eLearning: The Great Equalizer?

"Yeah, but what about the face-to-face interaction? E-learning is too impersonal!"

This is perhaps one of the most common responses I hear when I've eavesdropped on educators discussing online learning. And it's true. Despite the potential for incorporating live video (face-to-face), or even voice over Internet protocols (ear-to-ear), my own experience in the Ed. Tech online Master's Program and with online environments in public schools has shown that these tools are rarely incorporated as part of the learning experience. The result can often be an impersonal and isolating experience.

Dabbagh points out in chapter 1 of Online Learning that one of the attributes of this form of learning is the potential for multiple forms of interaction between the learners, instructors and content. However, although Dabbagh doesn't identify specific technologies, this interaction is often limited to instant messaging, email, and discussion forums, all text based forms of communication that can foster this feeling that e-learning is impersonal. Additionally, the lack of visual and audio cues that can carry just as much meaning and information as the actual words, can result important information being lost between individuals.

Despite this very valid complaint, I don't think this limitation is entirely negative. I've recently read an enlightening book by Malcolm Gladwell entitled Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. The premise of the book is that our minds are quite capable of (and frequently do) drawing split second conclusions based on vast amounts of information that has been accumulated from our personal experiences. Not surprisingly, these split second conclusions can occasionally lead us astray, particularly when they surface in the form of bias or prejudice. A case in point from the book: until recently, the world of classical music had been dominated by white men until orchestra musicians formed a union which forced auditions to be conducted with a screen between the selection committee and the musician, requiring judges to choose musicians based solely on performance. "In the past thirty years... the number of women in the top U.S. orchestras has increased fivefold." Clearly, there was more being judged than the musicians performance.

Similarly with e-learning, the lack of visual cues allow learners to focus on the thoughts and ideas that individuals express without being influenced by their appearance or manner of speaking, or perhaps misinterpreting a facial expression or physical gesture. Another advantage of this lack of face to face communication is that discussion is no longer dominated by the quick witted and extroverted as in traditional classrooms, but rather provides a platform for equal participation where learners have ample time to draw conclusions, present and defend their ideas, and share their opinions .

Perhaps e-learning does offer a less personal experience than the traditional classroom, but the trade off can be an environment where the interaction between learners is centered less on the face-to-face, and more on the mind-to-mind.