Experience and supporting elearning

Q1 How important, if at all, is it for you personally to feel part of an online community when you are studying?

This is a very good question and one I started asking after TMA3, where we ponder our involvement in the forums. We are by our nature a group, but does being a group make us a community. We support each other, make each other laugh and signposts to our own understanding and context, so I guess we are. Having other people motivated helps you to be motivated and creates the human element. I know some people think they don't need other people, but other people enrich our lives and our understanding making both knowledge and experience richer. So , yes, I do need the community around me when studying. Excitement is created in sharing. But you can't create it artificially, you have to let it happen.

Which takes us back to some of our early readings and whether the early activities help to create the identity and the number of people who say that that a bad collaborative experience tend to create a bad view of collaboration. We do this is face to face as well, setting group tasks that encourage participation and reflection. Which take us back to this idea of designing in activities that help people learn to learn and integrate.

Q2 When your learners are studying material that you have created, can you rely on other people or services to support them

Of course. Just as during a face-to-face course you have a team around you, so it can be online. That team should be working together though, rather than have no integration at all, as has been suggested in some literature. A clear brief and teambuilding for the online team is as important as support for students.

The questions in practice.

As an aside, yesterday I was at OU in Milton Keynes for a meeting for work and the development of Youth Work modules (sitting with my voluntary sector hat on). During the meeting there was discussion about the need for the redesign of early modules to incorporate some skills building for the learners so that they can be brought to the right level for study, start to learn good habits etc. The modules in question had never had a compulsory ICT element, but there was also recognition that this was now very important. All of the things we have been talking about over the past few meetings were being discussed in a real life situation, so it was interesting to see hat even within the OU, these are discussions that are still very current.

Scaffolding for success

The third paper that we are to look at is by Stacey Ludwig-Hardman, and focuses on learner support services.

I really liked this paper, as it was an example of many of the things I have been talking about and thinking about for years – the need to focus on the needs of learners.

The paper highlights that dropouts are higher in distance education, as learners are physically more isolated from each other, and therefore learner support is crucial.

The paper highlights that often learners need to develop new skills, and learn how to learn in a different way. When I read this initial paragraph, I wrote this at the bottom

“ It needs to be clear to the learners beforehand what the expectations of them are. Just as we assess learner’s styles we need to assess whether this is the right method for them. If we need to sell the experience, we need to communicate the benefits to fit the individual”

The rest of the paper helped to develop these ideas, and I probably should have read on first! The paper describes the different approaches they use. Through an initial interview, self-assessment tools and a learner orientation they decide if this is the right route for individuals. This also echoed ideas of a webinar I will soon be attending … ‘Should we be recruiting good learners?’. I am intrigue to find out what this webinar has to say on the issue, but there is a definite message in that different learners require different support structures and approaches, and that not all learners will be successful in online environments. I have come across learning styles assessments in varying forms, and they can sometimes be useful. The learning orientation questionnaire however looks at the approach people may take. So some people may lean towards instructional learning where as others prefer independent learning, and this is very important when designing support, as some will be more resistance, or need more change in their learned learner style to overcome this. The support is about helping people to develop good learning behaviours as well as being a critical friend and mentor.

This idea of a mentor relationship sits well within my context. We aim to have training advisers in a face-to-face environment who support learners in deciding the best learning routes and ways to consolidate (validate) their learning. They may be a critical friend or simple an administrative support, but where successful, learners describe them as a mentor and have a continuing relationship with in their Scouting journey. The ideas about having access to a community of learners also reminded me of the comments we always get about courses, in that the best bit was meeting and sharing with other people, as that’s where most of the learning happens. Social interaction is a critical part of learning, I agree, especially in my context where teamwork is one of the underlying values of everything we do.

In summary this paper echoes comments I have made throughout about the importance of knowing your learners and designing learning based on that , with it’s support around them. The best learning that I have given, has been designed in consultation with the learners themselves, looking at what they like and don’t like, finding ways to challenge them in a safe environment. This will be different for every individual, which is sometimes why it can be more satisfying motivating learning within people you know and have a relationship with, than with strangers. Designing activities involves designing this preparation into it, whether is is an official part often activities or not.

