Accessing and Assessing the Potential of Online Learning

This post was originally written as a paper during my Master's course work. (Picture added)

Central Michigan University

EDU708 Seminar: Distance Education

Evaluation Paper

December, 8th, 2011

While it is widely recognized in today’s educational climate that, “Technology impacts student success” (Blackboard Inc, 2009), the implementation of technologies in teaching and learning is varied to say the least. Today more than ever, a plethora of tools, systems, and approaches are being implemented to leverage technologies in order to educate students for the future. As the field of distance education via the Internet is perhaps one of the most promising horizons for expanding access to quality education, many stakeholders have targeted online courses as a key component for the future of schooling and learning. What follows is an examination of the challenges in teaching and supporting an online course, surveying the interrelated needs of students, teachers, administrators, and infrastructures, coupled with recommendations for the evaluation of such an endeavor.

Planning online courses that meet the needs of real students requires teachers to have knowledge of their students’ needs. Gathering such information is an immediate challenge when considering an online course format, as students are not going to interact in traditional ways, thus not making their learning needs known in as in a typical classroom. I propose that because of this change of (potentially isolating) communication modes in online courses, a student-centered approach is necessary more than ever. Not all students may be well suited to an online course format, and assumptions of their technological proficiency should never be made. To avoid making such assumptions, the instructor of an online course should make all the responsibilities of students clear and explicit from the onset of the course, in the syllabus, and in any ongoing instructions of tasks. Tutorial videos, slideshows, or other media modes relating the basic skills required in using the pertinent technologies or tools of a course should also accompany written instructions. Because of the non-traditional modes of interaction in an online learning environment, the challenge of interpreting directions and comments through plain text or other, “Impersonal communications” (Canis Learning Systems, Inc, 2011) may act as a barrier to some students’ success. Learners experiencing difficulty in an online course may exhibit less obvious behaviors than in a traditional classroom, such as to, “Not keep in contact regularly, ignore advice, and submit work that is plagiarized or not their own” (Butler, 2003). While these behaviors are not unique to web-based courses, online teachers should be prepared for a potential increase of incidence of these behaviors, given the nature of course interactions. While awareness is one responsibility of the online teacher, “Making sure learners are aware and informed as possible, reacting objectively and supportively, and seeking support from colleagues when necessary”, are three strategies recommended by Butler in resolving such issues. “Modeling the behavior you expect and timely intervention of inappropriate behaviors”, are two other recommendations Butler asserts for proactivity. Awareness of students’ strengths and needs should be comprehensive and conscious in order to remove barriers through a universal design approach, as the learners who populate an online course may be vastly diverse without the typical tells of a physical classroom and interactions. The abilities and disabilities of online learners can remain hidden, but thorough accessibility planning can, “Prompt the instructor to access the course content from the student's point of view” (Georgia Tech Research on Accessible Distance Education, 2006). Furthermore differences that are below the surface, such as those in ethnic background and experiences may not fit with an online course’s potential, “‘Cultural hegemony,’ a phenomenon that refers to the ways in which assumptions of a group/person achieve dominance and are viewed as common-sense understandings or interests that serve for all” (Uzuner, 2009). For example, a small group of students, recently immigrated to Canada from the Congo, may not possess many of the underlying cultural knowledge of basic computer usage including power buttons and mousing. Another challenge to consider is a student’s inequity of access as the result of factors such as their geographic location or socioeconomic status. The responsibility of securing a computer with Internet access may be shared by the student’s family, school, district and possibly external funders, but needs to be addressed and never assumed. Formative assessment, that is, assessment for or during the learning process, is imperative for an online course format and should be done regularly to ensure students are developing their knowledge of the course. Some formative methods for online course work could be as simple as students posting responses to a weekly discussion board question, group chatting, or contributing to a wiki. In all cases, the task allows the teacher to monitor the learning taking place, misconceptions, gaps in subject knowledge, and misunderstanding that could be addressed in a timely fashion. Formative assessment may also allow a teacher to see where or when their course instruction or planning is deficient or off-track. Teachers could also solicit their peers to review the resources employed in an online course and gather student feedback through focused, anonymous, online surveys. Both these measures account for a greater level of clarity and objectivity in instructions, experiences, and assignments. Because of the many above potentially barriers, course preparation in an online format needs to be inclusive and conscientious of learners, with a special attention given to the clarity of information presented and assessment tasks. It is recommended that prior to commencing an online course, teacher consultation with learning support personnel should occur. As well, the instructor could consider assigning students to prepare some basic information introducing themselves to their classmates. The benefits of such a simple act as introductions, can serve to inform all class members as well as give the opportunity to find group commonalities and exceptionalities. Once informed of students’ needs, the online teacher will continue to conduct various methods of formative assessment and keep in touch to monitor individual students who may be experiencing difficulties for some reason or another.

