CEDO 550 - Week 2 Reflection

My experience with online communities has been positive, for the most part. I have participated in Facebook, Twitter, and of course, Elluminate, Skype, and the other forums we've used for class. I have found them easy to use, and although some of them are asynchronous, I'm usually able to get feedback pretty quickly. I believe the biggest benefit of collaborative groups is the knowledge we gain from each other. Most times I think I know exactly how I would answer a question or solve a problem, but then I collaborate with the people in my group and almost always realize, I've never thought of it that way! I think the biggest challenge of collaborative groups is trying to schedule online time to work together as a group. Especially for a master's program. We aren't in high school anymore, so we have spouses, children, jobs, and other responsibilities that it is sometimes very difficult to schedule around. As far as social development and socialization issues go, I think it's very possible to be social online. However, I do think you miss some of the social cues like facial expressions and body language that you would get in a traditional classroom. For adults it's not such a big deal, but for students I would have to say the younger they are, the more important it is for them to have those social cues to rely on and learn from in the traditional classroom.