Ludwig-Hardman, S. and Dunlap, J.C. (2003) ‘Learner support services for online students: scaffolding for success’, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning [online] http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/131/211

Learner's life events

The next paper by Dearnley (2003) ‘Student Support in Open Learning: Sustaining the process’, which discusses the external pressure and support that may be needed by students. Dearnley categories these as social, professional and academic.

‘Students must be recognised as adults with life responsibilities who are prone to life events’

I was particularly interested in the discussion around needing to change people’s learning habits, as many of us are taught in an instructional way. It took me back to Sylvia’s comment back in the first few week about students wanting her to tell them the answer. Especially when dealing with lifelong learners, we need to remember that they may need more time to adapt and learn how to learn in a new way.

How might your learners’ life events affect how they react to your materials?

Will they have any of the same issues as the students in Dearnley’s paper?

Resoundly YES! I work with volunteers, so already have plenty of experience of the commitments that make up their lives.They cannot be expected to do things at the same rate as in a working context as they are doing what they do in their spare time. This makes it easier and harder. For those who already organise their lives, they will be more aware of the support they need. For others, the motivation may be more difficult.

Understanding the level of commitment you need to expect is important, and

Which social, academic and professional frameworks do you access as a student?

It was interesting to think about the networks that are around me, supporting me. When I started this course I was lucky that I was working a lot of weekends. This meant I had a fair few hours in hotel rooms to read and days off in the week to study at home. This has changed throughout the duration of the course, and I have had to adopt different methods and approaches. I find it quite difficult to read at home, so I tend to print things off, read them on the train and spend my evenings on the sofa writing up my thoughts. I think it is hard for our families. (I say this while telling my partner that I am so not listening to what he is saying as I am concentrating on work). The support of family is important, but also learning to manage time is too. Last week we were on holiday, so I set aside specific days in which to study so it wouldn’t interfere with our social time.

Interestingly, the relationships I have formed with volunteers are the main source of my professional framework. Many of them are professionals themselves, have been through OU learning or are interested in similar subjects. This is one of the strengths of my relationships, in fact friendships, with people I have met through work, maybe more so than work colleagues. I also think that some of the networks and social sites that I belong to have good to look to support my learning and development. Also the blogging and support of other learners has an immense impact on my professional support, as I see them as likeminded individuals. I am still trying to convince work colleagues and hierarchy of how important this is within my development and the development of our discipline, so in many ways I have a barrier from my direct workplace. (But we all suffer somewhat from that).

The academic framework has been a particularly interesting one to explore, as for years I have been very resistant to doing any further training. I think this is because the way I like to learn is to explore and develop my understanding, and many of the opportunities given have been about instruction training. Coming to the course with an open mind, obviously helps, and I will muse on this further with some of the other readings I have undertaken.

Dearnley, C. (2003) ‘Student support in open learning: sustaining the process’, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning [online] http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/132/212

Creating successful Elearning materials

So McLoughlin gives us the guidelines that materials created should:

·         increase your learners’ chance of succeeding in a task

·         help them to do something they couldn’t accomplish on their own

·         move them to a ‘new and improved zone of understanding’

·         help them to operate independently.

Q1 Read the ten dimensions, and pick any two you think are important. Why are those two relevant to learning materials that you’d like to design?

What was interesting about the ten dimensions, is once again that many of the learning activities we currently have in f2f materials show similar characteristics. Which makes my initial goal at the start of this module, in creating learning activities online that mirror the strength on f2f learning activities, seem more attainable day by day.

I think that Accessibility will be hugely important, depending on how we pick the learners. As we are looking at a volunteer force, they come from a variety of backgrounds. I think that a decision would need to be made in the first instance, and initial trials of online activity, as to whether there should be a minimum requiremnt for technical competency. As this develops, tutorials and support that show people how to use the technology would be important. In fact, I still think that using a tool like Elluminate, where you can take people through the technology ‘live’ by sharing desktops is suitable.

The main design and objectives are already in place and really the learning design needs to be based around the methods, and how we get people there, so I guess that Alignment becomes the other important dimension. (If I am to choose 2!). Just as a trainer would design activities in a f2f environment, the activities online must align with the objects and key knowledge and outcomes.This is always where the creativiy of the trainer comes in to make the experience fun and interesting and

Q2 What are your first thoughts on how you’ll design your materials? If you choose the ‘alignment’ dimension, for instance, how will you make sure that your teaching approach is consistent with – aligns with – the outcomes you want your learners to attain?

