a surprise!

Well, I have logged on this evening (feeling a little low with both my input into this week's task and the seeming lack of response) to find that my additions to the group work have been included in the possibly 'final draft' of the presentation! Talk about boosting one's ego - having been contemplating the course over night and during today, I am still convinced of the validity of Gulati's (2006) findings re: the acknowledgement, whether positive or negative, of input influencing an individual's participation (and in my case leaving me feeling very 'out of it' as identified in my last post...)

However, on relfection, it is not all bad. The more I wonder about my own reaction (and where I am now), the more it seems to me that we must account for not only individual learning styles and so on in the online environment, but also the differing personalities amongst students and the effect this has on their interpretation of events. For example, if one is generally a glass-half-empty type of individual, any lack of acknowledgement may well be seen as a negative, 'your input is not important' kind of response, whereas the suggestion offered may well be of value.

In terms of online tutoring, I wonder whether a key role in relation to 'lurkers' (if that's what they really are) is acutally one of establishing what effect different levels of response from others in the group may have to ensure we can support students most effectively in finding the ability/skill to participate rather than getting into labelling...

...hopefully more thoughts on this tomorrow night when I get back online...