I've spent the past ten years researching ways to bridge the gap between the digital natives and digital immigrants in faculty development sessions on instructional technology. I would be happy to share my paper on that topic with anyone interested. My "fictitious" learner is named Margaret, and she is very nervous around technology. She is a digital immigrant who believes that technology cannot be trusted, therefore, if she just complains about how it won't work before she even tries it, she believes she can 1) get lots of attention and 2) come out ahead of the class. She is in a hybrid course, and to motivate her, first, she needs a clear goal and set of benefits for succeeding in the course. Second, she needs a clear path--with step by step, goal oriented resources designed to assist her to achieve her goals. Third, she needs support and the knowledge that when she claims something won't work, someone will show up to assist her. Knowing that the "truth will out," as they say, motivates her to stay honest. Also, staying calm when she is shrieking that nothing works diminishes the attention she gets for her outbursts and, eventually, stops the motivation for the outbursts. To assist her, I should make sure there are benefits to her applying herself in the course. I should also make sure she has access to resources and support, and that she believes that if she succeeds in the course it will be a good thing for her personally and/or professionally.
I don't think I'd be going out on a limb by saying that most of us have encountered a "Margaret" in our faculty development and online teaching experiences. It appears you developed an effective strategy to address such a student's needs.
ReplyDeleteI would be very interested to read your paper. Would you be willing to post it as an attachment on the Week Two Task List page?