elearnspace

Having your Cake and eating it Too - Part Two

Terry Anderson revisits the concept of adding social interaction to self-directed courses: Having your Cake and eating it Too - Part Two. In fully self-directed courses, procrastination and isolation are prominent concerns. Terry highlights, for example, a 30 percent lower completion rate in self-paced courses as compared with classroom instruction. The inclusion of social presence and interaction can hopefully increase completion rates. This is a good example of using technology for "what it's good for". In additional to giving learners the opportunity to connect with each other (possibly within the same course, but not necessarily), a discussion or interaction trail is created for subsequent learners to review the experiences of previous learners.