Class Structure and Leadership
Finally, it must be stressed that the anonymous online classroom is not meant to stand on its own. Without the structure of a traditional, hierarchical curriculum to give it context, the utility of such a dedicated space may be limited. “The effect of the authoritarian role of the teacher cannot be eliminated from educational contexts, even in such non-traditional forums. Students remain aware of themselves as students and indeed often enforce what they see as the conventions of academic discourse or draw attention to their own violations of what is appropriate. Non-traditional forums offer opportunities for resistance; they do not constitute a license for wholesale revolution” (Cooper and Selfe, 863).
Rather, like the pseudonymous online class, the anonymous discussion board should serve as a shadow to the traditional classroom, a reflection where students are free from evaluation and are able to share ideas and experiment with identity and discourse in ways that would not be possible or appropriate in an embodied space. Though the teacher may participate in the conversation, he or she must never act as an authority figure here, or even reveal his or her presence as anything but another anonymous poster. In recounting an online discussion, Lester Faigely describes how the teacher tries and fails to guide the discussion :"By the end of this section we see a reversal of roles, with the teacher replying and students making evaluations and comments…In terms of discourse, Lester has become a student in his own class. The paradox is that the class discussion has gone much farther and much faster than it could have with Lester standing at the front" (181).
In this context, Lester’s loss of control is surprising, and the students are able to learn and discuss the subject matter in spite of him. I would argue, however, that the students would be better served if this relinquishing of authority had been pre-planned, and the course curriculum designed to have students critically engage with the notions of authority, modality, and how the two can affect the other. The example above is a happy side-effect of online discussion, but I argue that it could easily become the focus of an entire course.