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Online Learning: Rhetoric or reality?

By Geoff Scott and Shirley Alexander - posted Tuesday, 15 February 2000


Introduction

Is Communication and Information Technology (CIT)-enabled learning, otherwise known as online learning, a case of the emperor's new clothes or truly a force which is about to change not just society but the face of education and training forever?

A range of recent reports commissioned by the Australian government has highlighted the growing expectations for CIT to facilitate significant change in higher education.

There is little doubt that a large degree of faith and money is currently being invested in CIT-enabled learning. A recent Report by the Bank of America (September, 1999) predicts that the market for web-based training in the U.S. will have risen from $200 million in 1997, to $2 billion in 2000 and $5.5 billion in 2002.

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Unfortunately, the rhetoric of the CIT-led revolution is rarely matched by research or evaluation evidence to substantiate the financial, vocational, societal, cultural, creative or personal benefits anticipated.

Evolution of Educational Technologies

Since the invention of writing there has been a passing parade of new technologies, each of which it is claimed has the potential to 'revolutionise learning'.

Completion of the first business computer in 1951 heralded a wave of new applications for computers, including the use of a computer to predict the outcome of a presidential election in 1952. Educationalists responded quickly and the dream of the 50s was that college classrooms would be connected to computers which would serve as patient tutors and scrupulous examiners. Further, it was expected that the benefits to students would include the freedom to follow their own paths of learning, at their own pace at a time convenient to them, with richer materials to work with and automatic measurement of their progress.

Early evaluation studies generally supported the effectiveness of computer-based teaching as a supplement to conventional instruction.

A number of media comparison studies were produced in the 1980s which were typically based around a scientific research paradigm with control and treatment groups and pre- and post-tests. A large proportion of these studies revealed that students who had used computer-based instruction achieved better results than those who were taught in a classroom. A further study revealed however, that those learning gains virtually disappeared when the same instructor taught both the control group and the experimental group.

Not to be discouraged by the 'roar, stumble and fade' of Computer Based Instruction, the last few years have seen the promises of multimedia and online learning draw yet another enthusiastic crowd.

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The Claimed Benefits & Realities of Online Learning

The Bank of America Report claimed a range of benefits. These are listed below with a summary of the evidence to hand and the realities associated with achieving those benefits.

E-learning is beneficial because it:

1. Is available at any time:

Yes, but only if you have an up-to-date computer, net access, know how to use it, can trouble shoot or have the money or friendship/family networks to solve ongoing hardware or software problems; it requires a level of hardware, software and network reliability that is not always there.

2. Is accessible from any location:

True, but only if you are a student from an advantaged background. In fact there is evidence that a two tiered education and training system may be emerging- one for the CIT rich and another for the CIT poor.

3. Can use multimedia - audio, video, real-time video, interactive chat, text etc:

True, but such uses typically require high-end equipment and broad band width to function effectively. Such applications may be advantageous but, as yet, there are no evaluation studies which look at their use as part of a broader learning design or in relation to particular students, disciplines and operating contexts.

4. Accommodates individuals' varying learning styles (it can be self-paced, asynchronous or synchronous, collaborative etc):

20 years' study of effective adult teaching and learning indicates that students respond best to a much broader and appropriate mix of learning tools and resources. In particular, students want and need face to face interaction.

5. Can instantly link you to other resources:

By 2002 there will be 8 billion web pages. Many of them contain dross. The web does not have an E-Dewey system and once located not all resources can be downloaded. Some cost and copyright issues have not yet been sorted out and there are suggestions that online resources available through libraries are beneficial but this is yet to be fully explored.

6. Can help the shy speak out because of its relative anonymity:

Some studies suggest that certain students (e.g. NESB students) find this beneficial.

7. Is learner centred and allows for active learning: used well, the learner is not an 'empty jug' who is filled up with information but an active participant in the learning process:

This is an effect of the learning design rather than being an effect of the technology itself.

