Switching to online classes built a wall of communicative absence in my learning that I was forced to adjust to. It was difficult, especially Spring 2020, to keep up with what my professors were discussing in class, and to understand the material I was going to be tested on. This absence created a significant drop in my understanding of course material because, though I was physically present during lectures, I was mentally elsewhere, which put me at a disadvantage overall because I was not understanding what was being communicated to me about the topic in real time.
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Communicative Absence as a Learning Gap
In the reading, Arnett et al. discuss the importance of showing up in the communication process. By not attending significant events in our lives where we are given the opportunity to learn, we will be unable to catch up to those who are constantly physically present. Arnett et al. refers to this gap as Communicative Absence. I experienced this learning gap during spring semester of 2020 through somewhere in the middle of spring semester the following year.
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Hi Iris,
ReplyDeleteI, as I'm sure many others would agree, related completely to what you experienced when our classes moved online. While we were "together" in a sense, the actual physical aspect of it was lacking. I found that I had a much harder time focusing in a Zoom classroom than I do in a physical one. This obstacle is one that many people experienced and I now, to an extent, can understand why. Arnett et al. helped me to understand that while I showed up in a way, I was lacking the conscious effort that I would have made in a different setting. There is something about meeting face-to-face (rather than screen-to-screen) that encourages us and makes us value learning to a greater extent. While face-to-face is important, it also makes me consider classes that went completely asynchronous. These classes do not have even a semblance of the "showing up" component, which makes learning much more difficult. It makes me wonder, how will learning be affected in the long run if things continue to run in the way they have been?
Hey Iris,
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to the experience you had with communicative absence. Being that everything was closed and learning was distanced due to COVID, it was inevitable that many of us were feeling the effects of this gap. Not being physically present in the classroom put me in a different, more relaxed mindset. Instead of having to mentally prepare and focus myself for communicative interaction, I could easily turn on my computer from bed and focus on various things that were not class related. This also made it hard for me to absorb the information being taught and keeping up with important class information.
In contrast, I now have one in person class and it makes all the difference. I am more present and have the option to communicate with others. In a way, it also forces me to be present so I do not look ridiculous.
Hey Iris,
ReplyDeleteI could really relate to your feelings of falling behind or missing out in school over the course of the last year and a half. When it came to online lectures and asynchronous learning, I really struggled to stay on top of my studies because there were so many distractions. Something about having all my schoolwork be on the internet also made it feel less important and less of a priority. This made it hard for me to go above and beyond in the classroom which meant I participated in discussion less, I didn't read the additional readings, and I paid no mind to any extra credit opportunities.
I find it strange yet also relieving to know that so many other people felt this same lack of motivation to be present and focused. It is clear for a lot of students this semester that basic things, such as getting up to go to an in-person class, paying attention to a full lecture, and participating in class have become very difficult do to these long months of being online. For our own sake I hope that the motivation and balance comes back quickly and that those things aren't so difficult anymore.