Am I being shortchanged in this online setting?

Pop Quiz to see how well you know me:

1. The topics I look up in most repositories are:
A. Puppetry and IPA Breast Cancer
B. Breast Cancer and Native American History
C. Classical Music and Native American History
D. Puppetry and IPA Recipes

2. I attend online classes while managing these other responsibilities:
A. Taking care of an elderly parent and maintaining a full-time job
B. Take care of two young children and an elderly parent
C. A full-time job only
D. A part time job and two young children

3. My experience with technology prior to / outside this class has been:
A. Zilch
B. Extensive, having worked as a computer programmer
C. Moderate, having worked as a website developer
D. Moderate, having worked at the University of Arizona in the Office of Instruction and Assessment

4. I am interested in:
A. Public Librarianship
B. Medical Librarianship
C. Art Librarianship
D. Systems Librarianship

So, how do you think you did? (The answers will be provided in a moment.) My concern - one that I can't shake lately - is that you are one of my professors, and yet you did poorly on this quiz because you don't know me at all.

I came into this program with a lot of faith in technology, but now I'm worried that it's shortchanging me. Let's compare: In my (entirely face-to-face) undergraduate studies I rarely had a single professor or class cohort more than once, but I always made connections, especially with my professors. Asking for recommendations at the end of a class was never daunting.

By contrast, today I am writing the final blog post for my 3rd class with the same two professors, and the idea of asking either of them for a recommendation just feels wrong. It feels premature, but when I examine the feeling more closely, it goes deeper: I fear I may never get to know either of them well enough to ask for a recommendation. Or to even stand out to them.

They do try. Professor Fulton may be the ideal online instructor. He answers questions on the forum practically before the students finish posting them, and never loses patience or ignores a question. Professor Botticelli unfortunately does ignore questions sometimes, but then again, he emails me every week with a brief but individual assessment of my weekly discussion posts, which he clearly reads through with mindfulness.

And I try to stand out. I meet my deadlines. I do the readings and make cognitive connections. I write with feeling. I talk about the authors, my projects, and myself.

Still, there is something missing. Every time I envision initiating a Capstone project, I shudder in panic. Virtual libraries are an emerging field to the extent that I'm worried no one really wants one yet. And my education is so virtual I am having trouble figuring out how to apply it in the real world. I have never, ever met anyone who does what I am going to ask people if I can do for them. And what am I offering? What if they do accept my offer to help with a virtual library, but they want their materials digitized? I've never digitized a book outside of using the copy machine for personal use.

If I get the courage at some point in this semester or the next I'll request a conference to sort out my Capstone concerns. Maybe even my reference concerns. I'll ignore the fact that I've never heard mention of meeting with students or advising related to the DIGIN program, and I'll just swallow my temerity and ask. (Or maybe the clouds will part, the sun will send in a shaft of light, and someone at the DIGIN program will see fit to mention advising and references.)

Until then...here are the quiz answers:
1.A
2.D
3.C and D
4.All of them. So as long as you answered one of them, you are on the right track.