Building Community Online: Moving toward Humanization Through Relationship-Focused Technology Use

Authors

  • Staci Ann Gilpin University of Wisconsin-Superior
  • Stephanie Rollag Yoon University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
  • Jana LoBello Miller University of Minnesota--Twin Cities

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v27i3.3583

Keywords:

online learning, online discussions, synchronous, teacher candidates, equity

Abstract

This qualitative study aims to improve accessibility and equity in digital spaces by identifying the prevalent mismatch between online course design, student culture, and its connection to instructional design for teacher preparation programs. Utilizing feminist theory, we explore the intersection between community, identity, and learning within relational-focused small group online discussions for students enrolled in two online teacher preparation courses. Data for this study includes observations of teacher candidates, artifacts of their meetings, and reflective responses. The results indicate that relational-focused small group online discussions provide opportunities to expand accessibility and equity through community and deep learning while impacting future teachers' identities.

 

Author Biography

Staci Ann Gilpin, University of Wisconsin-Superior

Pronouns (she/her/hers)
Twitter - @StaciAGilpin

I was born in Sioux City, Iowa. Growing up on a family farm in rural northwest Iowa is one of my identities that continues to impact me professionally. This experience and the unique assets and needs of rural America are always on my mind. And continues to drive me to advocate for quality online instruction as an avenue to provide access to higher education for those who live in rural areas and to address related teacher shortages.

I recently completed a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations and Research at the University of North Dakota. As a doctoral student, I was also a Graduate Research Assistant for The Initiative for Rural Education, Equity, & Economic Development (I-REEED). It is a research collaborative comprised of faculty and doctoral students from the University of North Dakota. They partner with school districts in all six regions of North Dakota to study state and local level issues (e.g., teacher retention and recruitment, special education teacher shortages, dyslexia legislation, juvenile justice reform impacts, etc.) that are important to rural communities. 

Before becoming a full-time doctoral student, I taught and designed graduate and undergraduate teacher preparation courses using multiple delivery methods, including face-to-face, online, and blended. I did this work full-time at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, and The College of St. Scholastica, which made sense for me as these institutions serve a high percentage of rural and first-generation students. I teach graduate-level data analytics, research methodology, and special education licensure courses at the University of North Dakota and the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Before moving into higher education, I worked in urban and rural K-12 schools for nearly 20 years as a teacher for students with emotional/behavioral disabilities, elementary classroom teacher, instructional coach, and special education administrator. During this time, I worked in some schools that served large populations of Indigenous students. As a result, I also see digital spaces as having the potential, in part, to provide equity and access for students from historically underrepresented groups.

My teaching experiences inform my research. It utilizes quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs with social justice and equity lens to study the scholarship of teaching and learning, online learning, open educational resources, and teacher preparation. I present at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC), OpenEd, and AERA National Conferences. I recently published a persistence model for online learners and two book chapters about designing and using equitable online discussions. Further, I was a 2020-2021 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Open Educational Resources Fellow.

References

Akcaoglu, M., & Lee, E. (2016). Increasing social presence in online learning through small group discussions. The international Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(3).

Aloni, M., & Harrington, C. (2018). Research-based practices for improving the effectiveness of asynchronous online discussion boards. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 4(4), 271.

Andrews, R., & Smith, A. (2011). Developing writers: teaching and learning in the digital age: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Bay View Analytics (2021, October-November). Digital pulse survey: Student, faculty, and administrator perspectives on digital Learning in the community college. https://www.bayviewanalytics.com/reports/pulse/infographic-

fall2021.pdf?elqTrackId=7f368840392f4c9d82c1c77c9a59342e&elqaid=5443&elqat=2

Berry, L., & Kowal, K. (June 19, 2020). Part Deux: Discussion on the Rocks? Add a Twist of Fresh Alternatives! OLC Innovate 2020, Online. https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/olc-innovate-2020-session-page/?session=8131&kwds=discussion

Bowers, J., & Kumar, P. (2015). Students' perceptions of teaching and social presence: A comparative analysis of face-to-face and online learning environments. International. Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies (IJWLTT), 10(1), 27-44.

