Have you adopted online learning into your life?

Hello, again! I told you that I would be back! So, here I am! For those of you who may be new to my blog, my name is Savannah and I am a graduate student pursuing my Master of Strategic Communication degree at Troy University. In my professional life, ironically, I also do a lot of networking for the university and promote their online programs to the people of the Florida Panhandle. My experience encompasses many roles including but not limited to relationship building, partnership building, public speaking, and social media management. I started blogging for the first time ever just over 10 weeks ago as a part of my previous class where I covered various topics on emerging media. Hurricane Michael caused quite the stir, no pun intended, for everyone in the panhandle era. It has literally disrupted many lives, mine included. I'm currently playing catch-up in my studies as I type. I chat a little about my experience in the storm in my last post.

Over the course of the next 8 weeks, I will carry on with my blogging efforts as I endeavor to further develop my writing style and create my footprint in the digital sphere. Only this time, I will be addressing numerous topics regarding leadership and media strategies. You can expect to hear from me at least once a week during this time. I often like to relate the week's topic to some of my own experiences, and sometimes just a dash of sarcastic humor which may or may not come paired with the appropriately deemed meme. I’m often asked how I manage grad school on top of everything else and my go-to response is usually somewhere along the lines of “by taking one class at a time and pacing myself” but, also, this:

Luckily, for me at least, I am nearing the end of my program and will just have one more class left after this one. Yay! This past week, we have been discussing Everett Roger's Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory. Rogers defines diffusion as the process by which innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. With every new innovation, or adaptation to an innovation, brings with it an adoption curve. I found myself particularly interested in the breakdown of the social system into segments, based on their propensity to adopt or reject a specific innovation, which include: the innovators, early adopters, early majorities, late majorities, and laggards. I couldn't help but relate these segments back to the students that I have encountered. Each of them at different stages in their lives and each with a different attitude toward online learning. Which are you?

Being a millennial, myself, I was quick to adopt the online learning technology late into my undergraduate career which would put me in the category of early adopter. And, if you can tell, I haven't looked back. It has been my job to share the online learning experience with others. Some, like myself, have been early adopters who have done their preliminary research and may have taken online classes before so they do not need too much convincing. Those in the early majority need more confirmation because they are often concerned about the cost difference in online versus in-class. In these cases, I will usually spend a little more time going over financial aid, scholarships, and local partnership eligibility. Late majority and laggards could very well be placed in the same boat as both groups require a lot of time and communication. Sometimes, even after months of communications a prospect will turn cold. Some are too afraid that they will not be successful, while others it strictly comes down to cost and the desire to not acquire student loan debt and I get it. This brings me to an important aspect of the DOI theory, which is re-invention. We must always strive to evolve our online learning technologies and the resources available to our online students. Personally, I think Troy University has done a phenomenal job with this as they have continuously made improvements to the technology and resources, but there can always be improvements to any innovation.

Have you adopted online learning into your life? Why or why not? 

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed my post and would like to follow me in my blogging pursuits then you can do so at https://savannahchats.blogspot.com/. You can also check out some of my previous posts if you like. Until next time!