Self-reflection and self-disclosure in the online learning environment: CRADLE Seminar Series

3 October 2018

CRADLE Fellow Dr Kate Anderson (Deakin University) presented a recent CRADLE Seminar exploring the potential benefits, challenges and risks of self-disclosure in online learning by both students and teachers. The well-attended seminar provoked plenty of discussion amongst attendees as they reflected on their own experiences as educators and learners.

Here, Chad Gladovic (PhD researcher into work-integrated assessment) reflects on his key takeaways from the seminar. A recording from the seminar, along with slides and a reference list, are also available at the bottom of the page.

I was particularly interested in the notion of deep reflection, which is a challenging skill for students to develop on their own. The notion of deep reflections has great potential to lead toward the self-disclosure and self-reflection in both individual and collaborative settings. It is a starting point for students to develop a set of different professional skills and capabilities, among them evaluative judgement. The whole notion of self-disclosure helped me to understand better how such a practice can be used as a pedagogy within the classroom. Students can use self-disclosure from their educators as a part of experiential learning, by making a judgement about the quality of information provided. 

Self-disclosure is not without its barriers, especially when implemented in an online environment. There is a lack of consensus around the best practices for supporting and teaching personal self-reflection online. Within the physical environment such as the classroom, the impact of self-disclosure can be partially observed by behavioural changes, but such an opportunity is lost in the online learning space.

Kate’s study made it very explicit that personal self-disclosure allows individuals to understand their own perspective, and the perspectives of others, better. The practice of self-disclosure allows educators to make a meaningful connection with students and to initiate conversation, help students built self-reflective capabilities and inspire reflection practices. As not all self-disclosures are equal, and some disclosure may have an adverse effect, clear pedagogical rationale needs to be considered.

Resources

To learn more about Kate’s findings, and the possible challenges of self-disclosure for both students and teachers, you can listen to the seminar below. You can also view Kate’s slides, along with a reference list specially prepared by Kate to guide further reading.

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View slides from Kate’s presentation here.

Explore Kate’s reference list here.