Buelow, J. R., Barry, T., & Rich, L. E. (2018). Supporting learning engagement with online students. Online Learning, 22(4), 313–340. https://cdl.unm.edu/assets/docs/supporting_engagement.pdf

Carbado, D.W, Crenshaw, K.W., Mays, V.M, Tomlinson, B. (2013). Intersectionality: Mapping the movements of a theory. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 10(2), 303-312.

Center for American Progress (2019). What to make of declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/make-declining-

enrollment-teacher-preparation-programs/

Correia, A. P., North, C. A., Korkmaz, C., Simmerman, V., & Wallace, K. B. (2019). Authentic Online Discussions: A Narrative Inquiry into Sharing Leadership and Facilitation among Teachers and Students. International Journal on E-Learning, 18(2), 165-189.

Cheslock, J. J., Ford, K., Zhang, L., & Dillon, J. M. (2018). Online Course Taking Behavior for On-Campus College Students. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 19(4), 37–50.

Crenshaw, K. W. (1991). Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241.

Davis, J. L., & Jurgenson, N. (2014). Context collapse: Theorizing context collusions and collisions. Information, communication & society, 17(4), 476-485.

Delahunty, J., Verenikina, I., & Jones, P. (2014). Socio-emotional connections: Identity, belonging and learning in online interactions. A literature review. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 23(2), 243-265.

Dennen, V. P. (2021). Mediated identities, context collapse, and cultural elements of networked learning. In Reshaping International Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (pp.

-79). Routledge.

Dennen, V. P., & Burner, K. J. (2017). Identity, context collapse, and Facebook use in higher education: Putting presence and privacy at odds. Distance Education, 38(2), 173–192.

https ://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.13224 53.

Drefs, M., Schroeder, M., Hiebert, B., Panayotidis, L., Winters, K., & Kerr, J. (2015). Canadian innovation: A brief history of Canada’s first online school psychology graduate program. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 30(4), 288–303. doi:10.1177/0829573515599983

Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. Handbook on research on teaching. 3rd ed. Ed. M. Wittrock. New York: Macmillan.

Fehrman, S., & Watson, S. L. (2021). A systematic review of asynchronous online discussions in online higher education. American Journal of Distance Education, 35(3), 200-213.

Garcia, A., & Nichols, T. P. (2021). Digital platforms aren’t mere tools—they’re complex environments. Phi Delta Kappan, 102(6), 14-19.

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.

Gee, J. (2011). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit: A toolkit. NY: Routledge.

Author. (2022) Designing and Using Online Discussions to Promote Social Justice and Equity. In: Parson, L., Ozaki, C.C. (Eds). Teaching and Learning for Social Justice and Equity in Higher Education. Palgrave

Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88608-0_2

Hart, C. (2012). Factors associated with student persistence in an online program of study: A review of the literature. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(1).

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Ingersoll, R., Merrill, L., & May, H. (2014). What are the effects of teacher education and preparation on beginning teacher attrition?. University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons.

Inside Higher Ed (2021). Survey of college and university chief academic officers. Inside Higher Ed and Hanover Research.

Jaggars, S. S., & Xu, D. (2016). How do online course design features influence student performance?. Computers & Education, 95, 270-284.

Johnson, H. P., & Mejia, M. C. (2014). Online learning and student outcomes in California's Community colleges. Public Policy Institute.

Kadakia, C., Owens, L. (2016, June 03). Are you a modern learner? Association for Talent Development. https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Human-Capital-Blog/2016/06/Are-You-a-Modern-Learner

Kamler, B. (2001). Relocating the personal: A critical writing pedagogy. SUNY Press: Albany, N.Y.

Kauffman, H. (2015). A review of predictive factors of student success in and satisfaction with online learning. Research in Learning Technology, 23, 26507.

Kaupp, R. (2012). Online penalty: The impact of online instruction on the Latino-white achievement gap. Journal of Applied Research in the Community College, 19(2), 3-11.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2021). Culturally relevant pedagogy: Asking a different question. Teachers College Press.

Lindstrom, D., Jones, G., & Price, J. (2021). Can you picture this? Preservice teachers’Drawings and pedagogical beliefs about teaching with technology. Contemporary Issues In Technology and Teacher Education, 21(3), 813-833.

Liu, S. Y., Gomez, J., & Yen, C. J. (2009). Community college online course retention and final grade: Predictability of social presence. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(2).

