The role of writing in Online Learning Groups

I was interested in the comment by Carabajal et. al about trust developing in groups. Instances where an online learning group "surpassed the level of affection and emotion found in traditional face to face groups" were discussed. My first reaction to the thought of an online learning group would be that it is harder, not easier, to trust and develop personal relationships in a face to face group simply because we tend to make so many judgments about other people based on what we see, hear, and feel when we are in their presence. How people are dressed, for example, has a lot to do with whether or not we trust them.

In thinking about it more, though, I'm certain that seeing comments written out rather than hearing them spoken has a different effect on the recipient. The fact that the comments will be recorded and kept may make us more careful in what we "publish." For example, as bad as the comments I may on my blog may seem, they are more organized than how I usually speak in person about a topic because I have a chance to edit and adjust them before putting them in front of everyone else. Once they are printed on the blog, they are always available for review. If you don't understand what someone said, you either ask them what they meant or act like you understood it and move on in a verbal conversation. In a written dialogue, participants can still ask what people mean, act like they understood, or employ a third option of reviewing and rereading the comments to find deeper meaning.

I also wonder if interactions in the written word are more explicit and thus more expressive. If you want someone to know you are happy or pleased with what they did, you can just smile in person. You might tell them. Knowing that no one can't see me smiling behind my computer screen, I resort to more clearly articulating what I'm feeling and may even overstate it to make sure that everyone understands. This might be a reason that relationships could develop even better in an online learning group than in the classroom.

I think the biggest factor, though, is still something mentioned earlier in the article about how people are less inhibited in groups because there is more anonymity. If the online format gets more people to open up about their ideas and be themselves because there is less social risk involved, it promotes more true self interactions and might eliminate some of the shallow surface level discussions so common in face to face interaction. This seems like one of the best possible benefits of an online learning environment.