Reflecting upon George Siemens three element effecting distance education I feel that communication is a key to success within the online learning environment. To get the most from the online environment the student must be willing to actively participate within the learning. Communication is a key to being engaged. The students must be willing to communicate with classmates and instructor.

I find it much easier to interact with both classmates and the instructor in the online environment. This is due to the networking and social technologies such as wikis, Skype, FaceBook, MySpace, and blogs created by students. Learning communities within the online environment lend themselves to communication. Implementing learning communities opens the door to communication because comments, constructive criticism, and questions are the doorways to active participation within the online learning environment. Also, learning communities allow students to connect on a more one to one basis. Personally, using Skype within the learning community has allowed me to feel more connected to my classmates. Also, I have come to trust and feel safe asking for assistance.

Communication is can be done within the online environment by emailing, chatting sessions, and discussion forums. All of these avenues must be closely monitored by the instructor. Guidelines and expectations must be included within the course so that students will know ahead of time how to effectively communicate within the course.

Communication not only affects the students but the instructor as well. Instructors rely on students’ involvement to grasp their understanding of the content. When students do not actively participate within the discussion then the student is some what invisible. This is because in a face to face environment the instructor can take advantage of students’ body language to guide the instruction. This is impossible in an online environment. In order for communication to be seen as valuable within the learning environment the instructor must model it and display its importance. Communication must be valued by all involved within the online learning environment.


Resources:

Maximizing communication in the online environment. Retrieved on December 30 from:
http://www.ncccs.cc.nc.us/Distance_Learning/Communication.htm

Lines of communication. Retrieved on December 30 from:
http://instructify.com/category/online-learning/