In the first instance I think that the materials need to be simply designed, using technology I feel confident working with. I have wanted to actively take content and create an online experience for a while, and in particular I have been focussing on workbooks, and how we could make this a collaborative experience. (Mainly because feedback from courses is always that the best bit was sharing with other people). I need to decide on the group of learners and the area to cover, which will determine the approach to take. As I intend to also do this for real, I hope to then approach/recruit the learner group and get some relevant feedback.

So really in the next few week, I am hoping that our practice with ‘etivities’ helps us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of particular areas.

McLoughlin ‘Learner support in distance and networked learning environments: ten dimensions for successful design’

Following on from the role the e-tutor last week, and how the skills need to be redefined, McCloughlin suggests that the same kind of redefinition is needed in supporting learners (in fact she include the role of the tutor in this)

Design guidelines for constructivist learning include:

· Providing experience of the knowledge construction process

· Providing experience in and appreciation of multiple perspectives

· Creating learning tasks that are relevant and authentic

· Encouraging ownership and voice in the learning process

· Embedding learning in social experience

· Encouraging the development of multiple modes of representation

· Encouraging self-awareness of the knowledge construction process

Models of support include:

(Beed, Hawkins and Roller 1991)

· Assisted modelling: Teachers provide some coaching and models that enable the completion of the task.

· Element identification: The teacher identifies the elements of the desired approach or

strategies to help students complete the task.

· Strategy naming: The teacher articulates a relevant strategy and students employ it on their

own.

(Roehler and Cantlon 1997)

· Offering explanations: Explicit statements are given by an expert to elaborate on learners’

emerging understandings.

· Inviting students’ participation: Learners are given opportunities to assume control of the

knowledge-building process.

· Verification and clarification of students’ understandings: If emerging understandings are

reasonable, the teacher verifies the students’ responses. If the understandings are erroneous,

the teacher offers clarification.

· Modelling of desired behaviours: This includes making thinking visible, as in think-aloud,

showing what someone thinks about the learning process at a given moment.

· Generating questions and comments as in think-aloud: This occurs, for example, when a

teacher shows how to articulate a problem-solving process by talking through the steps.

Teachers generate questions and comments initially and students then take over the

questioning role.

· Inviting students to contribute actively: Learners are encouraged to contribute clues in order to complete a task and to articulate their understandings of task demands.

Scaffolding in f2f is very different from online. In f2f the teacher and learner occupy the same space, and the support is teacher driven. Distance learning is resources based and self-paced and therefore direct teacher interventions is not always possible.

Effective support includes:

• Encouraging reflective thinking
• Provision of social support
• Interaction and extension of ideas with feedback from peers and mentors

 Categories of scaffolding

·       Orientation/ communication of expectation (clear comms of what they should achieve)

·       Coaching (support via software)

·       Eliciting articulation (expressing current understanding)

·       Task support (aiding /person as expertise)

·       Conceptual scaffolding (analytic skills through multiple answers)

·       Metacognitive scaffolding (tools to record thinking)

·       Procedural scaffolding (how to use resources , like databases etc)

·       Strategic scaffolding (offer alternative pathways – engage in decision making)

Examples of technology only scaffolding:

Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environment(CSILE). Based on a shared database where text and graphics can be stored. Students can then create their own ‘nodes’ of information that others can comment on, and the authors are notified when comments are made. It aims to promote knowledge building in a community. (more information on the Edutech wiki, or AECT)

Intelligent Tutoring Systems(ITS) .Learners are guided through sequences of tasks. The learners progress is charted against an expert model, and thus customised instruction o feedback is given.

Goal Based Scenarios(GBS). Here students engage in a task that has a goal to achieve, resources are provided to help this. This is most useful where mastery is involved, like in a science subject.

Design Support Environments(DSE) Students engage in the design of the software or instruction. It seems that this is mostly used in upskilling teachers to use online tools for education/learning design.

In summary McLoughlin characterises effective scaffolding as:

· reducing the scope for failure in the task that the learner is attempting;

· enabling learners to accomplish a task that they would not be able to achieve on their own;

· moving learners to a new and improved zone of understanding;

· bringing learners closer to a state of independent competence.

