I recently completed EL 105, an online class which focuses on communication in the online education forum. I am impressed with how concisely and clearly the class was presented. As someone who has been an English professor for 13 years but an online "real time" synchronous instructor for only two years, I found this class quite beneficial. I learned some online jargon that I had not known before (such as the restrictive meaning of the word "transparent" and how it applies to the online communcation world), and I became aware of new social networking sites, such as Ning. While I do feel that there are certain things in the face-to-face world that can never be achieved in the online world, I recognize that for many, the benefits to online education appeal to many individuals for a variety of reasons: time, finances, scheduling, family needs, etc. I appreciate the fact that EL 105 really drove home the importance of civility in all online communication: teacher to student, student to teacher, and student to student.