The issue of accessibility carries over when considering the teaching staff as well as their students. Within a school’s collection of professionals, varying competencies, comforts, and access to technology exist. As teachers who are early adopters of technology are often the first or most likely to receive resources (hardware, software, or opportunities to teach online courses), there lies a great potential for online technologies and online learning to divide teachers. Teaching has long been described as an isolated profession, and therefor it may be ironic that online learning resources designed to allow teachers located across the world to collaborate, may in fact isolate a teacher from his or her colleagues down the hall. In response to this potential challenge to online learning, teacher training and professional development should be geared towards the great collaborative potential of emerging web-based technologies. While some seasoned educators may resist technology, technology will not yield. Furthermore, stakeholders in education today, mainly parents, “Are notably dissatisfied with the availability of quality technology in schools and teachers’ skills in using technology”, (Blackboard Inc, 2009) and demand teachers to be better trained in the use of educational technologies. Teachers are at the center of effective implementation of technology in schools, as noted, “Educational technology is not, and never will be, transformative on its own—it requires teachers who can integrate technology into the curriculum and use it to improve student learning” (Carlson & Tidiane Gadio, 2003). To this end, and in recognition that the abilities and needs of teachers are as vast as those of their students, professional development for teaching staff needs to be, “Multifaceted, modular, authentic, collaborative, “incentivized,” iterative and ongoing, allocated sufficient time and financial resources, cost-effective, and evaluated and revised” (Carlson & Tidiane Gadio, 2003). While this list of may seem exhausting, teachers must be well trained in the use of online tools and their application in order to create web-based opportunities that take full advantage of the unique learning environment of Internet-based courses. Without comprehensive professional development as described above, the business of teaching will likely continue as usual with superficial updates. And while some parties are satisfied with the status quo, backed by research supporting today’s students’ learning preferences for technology, Marc Prensky suggests what is required is, “Invention - new things in new ways. Change is the order of the day in our kids' twenty-first-century lives. It ought to be the order of the day in their schools as well” (Prensky, 2005). To this end, teachers’ professional autonomy needs to be increased in order for teachers to access, build, and share online learning resources both globally and locally. It needs to be recognized that, “Focusing on online technology solely as a mechanism to deliver training and/or create online networks places the cart before the horse by ignoring the Internet's even greater potential to help support and strengthen local communities of practice within which teachers work” (Schlager & Fusco, 2003). Supporting teachers to employ technology ought to be a grassroots, upward swell instead of a top-down approach in which everyone will use software ‘A’. And while teachers, their unions, and researchers have long been arguing for greater dedication and funding to establish sound pedagogies and methodologies through professional development focused on technology, ultimately such actions rely on the financial support of the administrators in schools and districts.

The success or failure of any online learning experience still hinges on the reliability of the technology, the infrastructure, and information technology (IT) support available. The rather large responsibility of determining which and how technologies will be supported in learning falls largely on the shoulders of a relatively few administrators. Issues such as computer obsolescence, Internet bandwidth capacity, and network security all make the promise of online learning into a complicated logistic puzzle limited to a finite (sometimes shrinking) budget. To guide and ensure the progressive employment of technology such as in online learning, administration needs to work with a transparent, accessible district technology plan. Such a document should evolve regularly and aim to address the broader issues of technology in education and not mandate this or that software or practice. That being said, most districts are investing their online course budget in a particular learning management system, or LMS, such as Blackboard or the like. While such companies offer a stable, comprehensive environment for online learning, many of the tools they bundle and sell are readily available for free online. It’s too bad that ‘network security’ is often cited by IT as a primary concern when considering such low-cost options. To balance the existing infrastructure and future goals of a learning community, administrators should seek feedback on their district technology plan regularly from all involved parties. Also, instituting built-in feedback or rating features to staff/IT interactions can help to easily produce data for reviewing the success of a system. If online learning is to evolve and grow, evaluation of it as a complete system must be ongoing and thorough.

While challenges will be faced at every level of online learning, so too evaluation must be multifaceted and targeted at all levels. By the differing nature of the online environments and interactions, we cannot rely on traditional or informal means of evaluation. But therein lies one promised advantage of web-based learning, as the technology itself has the potential to act as the tool providing the necessary feedback and results. If such web tools exist as they do, the focus of educators’ work should solely be accessing and assessing the potential of online learning in order for it to live up to its promise.

Works Cited

Blackboard Inc. (2009). Learning in the 21st century: Parents’ perspectives, parents’ priorities. Education in the 21st Century, DOI: www.blackboard.com/k12/education21c.

Butler, K. (2003, July 4). How to manage 'difficult' students online. Retrieved from http://community.flexiblelearning.net.au/TeachingTrainingLearners/content/article_3753.htm

Canis Learning Systems, Inc, (2011, September 6). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.virtualstudent.com/

Carlson, S., & Tidiane Gadio, C. (2003). Teacher professional development in the use of technology. For Education, Retrieved from http://www.ictinedtoolkit.org/usere/library/tech_for_ed_chapters/08.pdf

Georgia Tech Research on Accessible Distance Education. (2006). Accesselearning module 2: Access plan background. Retrieved from http://www.accesselearning.net/mod2/2_02.php

Prensky, M. (2005). Adopt or adapt: Shaping tech for the classroom. Edutopia, Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Adopt_and_Adapt-Edutopia-01.doc&ei=3qLfTrTtBfC62gXU5YiUBQ&usg=AFQjCNE9xNa4u_IJiL8nUh4eLAdH8AbGrA

Schlager, M. S., & Fusco, J. A. (2003). Are we putting the cart before the horse. The Information Society, 19(3), 203-20. doi: 10.1080/01972240390210046

Uzuner, S. (2009). Questions of culture in distance learning: A research review. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3), doi: 1492-3831