On Consensus

Coming to agreements online has advantages and disadvantages. While the asynchronous and automatically archived environment allows participants with a variety of conpeting demands an opportunity to have an equally weighted voice in making choices, groups with varied backgrounds and cultural norms may have divergent expectations. Further, without a norming period to expose the intrests and abilities of the group members, drawing on expertise or creating motivating project frameworks is difficult.

Cultural Contexts and Communication Strategies

What has been interesting to me this week is the polarization of attitudes toward eLearning and electronic communications form cultural perspectives. One of the important aspects to learner-centered design is knowing how to negotiate perspectives on elearning and existing communication norms toward the desired outcomes. I do not think that asynchronous learning is right for every situation. Rather, the situation should inform needs that then drive solution selection. One key to planning is understanding the costs and benefits of a variety of solutions and executing the best one.

Week 2: Reflections

Reflection Notes: Take a moment to reflect, now, on your feelings about your team involvement as you enter this phase of the course - perhaps noting any concerns, excitement, anxiety or anticipation? It can be invaluable to capture that particular mix of emotions that precedes a new group endeavor, informing and shaping our expectations as we move forward.

After the experience I had last quarter, I am very concerned about this assignment. The application requirements for this program are obviously different than those imposed on the students with whom I took graduate level course work at Berkeley. This caused some major disconnects in my last group because my expectations about research, writing, and review are quite different from the other students in this program.

Week 2: Modes and Objectives/Outcomes

At my job as an Instructional Designer, my department members and I have varying opinions about modes of communication and effectiveness. Recently, I informally consulted with a colleague who specializes in synchronous communication with low levels of electronic mediation. The topics of these recent conversations have been about when to choose various types of media based on their outcomes. For example, a conference call to discuss leadership concepts in practice is immediate and reflexive, and a blog is archived and reflective. Depending on what your desired outcome for the follow up communication on a leadership course, you may choose one over the other as a designer. I propose that we research the outcomes of various categories of communication to see what methods are best for various outcomes. Having a table that lists desired outcomes and associated media would be very useful!