The virtual industrial/organizational psychology class: Learning and teaching in cyberspace in three iterations

Abstract

The virtual industrial/organizational psychology course is an asynchronous, discussion-based undergraduate class that exists on the Internet, featuring lectures and class discussion in a Usenet group. The development, evolution, and successes and challenges from three iterations of this virtual course are described. While networked computer technology has enabled virtual classrooms for collaborative learning in which learners and teachers interact through computer-mediated communication, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this course is the issue of experiential learning. In the virtual industrial/organizational psychology course, students are experiencing the organization of the future (networked, virtual) while learning about industrial/organizational psychology and the conceptual underpinnings of the world of work in the future. Copyright 1998 Psychonomic Society, Inc.