Maha, I have a very different view of collaboration online versus face to face–if I have the choice. Let me share that view because I know you appreciate different perspectives and approaches as a teacher and scholar.

I study the use of collaborative/interactive tools and spaces in the teaching of writing, and I could list here a LONG list of powerful affordances and benefits of using those tools and spaces in addition to face to face meeting/discussion and feedback (not in stead of). As a teacher, I love being on the frontline and explore new affordances as they arrive (I’ve done this since 2006 when I moved from a place with limited electricity and internet to a place where they are both 24/7 and taken for granted, at least where I live and work). I just returned from a conference where a colleague and I presented an interactive pedagogical session and a multimodal pedagogy poster on the benefits and caveats of taking it all online. We are building a portfolio of blog posts and video demonstrations for our department (we recently posted our first post here)

However, there is absolutely no way I can compare face-to-face conversations with individual students in my office, with in-class small group or paired discussions, or with whole-class conversations onsite. Must add: my students can afford to have both onsite and online experiences; I value the complementary nature of both and I design and teach courses accordingly; and the local sociocultural context here is such that most of my students wouldn’t be inspired and energized enough to explore all the learning opportunities on their own. So, what I say cannot be generalized, and I am only trying to respond to your question about why students seem to prefer onsite collaboration by showing how my students strongly prefer the way I bring together the affordances of both worlds. I have discussed this with my students, and both they and I cannot imagine online as a substitute of onsite collaboration–not to mention how much more we believe they get when I combine the best of both worlds for them. For us, the general order of preference is simple: 1) onsite, supplemented with online, 2) onsite only, 3) online only. What my students do online is an extension/addition to what they start in office hour conversations with me, what they start doing in class, what they follow up in class, what they really make sense and realize and enjoy in class. Here are some possible reasons why onsite collaboration is a superior learning environment for my students: they’re 18-22 year old students who are juggling work and study, often lacking energy and motivation to read and implement all the guidelines I provide them on the course site, and most inspired when I am directly talking to them and facilitating lively conversations. So, for them, very clearly, the ultimate magic (as we call it) happens when they come to my office, start by describing their learning agenda/needs and I help them explore their ideas by asking questions (How about…. What if…. Here’s what I find intriguing about what you just said…. Remember that readers…. Wow, that’s amazing, because….), by helping them generate and outline their ideas, by pointing out the strengths and weaknesses in their work, etc. They are not comfortable when I do that publicly in class, through email/comments, or without the opportunity for interactive discussions and in person.

The same thing doesn’t apply for me. I don’t have the time to go sit in anyone’s class anymore. I am grateful for these amazing opportunities for pursuing my passion for life-long learning virtually. However, I wish I could still afford to go to a professor, say a professor of statistics, and let her “force” (I don’t hesitate to use this word!) me to raise my statistical knowledge to a certain level by making me (and my peers) go through a rigorous process–because, otherwise, it looks like I will never pursue and meet the objectives that I clearly need to. (Every time my research/writing demands statistical analysis, I avoid it). This is not to say that I do not “trust” my 18-22 year old students to pursue their own education, to meet their own learning objectives by working with me exclusively online. But the traditional, onsite, rather top-down method of teaching/learning where the teacher’s presence and facilitation are central (and, still demanded by students) has its own place, its benefits, its beauty. I still value it. So do my students.

I would be happy but surprised (and skeptical) if my students told me that they can achieve the same quality of learning by collaborating online only. I know that that’s a blunt statement, so let me give one last example. Students in my Writing in Your Profession are currently doing peer review of their “professional autobiography” essays. For the next class, I have a “discussion rubric” (a set of questions to be used as a starting point for assisting peer reviewers to help generally improve each other’s essays, which are highly open and complex pieces). This phase of collaboration can NOT be authentically done through any kind of virtual substitute: I am not sure why (not just how) I would ask students to interactively discuss their drafts online. Asynchronous review would be absolutely inefficient in achieving the goals of the interactive feedback session. And collaborative tools/spaces would only serve well for follow-up review and feedback in this situation. In my own collaborative work, I strongly prefer to develop, organize, and refine my ideas by interactively discussing them with my collaborator(s). It is only when synchronous, voice-based, and thorough discussion and development of idea is NOT possible or easy for me to achieve that I accept the asynchronous alternatives. Based on a blog post you wrote some time ago–and for very specific set of reasons (and limitations) rather than general preference–I think that you prefer the opposite/asynchronous mode of collaboration–or at least like the conveniences of the asynchronous. I do too. But when the opportunity (or privilege?) of onsite collaboration is available (especially alongside online follow up/supplementation), synchronous, in-person (especially one-on-one with teacher) discussions remain a very strong preference for me and my students so far.

Online-only teaching contexts are a different matter altogether. Let me stop there because this has become a lengthy comment already.