ERIC Number: EJ1117378
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1492-3831
EISSN: N/A
Online Professional Skills Workshops: Perspectives from Distance Education Graduate Students
Gauvreau, Sarah; Hurst, Deborah; Cleveland-Innes, Martha; Hawranik, Pamela
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, v17 n5 p91-108 Sep 2016
While many online graduate students are gaining academic and scholarly knowledge, the opportunities for students to develop and hone professional skills essential for the workplace are lacking. Given the virtual environment of distance learning, graduate students are often expected to glean professional skills such as analytical thinking, self-awareness, flexibility, team-building, and problem-solving inherently through informal means (Cleveland-Innes & Ally, 2012). The goal of this study was to evaluate the experiences of online graduate students participating in synchronous online professional skills workshops. Students attended the sessions from the various graduate programs at an online Canadian university. The discussions from the focus group held at the end of the project were used to achieve the research goals. This paper used a phenomenological lens to accomplish its research goals. The participants reported that they experienced a "sense of community" and learned skills that were not included in their academic programs.
Descriptors: Online Courses, Workshops, Skill Development, Graduate Students, Focus Groups, Phenomenology, Program Effectiveness, Distance Education, Job Skills, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, Student Experience, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Online Surveys
Athabasca University. 1200, 10011 - 109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8, Canada. Tel: 780-421-2536; Fax: 780-497-3416; e-mail: irrodl@athabascau.ca; Web site: http://www.irrodl.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A