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'You're facing that machine but there's a human being behind it': students' affective experiences on an online doctoral programme

Kennedy, E; Gray, M; (2016) 'You're facing that machine but there's a human being behind it': students' affective experiences on an online doctoral programme. Pedagogy, Culture & Society , 24 (3) pp. 417-429. 10.1080/14681366.2016.1175498. Green open access

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Abstract

Online students use highly emotional language to describe their experiences, indicating that learners do feel a great deal online. This paper draws on Wetherell’s exploration of affective practice to theorise learners’ responses to the pedagogical and technological online environment. Findings of a research project that focused on two cohorts of online doctoral students are presented, including survey responses and interview data. Thematic analysis indicates that participants experienced positive and negative affects circulating around three sites of intensity: a sense of progression; community interaction and assignment feedback. However, narrative analysis of extracts from the interviews reveal a further level of complexity to the data, drawing attention to the unfinished and shifting character of these affects. The paper concludes by pointing to the implications of this research for designing the online environment in ways that will allow students to experience the full potential of online learning.

Type: Article
Title: 'You're facing that machine but there's a human being behind it': students' affective experiences on an online doctoral programme
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2016.1175498
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2016.1175498
Language: English
Additional information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Pedagogy, Culture & Society on 29 April 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14681366.2016.1175498.
Keywords: Distance education, emotion, narrative, technology, online learning
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1489655
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