Miyazoe,
Terumi, and Terry Anderson. "Anonymity In Blended Learning: Who Would You
Like To Be?" Journal of Educational Technology & Society 14.2 (2011):
175-187. Web. 28 May 2014.
Miyazoe and Anderson examined effects and learning
outcomes of allowing students to be anonymous/pseudonymous in forums and blogs of
their blended classes. Drawing on existing research showing anonymity mitigates
anxiety when submitting work to an instructor in f2f classes (blind submissions)
and when doing peer reviews, they ask whether online anonymity can be similarly
beneficial.
The authors suggest increased freedom may aid
comments and encourage lurkers to participate. A pseudonym allows for an online
identity / reputation to build as opposed to all posters being “anon,” but, at
the same time, the anonymous online environment assists in “masking various
social barriers such as age, gender, social status, and language proficiencies”
(176).
Online freewriting and other informal writing--with their
decreased emphasis on correctness--may benefit from the freedom. At the same
time, process writing with its interactivity and focus on revision also benefits
from the anonymity.
They also discussed earlier research showing that, when
an option, concealing gender is often selected by women. Anonymous women’s comments
also received more feedback than when they posted as female. Mizayoe and
Anderson designed a study that asked:
- What are the participatory behaviors of students’ in face-to-face (with real names) and online (with pseudonyms) in blended course designs?
- How did the students perceive and evaluate the different online writing tools using pseudonyms?
- What are the students’ learning outcomes? (177)
The object of study was three ELL sections offered
by the same instructor. The class included f2f class lessons and online writing
sessions. Students’ online identities were concealed from all (including the instructor
until the end of the semester).
Students reported feeling less embarrassed by
mistakes and less inhibited in stating opinions. Female participation was markedly
higher in frequency and volume.
Crucially, the authors observe that online writing’s
“nature of discourse changes from writing to speaking to what is referred to as
writing speech” (183) and the usual meta-language of comment/critique is hard
to differentiate from writing it is commenting upon. This is one area where “efforts
in reproducing classroom strategies may not work with online writing tools” (183).
Mizayoe and Anderson’s findings are persuasive, and meshed
with my own experiences of online writing where I usually use a gender neutral name.
Among many examples, the notorious treatment of women bloggers who venture in
to tech territory, for example, also, if anecdotally, jibes. Nonetheless, as
Mizayoe and Anderson note, anonymity can backfire leading to trolling and flame
wars.
It’s important to note that the students are not US students, but ELLs, and the authors are based in Canada and Japan. Some of the participant comments focused on the social discomfort /inability to criticize the work of others, and the social/cultural rules that inhibit opinion. As a member myself of a “polite” culture, the Canadian/Japanese participation experiences perhaps resonated more; however, the freedoms afforded to comment and be seen objectively without gender/social standing being factored in are likely to hold true in the USA.
Interesting idea. I wonder,however, if the anonymity might lead posters to be more careless in crafting answers, both rhetorically and in terms of proofreading. After all, the posts cannot be traced back to them. But perhaps not. Still, it might be interesting to look at that.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting idea in the classroom, but as I teach online each term and already feel somewhat disconnected from my students, not even knowing "who" I was reading and not making connections from post and assignment to assignment makes me a little anxious. I do agree that in some settings, gender neutrality can be of benefit, as you mention, and just having read some female tech blog posts about the bashing of females in the tech world, it would seem that anonymity in some cases would be warranted. Here is the latest I read from WP on the topic--http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/05/30/snapchat-sexism-and-the-reason-women-dont-stay-in-tech/
ReplyDeleteI do grade some online assignment blind, but after a few assignments, personalities and writing styles creep in to the point that I can usually tell who it is before I ever see the name.
I agree with your assessment of this article. I believe that allowing anonymity in the classroom empowers the students away from judgement. In addition, during peer reviews, students are normally intimidated if they receive a paper that is 'the smart kid's' or if it is a friend's paper. By allowing anonymity, the students are more likely to participate at full capacity during the peer reviews.
ReplyDelete