Yeah,
that was meant to get your attention. I don't mean literally "without faces," of course. The best part about being an online student is the flexibility, I think. With my busy schedule, it helps that I can go to class when I'm not at work, and access assignments and message boards in the middle of the night, if needed. I find that because of the anonymity of the format at Kaplan, the instructors and the students try very hard to create a sense of community, and a different sort of "student life" emerges. The message boards, chat rooms, and blogging opportunities give us a chance to interact and empathize with one another in a meaningful way, if we choose to utilize them. I think maybe students should make more of an effort to contact each other outside of class, even after the class has ended. Even though we are all very busy people, perhaps it would be a way to bring students closer and find a way to offer emotional support to each other throughout the Kaplan experience.
The only drawback is that we rarely get a glimpse of each other's faces.
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Well, at least some of us post our photographs in the blog. I used to think being faceless was a unique opportunity to relate on strictly an intellectual level, with no thought of physical appearance. I thought it was an advantage. Since we have been doing the blogs, I actually think getting to know students more personally, even their appearances, can be helpful to fostering improved communication. The jury is still out on this. :-) What do you think?
ReplyDeleteYes, I understand the appeal of remaining anonymous, too. I'm not to keen on posting my own picture because I'm not comfortable with how I look in pictures, but I should do it, though!
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