CyberSurfiver : affective considerations of 'surviving' online learning

Abstract

This article concentrates on the role that affective learning plays in e-learning. Understandably, personal contact is minimal in online learning so the question arises: How do students cope with the lack of personal contact? The purpose of this study was to explore and interpret the participants' affective experiences in an online learning environment. The basis for the study was a master's course presented entirely online for a period of six weeks. The style of the internationally acclaimed reality television game show, Survivor©, was used as a guiding format for developing the course. The game was played in cyberspace; and as the learning experiences of participants were based on surfing the Web, the game was called CyberSurfiver. The nature of the interaction between the participants and their feelings throughout the game were monitored and recorded by reading their emails. Once the course was completed, two focus group interviews were held to discuss the feelings participants experienced during the course. The findings were then compared to Krathwohl's taxonomy of the affective domain. Kort and Reilly's model on the integration of affect served as an instrument to measure the affective responses and development of the participants throughout the course.