8. Uses learning 'modules' which allow for flexible and multiple combinations of content to suit unique learner needs:

This contradicts learning research which indicates that active, responsive opportunities for learning not passive receipt of prepackaged information is more effective.

9. Uses CIT which is now powerful and reliable enough to support convenient learner-learner and learner-teacher interaction:

This is true but not for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Wholesale application of the technology in this way is likely to generate serious equity issues.

10. Uses software which allows operators to monitor student and system performance in an ongoing way:

This is part of a teacher centred, transmission, compliance conception of learning and is contradicted by research on effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Furthermore some students object to this level of surveillance.

11. Results in cost-savings: provides an efficient and cost-effective model for education:

Available data indicates that participation and retention rates for online courses in institutions like the University of Phoenix are relatively low. Our own research confirms that the most effective learning programs use CIT wisely and appropriately as one learning tool as part of a broader learning program. Therefore CIT is not a replacement but an enhancement to learning and does not, result in cost savings. At present the full cost of CIT use and support has not been determined.

12. Can lead to increased revenue - provides a way to expand enrolments without having to invest in bricks and mortar:

See point 11. The available data does not substantiate this claim. Attracting students is only one factor - it is their retention that is central to effective revenue generation.

13. Provides a greater spread of convenient access to a wider range of resources:

This is only true for the learners from more advantaged backgrounds.

14. Can track learner needs, prior learning and current performance career long:

This implies a level of seamless computer assisted student/staff administration that does not exist, except in organisations with great resources. Also implies either the establishment of a central database (with FOI and security implications) or that individuals stay in the one company/organisation for life.

Research evidence for effectiveness

There are very few studies which explore the use of CIT in combination with other learning tools as part of a total learning design and experience. At present the limited number of available studies are just of a particular form of CIT - like online learning and not of the learning system of which it may have to be part.

A recent (1998) national study conducted at UTS on the impact of CIT projects on student learning did however, find some evidence of improved quality of learning, increased productivity of learning, improved student attitudes to learning, and enhanced access to learning opportunities for students using CIT programs. These outcomes were however, in the minority of the 104 projects studied, and were not the result of the use of IT alone. Rather, a successful learning outcome for students was a result of a complex system of appropriate learning design, adequate preparation and support of students using the projects, an environment in which students had adequate access to CIT equipment, appropriate assessment of learning activities, and a positive experience of group work where that was required.

When this system was in place, there was evidence for a range of improvements in student learning outcomes for particular CIT projects including:

  1. development of a more sophisticated and global understanding of complex international political issues;
  2. improved understanding of concepts which students are known to have difficulty with in a range of disciplines;
  3. enhanced communication between part-time students and their lecturer;
  4. learning to work in groups;
  5. self-assessment of students’ learning of concepts.

Some of the projects investigated also showed evidence of improved productivity in learning and teaching:

  1. decreased time to learn through the use of animations;
  2. increased content of learning in a given time through the availability of multiple representations;
  3. increased interaction between academic and students through the use of a computer-based conferencing tool on the Internet.

Conclusions

CIT, of itself does not make a difference in improving learning outcomes. However, high quality learning outcomes can be achieved with a combination of appropriate design of the learning activity, appropriate design of assessment of learning to reflect the objectives of the CIT project, adequate preparation of students for different learning experiences, and support for learners as they work in groups.

Most importantly, if we are to ensure that CIT does make a difference for our students, we must more actively develop evaluation studies which demonstrate that the benefits being claimed for its use in education are real.

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About the Authors

Associate Professor Geoff Scott is Coordinator of the Quality Unit at the University of Technology, Sydney. His specific areas of research and writing are change management in education and training; quality management, evaluation, assessment of capability and effective learning design in post-secondary education.

Professor Shirley Alexander is Director of the Institute for Interactive Multimedia at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Related Links
Institute for Interactive Multimedia
Professor Shirley Alexander's Home Page
University of Technology
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