Feedback in Online Education – Blind Loop

The paper presents the potential causes of the problems in the interpersonal student-lecturer communication model in online education through the limitation of feedback, which is one of the basic communication tools for achieving interpersonal communication among the key human actors in online educational process. Usual complaints for online education are manifested in difficulties of achieving social presence which leads to impersonality in online classes, and feedback is one of the key communication tools trying to overcome these shortcomings. The elementary weakness of previous research is reflected in ways and effects produced by limited student feedback to lecturer to modulating the lecturer feedback to students. Feedback analysis through three fundamental models of interpersonal communication: linear, interactive and transactional, indicated that online education does not provide a complete transactional communication model because of a reduction of verbal and especially, nonverbal communication among student and lecturer which makes feedback a partially blind loop that makes interpersonal communication difficult.