Online seminars are of course very different from real life seminars however this brings forward both benefits and disadvantages.
For example, there are no people to immediately interact with, the user must wait for responses and feedback to be typed and placed online. In terms of navigation and fac-to-face interaction, instead of listening to others opinions and ideas and visually seeing and reacting to this, the user must find and read each others Seminar discussions, which is surely more effort and work?
However, a benefit of it, in terms of knowledge, authority and identity, the user has much more time and less pressure in their thinking and answering, and so surely the users answers and ideas will come out better than being put on the spot in a seminar room with all their peers waiting for a reply. Also, there is a fair turn-taking system here because all users have a chance to say something, in the confidence of not being humiliated or outshone by any other user as is sometimes the case in face-to-face seminars, and many real-life situations as well.
Nice considered repsonse here - particularly that idea of humiliation and outshining must ring bells with many people! I always used to get tongue-tied and blush frantically when I had to speak - not exactly something I looked forward to. In theory terms, what you are saying is that there are different hierarchies operating in these different domains. Or perhaps some people are more sensitive to others' reactions through their body language and some people feel they can percieve people's reactions to what they say better in the printed word. Or a mixture of both.
ReplyDeleteSo...the big question is - is it likely that online study will take over from offline? Do you think that online study groups could become the norm? What if they did? And what, do yuo think, might stop them?
I think that online study WILL one day become the norm.
ReplyDeleteThe use of the internet, computers and technology as a whole already has changed the world within the last 20/30 years and with so many more convenient ways of 'getting on with life', such as online shopping and education, i don't see what would stop such things as university lectures and seminars going online within the NEXT 20/30 years.
Already, guest and star lectures are given using online services because it is simpler (e.g. travel)and almost the same interaction as being there in the lecture room. For example Adora Svitak (Child prodigy) giving star lectures from half way across America in her own basement.
I think that this will certainly be the future.