Where Are You? A Model of Proximity in the Online Classroom
Abstract
For those of us who have taught in the traditional classroom at any level we have all been coached that proximity can help us control and manage classroom behaviors. The farther away the teacher is from the student the more likely the student is going to pay less attention and find themselves off task. Notwithstanding, the inverse is true, the closer the teacher is to the student the less likely the student will be off task. In its simplest form proximity can be described in two ways, classroom arrangement and teacher mobility. In the virtual modality we have no control over classroom arrangement per say, but we do on the perception of mobility. What we discovered through our collaborative conversations is that proximity does exist in the online classroom and we were already doing it. What does a controlled classroom look like? One were students are in community and are participating in a substantial way. We all have suffered through the lack of attention to detail students take when responding to our questions and their peer’s responses. Would you not like to have your classroom back! We discerned that to best manage your classroom it requires three characteristics: Be Engaged; Be Relational; and Be Personal.
Location
Room 1002
Recommended Citation
Dyer, Thomas D.; Aroz, Jacob; and Larson, Elizabeth, "Where Are You? A Model of Proximity in the Online Classroom" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 83.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/83
Where Are You? A Model of Proximity in the Online Classroom
Room 1002
For those of us who have taught in the traditional classroom at any level we have all been coached that proximity can help us control and manage classroom behaviors. The farther away the teacher is from the student the more likely the student is going to pay less attention and find themselves off task. Notwithstanding, the inverse is true, the closer the teacher is to the student the less likely the student will be off task. In its simplest form proximity can be described in two ways, classroom arrangement and teacher mobility. In the virtual modality we have no control over classroom arrangement per say, but we do on the perception of mobility. What we discovered through our collaborative conversations is that proximity does exist in the online classroom and we were already doing it. What does a controlled classroom look like? One were students are in community and are participating in a substantial way. We all have suffered through the lack of attention to detail students take when responding to our questions and their peer’s responses. Would you not like to have your classroom back! We discerned that to best manage your classroom it requires three characteristics: Be Engaged; Be Relational; and Be Personal.
