to real-world events and dilemmas, their engagement in a given course becomes meaningful on multiple fronts.
In thinking through this experience, I believe the course could have achieved an even greater depth of student engagement had each assignment been contextualized through a video intro. To receive a personal ‘heads-up’ on the significance of the insights to be gleaned through each assignment would, in my view, increase student engagement and allow the findings to be contextualized on an emotional as well as intellectual level.