  

The ten dimensions

1.Goal Orientation

Highly Focused < > unfocused

But designed to support independent learning and task performance

2.Adaptability

Fixed< > Flexible

Meeting the needs of a diverse range of learners, and adapting as development occurs

3. Accessibility

High < >Low

When needed (just in time), eg tutorials or FAQs to assist

4.Alignment

High < > Low

Support should align with task goals and learning outcomes – the right tools and resources available at the right time.

5. Experiential value

High < > Low

Include ways that enable learners to plan, act and reflect. Afforded an experience

6.Collaboration

Supported < > Unsupported

Learning through social dialogue, opportunities to communication and collaborate.

7. Constructivism

Strong < > Weak

Knowledge construction rather than memorisation – offer tools and tasks to support this.

               

8.Learning Orientation

Teacher regulation < > Learner regulation

Should be moving from teacher to self to learner self direction

9. Multiplicity

one-dimensional < > multi-dimensional

limited to one aspect of learning to applicable to many aspects (eg metacognition,reflection, articulation)

10 Granularity

low< > High

The number of component parts within the activity – how can they be broken down by the learner?

Conclusion

Scaffolding needs to support learners by giving them more control over their learning environment and the activities they undertake, but it should not assume that learners know how to do this.

Scaffolding needs to foster task engagement, social interaction and peer feedback. The dimensions can help assess the effectiveness of the support with a constructivist learning context – serving as a benchmark.

McLoughlin, C. (2002) ‘Learner support in distance and networked learning environments: ten dimensions for successful design’, Distance Education, vol.23, no.2, pp.149–62.

Salmons etivities - a response

Muirhead reiterates the fact that learner centred design is difficult, especially when CMC is based on the needs of an institution. He uses bases his paper on an example from New York University, and highlights how they failed to address the learners needs. He highlights some key points from Spitzers(1998) learning design, and most importantly the key role role that instructors and tutors play in bringing in the human element.

• Focus on the learner
• Make it easy to access and easy to use
• Have a personal element, which is where tutors come in
• Use technology the students can use, provide technical support and allow an adjustment period
• High levels of communication
• Involve all stakeholders
• Create a positive, motivating environment

Pavey and Garland’s report looks at a VLE used in Sports and Physiology degree. They used Salmon’s etivities and framework to create formative quizzes, interactive webpages, topic discussions and online lectures. Interestingly they completed stage 1 in a face to face environment, and used the online activities to enhance the f2f experiences. The three features that come through this are the successful introduction and integration of the students, the careful planning and presence of the tutor and that although there was a good response, most said they liked it as part of a blended experience, not as a replacemnet for f2f.

Jones and Peachey focus on Salmon’s stage 2 and whether it is necessary. The example they used is based around upskilling online tutors, many of whom were lecturers focussed on content with little online experience. Again a f2f induction was conducted, with icebreakers used to introduce the technology. They comment that there was less anxiety in using technology because of the f2f introductions. (It should be noted that there is no comparison, or test group so this assertions is based on this one activity). However the comments from students were that the integration tasks could have been quicker, which leads Jones and Peachy to assert that there may be a possibility that stage 2 is not needed, as informal posting dropped after stage 1 activities.

How does Salmon fit with our learning design?

Certainly our current elearning design is in no way reflective of this approach, as it is based on instructional design. However our learning material is normally carefully constructed to allow for a learning ‘journey’ to take place, and as I often write this with volunteers, I can look at the similarities from a face to face point of view.

Stage 1 – Access and motivation. An introduction and icebreaker is normally included to allow learners to get to know each other and start the socialisation process.

Stage 2 – Socialisation. Often the early tasks will include some form of group work or activity that asks people for their point of view, promoting discussion and allowing people to understand the context from which they come.

Stage 3- Information exchange. Most of the learning activities are action driven, requiring participants to gain knowledge from the trainer or each other and use to understand their roles better. There is a strong element of feedback and clear directions for trainers as to the content that needs to be covered.

Stage 4 – Knowledge Construction. Although not always present, there are strong collaborative elements to some of the learning designs, whereby learning design development plans or activities for themselves, using the knowledge they have attained.

