Writing Together- Online Writing Courses

The first thing I noticed about the Warnock reading (pp. ix-40) is how it presents an almost perfect play-by-play on how many professors I've had approached online learning during the pandemic, even in online courses I've taken in the past.  From the detailed syllabus to weekly announcements that direct students towards tasks they must complete to communicating on a discussion board, it's interesting to see all of these things broken down into digestible information and relate it back to my own virtual learning experiences.

I also like that the text provides not only the instructor's side of how to conduct an online writing course, but also a student's point of view.  Their sections in juxtaposition with one another helps students see how much work goes into the instructor's side of things and vice versa.

Diana's response about discussion board posts resonated with me: "Because my peers' physical presences and participation frequency can reveal information about their personalities or interests, I don't feel the need to fish for information in an f2f class.  But in this online environment where all I have is a name to go by, so much is left to be discovered." (pg. 36)  One thing that I've really missed about f2f classroom settings is the feeling like I know my classmates and I miss aspects of in-person socializations that don't come with OWC.  For instance, I remember when I was talking with several classmates during our peer review for the literacy narratives on Zoom and we mentioned that we had only met each other virtually and that we might not ever see each in person.  I brought up (jokingly) that the one benefit on online learning is that they'll never know how short I am.  While my height is obviously not a key part of my personality, it reveals that there is so much we don't know about each other, even something as physically obvious as height.

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