iCame, iSaw, iLearn, iConquer

Like most, my experience with ilearn and other CMS websites range from quality learning to very little productivity. My most beneficial online classroom experience was actually with iLearn. In the Spring semester of 2008 I took Professor Hackenberg's 755: Victorian Afterlife. I can see various reasons ilearn was so successful with one large downfall. 

The following aspects of this particular CMS are reasons for the success story: 

1. All of the supplemental readings and the syllabus were centrally located on one website. There was never any confusion as to the required reading and students never needed to locate articles from any other database. If there were videos or links we were to watch for class then they would be posted under the appropriate unit--the most recent being at the top. The key to online learning success is consistency. No matter what, students need to know what is expected of them and when the online expectations are articulated very clearly then they are much more willing to be vulnerable to the learning process.  

2. Participation was mandatory. From day one, we were made aware of what our Professor expected of us. After or while we complete the required reading for each week, we are to contribute at least one question or post to the discussion board. This discussion was far from sterile. Students interacted with one another with a certain edge that was competitive yet professional. If there was a disagreement, one student would call out another providing textual evidence and support for their argument. Inevitably, this kind of participation sharpened each contributor. 

3. iLearn was supplemental to the classroom not separate. Each week the professor would choose a couple different student questions or contributions to highlight in class and that would spark further discussion. If there was anything left unsaid or more to contribute, students would go back to the question posted on the discussion board and that took place over the following week between classes. 

Overall, the success of iLearn or any other CMS is to make the site a central destination for the classroom assignments and discussion, make participation mandatory, and continually bring ilearn back into the classroom. One of the greatest benefits of online discussion boards that I don't always see exercised is peer to peer interaction. Once we post, I think it would be most fruitful if feedback was mandatory. Because students are very accustomed to commenting on pictures, notes, and profiles on Facebook or Myspace students are inclined to provide feedback to one another. One of the greatest benefits of online learning is to mandate that kind of feedback on whichever CMS sight is being used. This would perpetuate thoughtful posting and the kind of connection making associations which are so important in the learning process.

The biggest downfall of iLearn is that professors do not choose to keep the sight activated after the semester is over. The entire semester's work has the potential to be a rich resource in teaching and research long after the semester grades are in and it's unfortunate that this potential is not recognized. The site is closed off and the class becomes a vapor in the students' minds and notebooks.