The modern education system has changed drastically over the last decade with distant learning now being available from colleges, even reputable colleges. Online students are growing every year and giving some students who wouldn’t have had a chance to attend class now a way of completing their education. It’s a great effect of technology and providing an opportunity to many more people than ever before. A lot of people who have never attended an online class ask me how I keep disciplined enough to get assignments done and how do I stay motivated, well here’s a little look into motivation and education of any kind.
I base my motivation on the self-determination theory and for those who may not be quite familiar with the definition it “is the degree to which an individual sees him- or herself as being autonomous and having a choice in actions and behaviors, without feeling pressured to behave in a particular manner” (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). For me it is the willingness from within to further my education and the absence from outside pressure to do so. But it’s not completely without extrinsic motivation as in today’s world a college degree will get you better jobs and higher pay which is a consideration as well. Having an intrinsic type motivation I think is the main ammunition behind successful students. We want to learn because we love learning and now with online learning available many of us now how a real chance to indulge in this passion.
Online does have its disadvantages like any other classroom and that can be the lack of engagement in coursework. Some classes you wish you could take over and over and others you never want to hear mentioned, ever again. I think it could be harder for teachers teaching online to engage their students because it’s still a new format. In a research article an online teacher mentions that “people need to remind themselves that educators are also learners who go through ‘waves of development and stages of growth with regard to technology’” but the goal is always to have student engagement (Boling, Hough, Krinsky, Saleem and Stevens, 2012). It’s an aspect I never looked out when a class wasn’t everything I hoped it to be, sometimes it made me question my self-determination, was it fading? But no, we all go through rough stages.
Students look to have their motivation enhanced every once in a while to make sure we’re still doing this for ourselves and haven’t fallen too much on an extrinsic type factor. In a research study they found that positive feedback from instructors helped to enhance intrinsic motivation but it also had reinforce autonomy of the student (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier and Ryan, 1991). Often our only interaction as online students is with our professor and mainly through coursework so it can be a challenge on both ends to create an environment rich in engagement and intrinsic type motivation. Also many classes it feels like you are just reading and learning solely to be tested and not to applying it to your real world and “optimal learning [is] conceptual understanding and the flexible use of knowledge” (Deci et al., 1991). For those students who are self-determined there may be an edge to education because it our choice to go, not our parents or society’s, and this motivation may help in our success of achieving our degrees.
One thing is for sure, I am thankful for online learning as it has given back a thirst for knowledge I feared would be out of my grasp to attain again. Not only do I love learning again but I am also proud to be able to do it at a college of my choice (Go Penn State!!). My self-determination is an intrinsic motivator to learn more and achieve by my choice and only by my choice. I also gained a respect for instructors of all kinds as it is not always to engage students like they would like to but our feedback to them will help us all learn more.
So keep on learning!
Here is my original post published at Penn State:
References
Boling, E. C., Hough, M., Krinsky, H., Saleem, H., & Stevens, M. (2012). Cutting the distance in distance education: Perspectives on what promotes positive, online learning experiences. The Internet and Higher Education (2), 118-126.
Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). Motivation and education: The self-determination perspective. Educational psychologist (3-4), 325-346.
Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.M. (2012). Applied Social Psychology:Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (Second ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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