Transcript K.I.T e-Learning - Fernstudium

e-Learning: Perceptions and reality
Prof. Paul Leng
Preconceptions (1)
Things we know about e-Learning:
 Alienation:
- Low student involvement, lack of intellectual
challenge and dialogue
- Lack of personal contact/social interaction
 Quality issues:
- Low teacher involvement, little student support
- Low academic standards
 Technology-dominated
 Prone to plagiarism
(None of this is true)
Why online learning?
• Some obvious answers:
– Widening access: make education available to people at
home or in the workplace
• The disabled
• Full-time workers
• House-bound parents
– Globalisation
– Reducing costs, compared to campus-based education
• We shall see
Preconceptions (2)
Some things we know about Universities:
-
Students and staff come together to engage in lively
intellectual discourse, informed by expertise of staff
who are themselves challenged by the critique of
the students…
(No, that’s not always true either)
Some less obvious answers
• Perhaps on-campus education isn’t so great:
– How much intellectual debate really goes on?
– How closely do teachers engage with their students?
• Could e-Learning actually be a better
learning experience?
Some views
• “The camaraderie between fellow students and tutors was
phenomenal”.
• “..I have forged great friendships..”
• “..two and a half years of highly enjoyable, energy-sapping,
inspiring effort..”
• “The intensity was high, but the classroom discussions made the
courses lively..”
• “…one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life.”
(comments of e-Learning graduates)
e-Learning at Liverpool University
Partnership with Laureate
The University of Liverpool
Online Masters Programmes
• Wholly internet-delivered
• Asynchronous interactive model
• MSc in I.T./IS Management and MBA programmes
• Targeted at working professionals
• Here will focus on the MBA (launched in January 2001)
Concerns about an online degree
•
“Academic standards will be lower”
•
“Quality of learning experience will be poor”
•
–
Reputation of University provides some
safeguards
–
Conversely: reputation could be threatened if
preconception becomes reality
So: Quality and Standards are key issues
Teaching Quality
• NOT a replication of the traditional classroom
• NOT an electronic version of paper-based distance
learning
– Need to allow students to work in their own time
– Want to avoid a passive approach to learning
Pedagogic Principles
• Constructivism:
– students construct their own understanding of the subject
• Collaborative enquiry:
– understanding is reached via a process of enquiry and
discussion involving all the class
How Does It Work?
• The teaching paradigm is the seminar rather than the lecture:
– Modules are divided into seminars
– Theory is acquired through individual reading and
research, lecture and additional materials
– Theory is applied in individual and group assignments
– Concepts are collaboratively discussed in a virtual
classroom
The Virtual Classroom
• Structured hierarchy of email folders
– Separate folders for course materials, assignments,
correspondence and discussion, group work, etc.
– Assignments folder is write-only
(read by course instructor)
– Discussion folder is read/write
(for open discussion of module topics)
• Sharing of class knowledge/experience
Typical module structure
• 6 one-week seminars
• Each seminar includes:
– An online ‘lecture’ and associated learning materials
– Reading assignments
– Questions for class discussion
– Possibly: ongoing group project work
– Other exercises/assignments
• Strict one-week timeframe
– Assessment and feedback in following week
Key learning features
• Collaborative learning:
– Students work together (entire class or smaller groups)
– Outside experience of students brought in to help others
(NB students are working professionals)
• Key role of moderated discussion (an assessed component)
• Maximum of 18 students per class
• Expected involvement: 18-25 hours/week
Some observations
• Costs: not a low-cost model
– Module development
– Module delivery
• Max 18:1 SSR
• High instructor involvement
discussion, assessment and feedback)
– Infrastructure, administration, marketing
• Academic standards and quality control
– Vital for credibility
Monitoring delivery
• All communications (including feedback and other private
instructor/student communications) are viewable
• Each virtual classroom monitored online by e-Learning Unit
• Module monitoring verifies:
– Adherence to curriculum, procedures, etc
– Maintenance of academic standards
– Teaching quality
– Assessment outcomes
The role of discussion
• Discussion in Virtual Classroom:
– Establishes identity of students
– Guarantees involvement: prevents isolation and alienation
– Requires active tutor participation
– Facilitates collaboration: students help each other, share
experience
– Enables progress monitoring: student absence
immediately revealed
– Reduces risk of plagiarism
Student comments
• “The discussions with other students were most helpful in
expanding my understanding of the various subjects”
• “The subject and discussion were good… a lot of real
experiences to share”
• “The support I have received from my fellow students and the
different ideas that came to the fore were interesting and helpful”
• “Varied contribution of other students provided an enriching
learning experience”
Conclusions
Some final remarks
Outcomes
• Registrations of online degrees:
Year
Registrations
2000
25
2002
690
2005
2000
• Average age 38, 10.5 years work experience
• Over 100 countries represented
• Over 90% would recommend programme to colleagues
• Successful QAA review
Graduation Numbers
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Online Learning: Image and Reality
Preconception:
Actual:
- Impersonal and alienating
- Very high student-student
and staff-student interaction
- Bulk processing
- Classrooms of up to 20
students
- Low delivery cost
- Costs similar to on-campus
teaching, except for premises
- Low standards
- High demands on staff
and students
Summary: Why e-Learning?
• First Key advantage : can obtain higher degree while
continuing to work full-time
•
But also: we believe online learning can be (in many
respects) more intellectually stimulating than much
(most?) lecture-based teaching
• To achieve this, we must focus on pedagogy rather
than technology
For feedback and questions
[email protected]
or
www.uol.ohecampus.com