Domesticating Remote Learning: How Students Adapt To Learning Online

Concurrent Session 4

Session Materials

Brief Abstract

How did students adapt to remote learning? How did they learn to navigate new virtual environments, and what learning strategies did they develop? Through the lens of domestication theory, attendees will gain an understanding of the strategies students employed, and how those strategies can be integrated into online courses.

Presenters

Lead Presenter: Luna Laliberte, Chronicle Of Higher Education - recent graduate of Rutgers University

I recently graduated from Rutgers University with a Master’s in Communication and Media. For my graduate studies I participated in research on pedagogy and student strategies regarding remote learning. I intend to continue researching online learning strategies and best practices with the intent to support equitable online pedagogy. I currently work with the Chronicle of Higher Education as an events coordinator. I produce CHE’s free virtual events where experts on leading issues in higher ed share their insights.

Extended Abstract

Domestication theory posits that technology adoption occurs in four stages: appropriation, objectification, incorporation, and conversion. Roger Silverstone, who coined domestication theory, argues that users experience new technologies as “a wild animal” and that new technologies “[posed] threats and challenges”, yet, when “brought within the fold, they become sources of power and sustenance.” (Berker et al., 2005, p. 231). Adopting a new technology usually begins with the technology as opaque, where the technology is obvious and sometimes even cumbersome when utilizing it. Ideally, adoption ends with the technology having become transparent, or rather no longer cumbersome and therefore invisible in the process of completing tasks with it. By progressing through the four stages of domestication theory, users ultimately ‘domesticate’ the ‘wild’ new technology. 

This presentation is based on a paper that used domestication theory as a lens to understand how students adopted remote learning technologies. By understanding the strategies employed by students in a time of crisis, the author hopes that future online instruction barriers can be more easily identified so that students can be given proper instructional support, and that online learning technologies can be designed with the ultimate goal of becoming as transparent as possible.

The data used in the paper is based on a series of qualitative interviews from undergraduate students in 2022. Questions aimed to capture strategies used at the peak of transitioning to remote learning in 2020 and strategies used learning online in 2022. Then, answers were compared to identify how students moved from one state of adoption in 2020 to another in 2022.

While we may no longer be in the midst of a global pandemic, we are all still feeling its effects. The rapid transition to remote learning left behind many students without proper access to digital resources or without the necessary digital skills to navigate virtual learning environments. The adaptive strategies used by students in 2020 and 2022 can serve as a model for reducing barriers to remote learning in a crisis. And hopefully, this analysis can contribute to future course design and future technology design with the goal of reducing the barriers of learning a new technology in favor of students focusing simply on learning.

  • Interactivity Component: Brainstorming Discussion 

    • The presenter will ask the audience to share the strategies they have found their own students use for adapting to new technologies. This question will be asked in comparison to the data presented during the talk. 

    • After the presentation, the presenter will facilitate a discussion amongst audience members about how to encourage students through learning a new technology for class. This will include: 

      • deciding if a new technology is even necessary for the assignment

      • what resources could be given to students to expedite becoming familiar with a new technology 

      • if any strategies discussed so far could be facilitated by instructors instead of arising from students

      • and how to problem solve with students to find out what strategies would work for moving a technology from opaque to transparent

Takeaways: The goal is to convince instructors that students need technology to be transparent in order to perform at their best in an online learning environment. Key takeaways will be the introduction of domestication theory as a lens to understand what students need, as well as the many strategies discussed that could be facilitated to students who are struggling with learning new technologies.