Online or distance learning has experienced continued growth and attracted millions of students as both traditional and online colleges and universities extend their reach by offering virtual courses and degrees˳ It has made education accessible to students who might not otherwise have access to any other options˳ Educators have had to adapt to this environment and learn how to communicate effectively through written words˳ The challenge is being able to help students feel connected to their class and their instructor˳ Traditional methods of instruction have to be adapted simply because instructors are not present and they are not able to have the benefit of visual cues and physical interactions˳ Some instructors are effective in developing a virtual presence and others find the online platform too difficult to navigate or they feel too distant from their students˳
As an educator with extensive online teaching and faculty development experience, I am fully aware of the challenge that instructors face when they try to bridge the virtual distance˳ One of the inherent problems is that instructors develop a perception of students based upon what they see or what they read˳ If the students post an introduction at the start of class that does provide initial background information˳ But over time instructors see what is posted in the discussion boards and submitted in written assignments and those words represent the students, creating a lens through which they perceive them˳
As an example, if an instructor sees continued writing mistakes in a student’s posts or papers they may view this student from a negative perspective˳ This can lead to a deficit-based approach when interacting with the student˳ The main focus of their interactions and feedback will be focused on correcting those errors and it tends to overshadow positive accomplishments˳ A student who experiences what they perceive as continued negative interactions may become disengaged from the class˳ While the intent of the instructor is to guide and teach the student this approach has a potential to alienate the student and create resistance on their part˳ Because I have seen firsthand the effects of these issues I decided that a new instructional strategy was necessary˳
What I found in my research was an organizational developmental technique known as appreciative inquiry and I was immediately struck by its ability to help managers bring out peak performance in their employees˳ It is an approach that builds from strengths and seeks to affirm and build upon what the employee does best˳ There have been limited adaptations of appreciative inquiry for educational purposes so I decided to find a way to implement it as an online instructional strategy˳ My doctoral studies were focused on adult learning, which is based upon a term called andragogy that distinguishes teaching adults from children˳ The phrase appreciative andragogy was then born as a means of connecting the two concepts˳
To test the potential for appreciative andragogy in online classes a research study was conducted˳ I enlisted online instructors as participants for the study and they tested this strategy in their online classes˳ This brought appreciative inquiry from an organizational environment into the online classroom˳ The results of this study have now been published so that other educators may adapt and utilize it in their online classes˳ Of course implementing appreciative andragogy is not done without challenges˳ From an educator’s perspective they have to take the time to interact with students and make an attempt to follow the process˳ It may also be difficult to show appreciation for a student who is not open to interactive communication or does not demonstrate appreciation themselves˳
But what appreciative andragogy does is to help educators see their students from a broader perspective and learn more about their strengths so they can build from them˳ This is not to say that developmental issues should not be addressed but it can be done from a positive perspective and that will help to create a cooperative spirit as instructors and students collaborate together to improve their performance˳ The study also found that appreciative andragogy had a positive impact on students’ motivation and engagement in the class˳ The study concluded that appreciative andragogy had an ability to take the distance out of distance learning˳ Any educator teaching any subject will find this strategy useful˳
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