Share Paper: Is Fostering Empathy a Desirable and Attainable Goal in Online Courses?

1. Scot Headley, George Fox University, United States

Abstract: This Roundtable has the purpose of presenting some ongoing research on empathy in online education. To this date, the research has been designed to determine an expert view of the importance of empathy in online teaching and learning and to discover affordances and barriers to its development there. An initial focus group interview will be discussed. Participants will be encouraged to bring their ideas and experiences in online teaching and learning in order to discuss whether empathy is a worthwhile goal and how fostering empathy may be achieved.