Cats in the classroom: Online learning in hybrid space

Abstract

Students and professors create a shared on–campus classroom environment through individual and collaborative contributions. Similar contributions go into the design of an online classroom. Online instructors build the learning environment to create a shared learning experience, and designers of course management software reinforce this consistency. Examining the online classroom as "hybrid space" — comprising physical and online space — reveals a more complex reality than a seamless learning environment. Students and instructors share a learning experience, but they also occupy local environments that influence their learning and indirectly influence the experience of everyone in the online class.