Stage 5 –Development. This stage is less evident in the learning experiences themselves and probably more relevant to the validation stage, where we ask learners to put their acquired knowledge and skills into action in the roles that they do, and review this.

Although this is based upon our face to face learning design, I am sure that this can be adapted for the online environment. It has the basic framework to be developed.

Going back full circle to the start of this journey, I said that I wished we could transfer f2f content into the online environment. The reason we don’t do this well is because we remove the human element. Just as good trainers use activities to allow learners to explore knowledge for themselves (which is my prefered method), a good elearning environment needs a good trainer (tutor)to guide learners through it. The bad trainers use powerpoint presentations with no active involvement from learners, and we are guilty of this instructional approach with our past elearning design.

Ah – the realisation of my goal! Maybe the etivities will help in seeing how easy/hard it is to become said trainer.

Muirhead, B. (2002) ‘Salmon’s e-tivities: the key to active online learning’, USDLA Journal, vol.16, no.8

Pavey, J. and Garland, S.W. (2004) ‘The integration and implementation of a range of “e-tivities” to enhance students’ interaction and learning’, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, vol.41, no.3, pp.305–15.

Jones, N. and Peachey, P. (2004) ‘The development of socialisation in an on-line learning environment’, paper given at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in 2004

Week 15 task - social networking

We were asked to explore, again, so of the tools available to us. By this point in the course, I think I have forgotten exactly what I have signed up for!

Anyway a quick look at the following:

Delicious (storing and sharing favourite urls)

Diigo (caching or archiving web content – can file urls, categorise them, comment)

Flickr (managing content – can share photos, send to blogs, comment or tag)

What skills or eliteracies might be required to use these services effectively?

With each of these tools there is an assumed amount of knowledge and internet access and also a need to create a account to use. These are not simple tools to use in my opinion, they take a certain degree of competence in using web tools.This could be done through orientation,or by using something like Elluminate and sharing a browser to take people through step by step. Once again, I found that they looked really interesting but that I didn’t have time to fully utilise them. The other thing I struggle with is that often I will use my work PC in my break to have a browse – but I am not allowed to download any software without the IT department’s authorisation, so often I cannot add links to Delicious as quickly as I would like. So if I have difficulty, no doubt my learners would too.This could have a huge impact on whether they would engage with an activity.

There is also the subject of ‘tagging’. Having started using a content management system for our website at work, this really is an evolutionary process. How do I tag content so that it is useful to me as well as others(in order to make it colloborative). Also, I suffer from putting things in a ‘safe’ place in real life, and I think there is a possibility that this could happen with my tagging – and me forgetting which words I used. It takes time to truly use these tools in a useful way, and this would need to be taken into consideration.

To what extent are the services able, or not able, to support and sustain meaningful exchanges or learning conversations?

As with many online tools, they could be useful as a ‘learning object’ or within a well designed activity. There has to be clear guidelines on aims, objectives and involvement of learners. Using the tools as an individual, I am not sure they have any merit in encouraging learning conversations. I have yet to engage with anyone else while looking for files on delicious. Within the framework of a planned activity, with external support then it may be useful. Certainly when researching for projects or sharing investigations then the tools could prove very useful.

What educational issues are raised by these social tools; e.g. issues of trust, authenticity, self-disclosure or informal learning?

There are more issues to consider when using these tools with young people than adults. The fact that they need an account means that there are issues with who can and can’t sign in. However I work with adults, so will focus from that arena. Again, the assumption that the adults will be happy to create an account is important.

The book marking sites by their nature record what you have bookmarked, and employ cookies where toolbars are downloaded. Diigo say they do not record browsing history, but most of these services link through yahoo or google, and so there will be a certain amount of tracking as this is how they monitor and improved the service they provide. As with all online resources. As learners I do not think there is much self-disclosure between each other, it is the third party service providers who have personal data. This would be different with the sharing of photos. As the OU does, there is a need to inform people of what and how these tools can be used, and awareness that there may be some students who won’t use them.

How could I use these tools?

I can think of instances where each of these tools could be used for an activity within a learning framework. Where training involves topics that are generally widespread, eg, leadership skills, there could be scope for learners to conduct their own investigation and share the content they have discovered. In particular I think these would be useful for trainers to link to each other and build up their resources – provided that the systems they already have are ineffective.