Fear and the Adult Online Learner E-Learning for Educators FA12-901C-2195 Maggie Rouman

October 21, 2012

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226

Fear and the Adult Online Learner

Activating and Engaging As I reflect upon my experiences thus far as an online educator and think about what stands out, one word comes to mind. Fear. This semester the course in which I am serving as Co-facilitator, is E-Learning for Educators. My role is to serve as a guide. I facilitate discussions, answer questions about content and D2L and Moodle applications, and provide weekly feedback about performance. The students in this class have degrees and are seasoned professionals in the fields of business and education. Since this course is the introductory course for the E-Learning and Online Teaching Graduate Certificate Program, most of the students are new to UW-Stout online learning. Even though there are some students who have taught online and taken distance courses before, most have limited online teaching/learning experience. Because of this, I have sensed a lot of apprehension in my students. I sense fear in the statements that they make about the technology. One student stated that she was nervous about having to go from one tool to another, while another student commented that theres so much to learn that its overwhelming. Another student asked, How will I ever learn to use all this technology? I sense fear in the statements that students make about performance. Students will say, Im never going to finish on time. One student in his end of week reflection survey asked if he was doing A work. One student claimed that she didnt feel as competent as her classmates, while another student commented, I feel like I will never understand this. Even though I am a seasoned instructor and have taught students of all ages, and learning profiles, I have been surprised about the reactions that these students fearful

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226

comments have brought out in me. Sometimes, I have wanted to feel sorry for these students because they are adult learners and have complex lives outside of school. In addition, some have had personal emergencies to deal with. At times I have wanted to save them. I have wanted to over-nurture and to solve their problems for them. Why am I reacting this way? I know better. Exploring and Discovering One incident that left an impression on me was my experience trying to help a student create and post an assessment on Moodle. Even though this student is a seasoned face-to-face instructor, she is new to online teaching and learning and doesnt feel comfortable with the technology. Off the bat she was afraid of the amount of work in this module and the learning curve of using new technology. She valiantly tried to create and post her quiz but had a lot of difficulty. She claimed that she watched the demonstrations and videos about how to create and post an assessment on Moodle. She still didnt feel confident and was fearful of trying to do it on her own. She hired a colleague who was proficient in Moodle to help her figure everything out. She still wasnt able to post her quiz. Then she sent me an email asking for help. After a couple of emails back and forth, she still wasnt understanding why she couldnt post her quiz. This grown woman and seasoned professional was about to give up. She said, if that doesn't work I'll admit defeat and explain to Dennis what happened. In that moment, I felt many things. On one hand, I felt sorry for her and I wanted to save her and just go into Moodle and create and post the quiz for her. I wanted to nurture her and tell her that everything was going to be ok. I wanted to tell her my story about how I used to be a novice online learner and now I can do many things online.

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226

Then I remembered that this conversation was not about me, it was about her. I anticipated disaster if she didnt control her stress and fear. My role was to help her get out of her negative spiral, overcome her fear, and guide her problem solving. One thing I knew for sure was that I didnt want her to feel defeated. I continued to praise her valiant efforts and encouraged her to keep trying. I also realized that all the back and forth emails providing step-by-step instructions and more links to sources and videos would not help anymore. She wasnt getting it. Fear and anxiety were still taking over her thinking process. I suggested that she talk to Dennis on the phone. I thought that it would be a good time for her to hear a friendly, comforting, expert voice to help guide her. In the end, with Dennis help she was able to post a watered down version of her quiz on Moodle. Is she still fearful of the amount of work in this class and using the technology? Im sure she still is, but at least shes starting to climb that daunting mountain. She is making progress and with each success, she is chipping away at her fears about being a novice adult online learner. Organizing and Integrating Even though I am now in the teacher role I understand what it is like to be a novice online learner. I was fearful of new technology and learning online. I didnt want to look stupid. I was anxious about being able to manage my time considering the learning curve it took to use all these new technologies. I wondered if online learning was the right for me. This is why I can empathize with my students fears. What I have been reminded of during this experience as an online teacher is to first and foremost, respect online adult learners for their knowledge. Adult learners arrive at class with a wealth of professional experience and wisdom. They are not idiots just

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226

because they are not knowledgeable about how to use the technology. Second, adult learners want to save face. Even though they want to appear competent, underneath they have many fears. They worry about being able to manage life and school. They worry about using new, unfamiliar technology. They worry about failing or not measuring up to their peers or their instructors expectations. As online instructors we have to help them find ways to overcome their fears and harness their knowledge to gain competence in the skill(s) they are trying to learn. Therefore, my advice to other online instructors (which I will also follow) is to stay the course and not let our students give into overwhelm. It would be very easy to feel sorry for them and their life circumstances, do the work for them, or tell them the answers when they are stressed and complaining. We can be there for them but we cannot do their work or solve their problems. This is why I would keep the three Es in mind. As instructors our role is to find ways to engage learning by encouraging our students to excel. Sometimes we can encourage by applauding effort or pointing out strong performance. We can encourage by referring them to helpful resources such as a video or link. We can encourage by just listening. Maybe all they need is to hear a supportive voice and talk through a problem on the phone. Maybe they just need a quick Skype conference so they can see a friendly face. Perhaps they need to go to a common area in the discussion forum like the Kitchen where they share their experiences, vent about their frustrations and get support from their peers. Ultimately, if we stay the course and remember our roles as guides and continue to encourage, we can help bring our students out of the pit of overwhelm. Instead of being fearful, with each success they will gain courage. Slowly they will learn that

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226

courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear (Redmoon). They will learn to persevere, not give into overwhelm and not accept defeat.

Maggie Rouman, FA12-900C-2226