Luyt, I. (2013). Bridging spaces: Cross-cultural perspectives on promoting positive online learning experiences. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 42(1), 3-20.

Majid, S., Idio, C. D., Liang, S., & Zhang, W. (2015). Preferences and motivating factors for knowledge sharing by students. Journal of Information & Knowledge Management,

(01), 1550004.

Mehall, S. (2020). Purposeful Interpersonal Interaction in Online Learning: What Is It and How Is It Measured?. Online Learning, 24(1), 182-204.

National Center for Education Statistics (2019). Digest of education statistics. Retrieved on December 6, 2019 from https://ies.ed.gov/

NYU Steinhardt (2020). Guidance on culturally responsive-sustaining remote education. Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc5da7c3560c36b7dab1922/t/5e7a26b60fdceb59f

Ojeda, L., Castillo, L. G., Rosales Meza, R., & Piña-Watson, B. (2014). Mexican Americans in higher education: Cultural adaptation and marginalization as predictors of college

persistence intentions and life satisfaction. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 13(1), 3-14

Ortagus, J. C. (2017). From the periphery to prominence: An examination of the changing profile of online students in American higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 32,47-57.

Page, L., Hullett, E. M., & Boysen, S. (2020). Are You a Robot? Revitalizing Online Learning and Discussion Boards for Today’s Modern Learner. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 1-9.

Paulsen, J., & McCormick, A. C. (2020). Reassessing Disparities in Online Learner Student Engagement in Higher Education. Educational Researcher, 0013189X19898690.

Phirangee, K., Epp, C. D., & Hewitt, J. (2016). Exploring the Relationships between Facilitation Methods, Students' Sense of Community, and Their Online Behaviors. Online Learning, 20(2), 134-154.

Plotts, C. (2020a). The space between: Identifying cultural canyons in online spaces and the use of LatinX culture to bridge the divide. DBD Publishing, Sandston, VA.

Plotts, C. (2020b). The space between: Identifying cultural canyons in online spaces and the use of Black cultural attributes to bridge the divide. DBD Publishing, Sandston, VA.

Qiu, M., Hewitt, J., & Brett, C. (2014). Influence of group configuration on online discourse writing. Computers & Education, 71, 289-302.

Ragusa, A. T., & Crampton, A. (2018). Sense of connection, identity, and academic success in Distance education: Sociologically exploring online learning environments. Rural Society, 27(2), 125-142.

Raza, S. A., Khan, K. A., & Rafi, S. T. (2020). Online Education & MOOCs: Teacher Self-Disclosure in Online Education and a Mediating Role of Social Presence. South Asian Journal of Management, 14(1), 142-158.

Romero-Hall, Enilda. (2021). How to embrace feminist pedagogies in your courses, Association for Educational Communication & Technology. https://interactions.aect.org/how-to-embrace-feminist-pedagogies-in-your-courses/

Savin-Baden, M. (2010). Changelings and shape shifters? Identity play and pedagogical positioning of staff in immersive virtual worlds. London Review of Education, 8(1), 25-38.

Seaman, J. E., Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2018). Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group.

Szabo, Z. (2015). Better together: Teams and discourse in asynchronous online discussion forums. Journal of Psychological and Educational Research (JPER), 23(1), 73-88.

Simpson, O. (2013). Supporting students in online open and distance learning. Routledge.

Stanford, D. (2020, March 14). Videoconferencing alternatives: how low-bandwidth teaching will save us all. Iddblog. https://www.iddblog.org/videoconferencing-alternatives-how-low-bandwidth-teaching-will-save-us-all/

Strada Center for Education Consumer Insights (2020, July 29). The value of online education.

https://www.stradaeducation.org/video/released-july-29-the-value-of-online-education/

Woodley, X., Hernandez, C., Parra, J., & Negash, B. (2017). Celebrating difference: Best practices in culturally responsive teaching online. TechTrends, 61(5), 470-478.

Xu, D., & Jaggars, S. (2011). Online and hybrid course enrollment and performance in Washington State community and technical colleges. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8862QJ6

Downloads

Published

2023-09-01

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 3 (2023)

Section

Section II

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Staci Ann Gilpin

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.

Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions