OMDE 608: Learner Support in Distance Education & Training
Assignments and Course Work
OMDE 608 LEARNING JOURNAL
Unit 1: Elements of Learner Support
February 9, 2014:
This is the first official week of class, and I’m excited to see what this course has to offer. While I’m not one who uses student support services on a regular basis, the times I have needed their help have been helpful and a delightful experience. I know that all students need to have access to support services, whether it be from advising or library services, but I’m anxious to see the diverse spectrum of services institutions offer that I’m not yet aware of. This week there were a few reading sources we were required to cover, and I found the piece by Brindley to be the most interesting. Below are my thoughts:
Ultimately, I wanted to pick an article that I didn’t have much experience with so I could learn more about the topic. Despite the fact that I’ve been attending university off and on since 2006, I don't have much experience with learner support and support services. From feeling that I didn’t need the help to not having a full understanding of what exactly was offered to students, I’ve only sought out assistance from student support services on a couple of occasions. According to Learner Services: Theory and Practice by Brindley (1995), learner support varies from tutoring or mentoring, career and academic advising, library services, orientations, counseling, advocacy, and credit coordination (p. 2). In addition, I didn’t realize a theoretical framework was utilized by practitioners for the activities they provide to distance learners. It’s easy to see how student services aren’t necessarily popular from a political or economic standpoint. The theoretical framework is essentially used as a way of providing rationale for student services, especially when you have students like me who don’t use them. According to Brindley (1995), this framework is created by using research findings and contextual factors to develop a relationship between theory and practice, goals of the interventions, which help lead to a particular compliment of services or interventions.
In addition to this information, Brindley also offers a detailed look at the strategies and issues in building an intervention model. Ultimately, the intervention model is a layout of proposed services and the technologies that will be supporting them. Brindley (1995) states that it’s important to be aware of the developmental aspects of a range of services and their delivery methods, as well as the objectives these services aim to meet (p. 4). While most of the issues practitioners face when developing a model are contextual, it is clear that having a sound framework with clear goals is essential when developing intervention models, especially in the case of online distance learning.
What I find most exciting about online distance learning is that it hasn’t been around for all that long. Even more, there are issues and theories alike that are still being challenged and altered as those involved learn more and more about this method of learning. Based solely on my own experiences, I’ve found that the few times I’ve used student services have been with the online courses I’ve taken and not the face-to-face courses. When taking courses online you can’t ask the student sitting next to you in class for advice or guidance, which seems to be how most students learn the ins and outs of college life. Student services can be lifelines to those who need assistance from their schools. In a way, I think the student services can help to build that sense of community so many DE students seek out. Knowing how much goes into the proposal and development stages of student services, I’ll definitely seek them out more often than I have in the past. Overall, I found this particular reading to be extremely informative and enlightening.
Reference
Brindley, J. E. (1995). Learner services: Theory and practice, Distansutbildning i itveckling, Rapport nr. 11 (pp. 23-34). Umea, Sweden: University of Umea
February 23, 2014:
This week was two weeks long, and covered the remaining aspects of Elements of Learner Support. The first week was essentially an introduction and history lesson regarding the different perspectives and rationale for approaches to learner support. These two weeks were concerned with elements like tutoring, teaching, advising, counseling, and other administrative functions. I found this part of the unit to be extremely informative and enlightening. I was unaware of some aspects of student support, and this part of the unit cleared up any issues and aspects I was unaware of. I am building upon the prior knowledge I had regarding student support before taking this course, and am learning much more about these elements than I thought I would. The following are my thoughts on some of the issues covered during this two week period:
I started my bachelor’s degree at UMUC in 2005, and am back to complete my master’s. In the nine years since I last took online courses there have been some extreme changes in both the role of the instructor and the social environment. I agree with Berge (1995) that in the past interpersonal interaction was only between student and instructor (p. 1). While there was a requirement for posting on the discussion board, it wasn’t utilized as a tool for social interaction the way it is now. Students met the minimum requirements, usually posting and responding to one other student, and certainly didn’t use it as a way to build a sense of community. Reading this article, it’s fascinating to see how far distance education has come, even in the last nine years.
Since I have absolutely no experience in the field of education, besides being a student, it wasn’t until last semester that I realized how much it takes to develop and manage an online course. As I progress through the courses in this program, the one thing that continues to come to mind is Börje Holmberg’s (2007) ideas regarding empathy-creating conversational style and how it can benefit an online learning environment (p. 430). I believe Berge (1995) embodies this same theory in his description of the social area of a computer conferencing (CC) environment. He claims that “creating a friendly, social environment in which learning is promoted is also essential for successful moderating” and promotes “human relationships, developing group cohesiveness, maintaining the group as a unit” (1995, p. 2). I believe that there has to be a certain sense of empathy projected by the instructor in order to be successful at this. I imagine that empathy is difficult to obtain in such a structured setting, but not impossible. I think the article by Berge (1995) is an excellent resource, and I’m going to hold on to it for future referencing. It provides a lot of recommendations for instructors to achieve a CC environment where students can be engaged and learn from one another.
I really enjoyed the article by Walti (2004), and felt that it helped me achieve a better understanding of the overall significance of developing and maintaining web-based portfolios and learning journals. Web-based portfolios serve a purpose that extends past simply accomplishing a learning objective. Based on the program requirements at UMUC, web-based portfolios serve as a student support service that benefits learners while working on their MDE and long after graduation. As it relates to student support, portfolios are a collection of items that demonstrates a learners knowledge and skills over a period of time, developing meta-cognitive skills, building self-confidence, and encouraging a contribution to the learning process (Walti, 2004, p. 157).
I took three courses my first semester of the MDE program, and I’ll be honest, keeping up with assignments, the development of my portfolio, and writing in the journals was extremely difficult. Walti (2004) explains that portfolios take a considerable amount of time and that time management is a major concern (p. 160). In an attempt to keep my head above water, I wasn’t able to fully grasp the value of this project during the semester. After the semester was over, I went back over my portfolio and added elements of the semester that I had missed. Reflecting on what I had learned over the semester was overwhelming; three courses and I had a lot to show for it. As Walti stated, my confidence on the subject matter increased and I can already see how it’s helped even in the last three weeks of the present semester. I decided to take on three courses again this semester, and have been able to keep up with the demands of the portfolio, especially since I now have a better handle on content requirements.
When it comes to the journals themselves, their purpose is to provide the learner with an opportunity to reflect on the material they’ve learned, supporting the development of insight, cognitive awareness, critical thinking (Walti, 2004, p. 162). I’ve referred back to my portfolio for assignments, discussions, and for resources. One of my concerns, that Walti (2004) mentions, is storage space. I currently use weebly.com as my portfolio platform. Three courses into my degree and I already have eighteen different pages connected to my portfolio. How many pages will it take before it either crashes or rejects additional pages? When you get towards the end of your MDE, how difficult would it be to add space or start over with another platform? That would be a lot of material to move around, and I’m hoping that won’t be the case for me. Perhaps I should look into this. Overall, I can already see how this portfolio is benefiting me and how it will benefit me in the future.
I went through the presentation and found this type of media to be very useful. It captured my attention and reminded me of books in CD form. I learn best when I read it, watch it, do it, and then review it. This example of media allows me to do all of those in one step. It would have been nice to hit one button and watch the whole presentation without having to click the next button every other minute, but it was useful pause when it came time to use the time calculator. Having to click the next button also gives the user time to reflect on what was covered before moving on to the next topic. I don't think I would design it another way, I don't need any extra frills or exciting technology to learn the material. It didn't have any distractions, like flashy advertisements or multiple links to surf through. It was a very "clean" way of presenting information, and I think that is what I enjoyed the most about this method.
I think this type of media would definitely be worth the time and money for development and management. For students that are more visually stimulated, I think this is a more effective way of presenting content than a page of text is. Personally, I think any content can be presented in this fashion. From enrollment to actual course content, this can be an excellent method of disseminating information. In conjunction with assignments and collaborative opportunities, I think this type of media would be an excellent tool for distance education practices.
I also found the article by Lefoe, Gunn, and Hedberg (2002) to be very interesting and informative. The authors claim that there is a gap in the research involving a convergence of a brick and mortar institution with distance education, and point out student-identified issues of a newly constructed flexibly delivered Arts degree in a distributed learning environment (p. 40). This study was conducted throughout the first year of implementation of an interdisciplinary degree, and asked students to provide feedback on the use of a distributed learning environment. A few of the issues students found included: workload, technical issues, learning support, dialogue, and guidance. While this article focuses on issues that can be improved in this program, it fails to point out the positive outcomes of this new program. For this study specifically, it would be interesting to see what students liked about the program too.
One of the main reasons I was drawn to this article is because I experienced something very similar with my bachelor’s degree. The University of Oklahoma (OU) has had a distance education program for over 100 years, but didn’t offer totally-online degrees until recently. I took advantage of their interdisciplinary studies program, mostly because I was unsure of my direction and wasn’t interested in the other programs. A few courses in I was pleasantly surprised with the overall learning program, course offerings, student support, and convenience. This program didn’t have on-campus requirements, but offered on-campus support to students who wished to use the services. For example, for my statistics course I needed to have access to the IBM SPSS Statistics program, and I was allowed to use the computer labs and even had a lab tech present for support. Much like the study, it was like having a “satellite location” to access when I needed face-to-face support, and that was one of the aspects I liked the most. Unlike the study, I didn’t find any issues with the technology, learning support, dialogue, or guidance, but having experienced both face-to-face courses and online courses, the workload seems to be more intense in an online setting. Of course, this opinion is based on my experiences at OU and UMUC only. I am going to research this more, but I think a great deal of institutions nationwide are adopting some form of distance education program, and I think it’s about time.
References
Lefoe, G., Gunn, C., & Hedberg, J. (2002). Recommendations for teaching in a distributed learning environment: The student’s perspective. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 18(1), 40-56. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne01/pdf/papers/lefoeg.pdf
Walti, C. (2004). Implementing web-based portfolios and learning journals as learner support tools: An illustration. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 157-168).Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Unit 2: Management & Organization of Student Support Services
March 2, 2014:
This is the first week that we are covering unit 2, which encompasses management and organization as it relates to student support services. In this unit we are developing ways to plan and manage student support services within various contexts. This week specifically, we are covering learner characteristics and special groups, and how to accommodate the learner with support services. In the required readings for this week, there was an article by Muller (2008) that really got my creative juices flowing. It tackles the issue of being a woman who pursues higher education through distance education and the elements that act as barriers to their success. This week a lot of students had comments regarding this same reading assignment, so I thought I would add my thoughts here, since they are so very important to learner support. Ultimately,
I found the article by Muller very interesting, probably because I could relate to so many of the issues discussed. I have been on both sides of the fence, taking courses as a working mother, and taking classes as a stay at home mother. Both are very difficult!
When I began my first Master’s program through UMUC, I had 2 preschool aged children and taught in an elementary school full time. It was very draining and time consuming, as I was completing majority of my work either late at night or on the weekends during family time. Even now being home, while 2 of my children are in school now, I still have a 2 year old running around so I still find myself doing my reading and assignments late at night or over the weekend when my husband is home to help with the kids. One difficulty that really stood out to me was discussed on page 8, the guilt of balancing so many responsibilities and feeling as though I am missing critical time with my children. I do often wonder if it would have been easier or better to wait until my children were older to continue my education, but I also believe I am setting a good example for them by working to expand my knowledge and opening opportunities for myself also. It is a difficult balancing act!
Most of the difficulties Muller discusses, including technology trouble, mismanagement of time, disappointment in faculty, and preferring face to face interaction, are not issues solely faced by women. I believe men likely face the same issues with distance education. I think it would be interesting to see a study on men in DE, what difficulties they face and perhaps what holds men back from attempting DE since there is a disparity in enrollment. I know for our family, my husband works very long hours, and typically comes home and continues to work after the kids are in bed. So I wonder the stress and difficulties he would face in continuing his education, as i know he wants to once I am done with mine.
Reference
Muller, T. (2008). Persistence of women in online degree-completion programs. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(2), Article 9.2.6. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/455
March 16, 2014:
This week was two weeks long and covered management issues and considerations with student support. Specifically, we covered the following topics:
1.) Setting Goals, planning, and consideration of organizational structures
2.) Staff and staff development
3.) Quality assurance, evaluation, and research
During this period we had to write a position paper, which I felt greatly added to the overall learning and knowledge building of these topics. I ended up doing very well on the assignment, and could easily see how it facilitated the overall learning of this unit. The following are some of my reflections regarding this two week period:
In a previous course we had Alan Tait serve as a guest speaker, and he provided feedback to responses and answered questions. It was very interested to hear about his experiences, as both student and instructor, and I learned a lot from him in the short time he was available. I’ve been meaning to do some outside research into his ideas and theories, and was glad to see his work in the reading list.
In this chapter, one of the things he addresses is the “invisibility of service”. Tait (2004) states that tutoring and student guidance and counseling are invisible because they are delivered on a decentralized basis and are delivered where management and quality assurance activities find it difficult to operate (p. 206). He goes on to list some of the more important elements of successful student services, including communication mapping and management. When reading about course production and course presentation communications, I was reminded of Anderson’s model of online learning. It focuses on student, teacher, and their interaction with content. I tried to post it to this message with no luck, but have provided a link in the reference section below where you can find it (figure 2-4). Anderson divides communication into asynchronous and synchronous and makes it a prominent feature of the model. Tait points out that consideration must be given to how students will study and with what materials, and I believe Anderson’s model addresses this issue adequately.
When it comes to centre-periphery communications, I believe Anderson’s model is applicable here as well. Centre-periphery communications refers to a structure that shows how two elements communicate. In the model, Anderson links communication with the student, with the teacher, and to the actual content itself.
At the end of this chapter Tait (2004) states the following: “the commonalities of delivering student services in distributed ODL systems will tend to drive at least some commonalities of practice around the world, which make discussion of this nature worthwhile” (p. 217). It makes me wonder what commonalities of delivering student services will be driving forces. Is he referring to the evolution of online technology, improved services based on student feedback, new theories, or a combination of things. Is there one commonality that is more important than another?
While going through the required reading list, I found myself interested in the new types of support institutions will need in this always-evolving digital age. Technology seemed to be of great concern, as it has the potential to improve the overall quality and development of online distance learning (ODL). Guri-Rosenblit (2004) points out that senior academic faculty are required to not only develop courses, but also be involved in the teaching process. Coordinators, tutors, and counselors are frustrated having to stick to content while trying to be more flexible and attentive to student needs. It seems as though future support systems will be based on the fact that all students are different and have different needs.
In the same publication, Guri-Rosenblit (2004) asks “who will be responsible for the ongoing update of the study materials – the developers of the initial course or the course coordinators of the course” (p. 68)? I’m currently studying something relating to this in another course, which covers the teacher exemption under the work for hire doctrine. Typically, anything an employee creates within the scope of their employment belongs to the employer. However, the de facto custom and persuasive court dicta claims that a teacher exemption allows them to own copyrights to the works and publications created during their employment with an institution. Unfortunately, institutions are able to develop policies that supersede the teacher exemption, gaining ownership to courses or other creative works developed by the teacher. How does this inspire faculty to produce top-of-the-line work? On the other hand, what if a faculty member has total ownership and jeopardizes an institution’s program by withholding a course they designed? Personally, I think institutions should develop policies where both have a degree of ownership. I’m finding more and more often that topics from different courses are interrelated or connected somehow, and is an example of the blending of prior knowledge and new knowledge (cognitivism, also from another course).
I thought I should add this to my learning journal, since it has some very important information regarding evaluation and student support in distance education. After going through the required reading list, I found that the chapter by Thorpe (2004) provided the best examples of challenges faculty face regarding quality assurance and evaluation in learner support in online distance learning (ODL). Here’s what I found:
1.) It’s hard for faculty to know whether or not supporters (tutors, mentors, advisors, counsellors, etc.) are carrying out the terms of their contract. As Thorpe points out, most times it is assumed that things are going as planned, and it is important to ensure, not assume, that they actually are.
2.) One major challenge to quality assurance and evaluation in learner support in ODL is learner behavior. By evaluating how a student is progressing through the content and course, practitioners can determine how their learner support system is succeeding.
3.) Another challenge has to do with understanding that why’s and what’s. For example, why did things turn out a certain way and how can they be improved?
4.) It’s difficult for faculty to understand learner motivations and perceptions and how supporters are relating to and interacting with students. It would be important for them to address any preferences, constraints or technical issues the learner may be dealing with, so that proper learner support can be provided.
5.) Lastly, practitioners may find it difficult to understand learner attitudes and insights regarding learning. This includes recognizing issues surrounding confidence, barriers, goals so that faculty can address the strengths and weaknesses of their learners and learner support system.
While the above five challenges were found under the heading “Key Issues in Learner Support”, I found a couple others throughout the article that I felt should be recognized.
1.) It’s difficult for faculty to traverse the blurring boundary between the two sub-systems of distance education. However, by communicating through email and conferencing faculty can improve their communication between groups and individuals.
2.) Obvious challenges at the very heart of distance education are time and space. While these barriers are becoming increasingly insignificant with increased communication between faculty and students. More importantly, communication between students can serve as a vital role in learner support.
3.) Another challenge occurs when evaluators must analyze computer-mediated communication. This can be a daunting task, as there is considerable amount of data to examine. However, Thorpe (2004) suggests taking samples that are representative of the whole.
4.) Lastly, speed can be a challenge to evaluators. Obviously, it is quicker to make changes within online courses compared to printed and other non-computer-based forms.
References
Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning . In T. Anderson’s & F. Elloumi’s (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Retrieved from http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch2.html
Guri-Rosenblit, S. (2004). Distance education teachers in the digital age: New roles and contradictory demands. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 63-70). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Tait, A. (2004). Management of services to students. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 205-217). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universitat Oldenburg.
Thorpe, M. (2004). Evaluating the quality of learner support. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 251-258). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Unit 3: Developing a Model of Learner Support & Case Studies
April 27, 2014:
For the past six weeks we’ve been covering our case studies, working within our groups to develop a strong case study, and then completing a paper with recommendations to that organization based on the case study. I volunteered to be group leader, probably because of my control issues and bad experiences in past group projects, and we completed our case study on Virtual Virginia, a K-12 online learning program. Fortunately, all members of the group participated and completed their portions of the assignment within the agreed-upon time frame. I found that Stephanie DeMarco and I continued to develop a strong friendship during this project, as we also did a group project together in a previous course. It was nice to have a friendly face in class, and it was even better to have someone I could really count on for such an important group project. Overall, I think we completed a thorough and professional-looking case study that covered all of the aspects required in the assignment directions. The case study set us up perfectly to develop our own recommendations for the second part of the case study assignment.
In the case study, we were required to cover the following elements: history, rationale, and various elements of learner support in distance education and training. We had to cover learner characteristics and influences to support, as well as management and the strategic planning of support services. This project was intensive, but I learned a lot about learner support and myself as a learner in addition. I realized that there are services available that I need to take better advantage of, and even learned what goes into developing and managing a support service. For example, one service that I am very fond of is the writing coach that has been offered for the courses I’ve taken so far in my MDE journey. I’ve utilized the writing coach service every chance I had, and I feel that my writing has improved greatly as a result. I found out from a source that UMUC was considering eliminating the writing coach service and was upset to hear this. I think this is an integral component that is necessary for higher education, especially when the student body is comprised of adults who may have been out of school a while, or students who haven’t taken a formal writing course in decades. I’ve been considering doing my research project on this topic or on student support as a whole. I feel this form of student support is that important to me; important enough to let it be my focus.
Overall, this course has been so helpful in my distance education journey. I especially enjoyed the collaborative work, as we were able to apply what we learned in the course to a real-world scenario. I also like that the last individual project was based on the collaborative assignment, and that each of us students was able to evaluate the institution we chose individually. I am excited to use what I’ve learned in this course over the summer semester, as I take Teaching and Learning with Multimedia and Instructional Design. I think this course was a great prerequisite for the courses to come.
February 9, 2014:
This is the first official week of class, and I’m excited to see what this course has to offer. While I’m not one who uses student support services on a regular basis, the times I have needed their help have been helpful and a delightful experience. I know that all students need to have access to support services, whether it be from advising or library services, but I’m anxious to see the diverse spectrum of services institutions offer that I’m not yet aware of. This week there were a few reading sources we were required to cover, and I found the piece by Brindley to be the most interesting. Below are my thoughts:
Ultimately, I wanted to pick an article that I didn’t have much experience with so I could learn more about the topic. Despite the fact that I’ve been attending university off and on since 2006, I don't have much experience with learner support and support services. From feeling that I didn’t need the help to not having a full understanding of what exactly was offered to students, I’ve only sought out assistance from student support services on a couple of occasions. According to Learner Services: Theory and Practice by Brindley (1995), learner support varies from tutoring or mentoring, career and academic advising, library services, orientations, counseling, advocacy, and credit coordination (p. 2). In addition, I didn’t realize a theoretical framework was utilized by practitioners for the activities they provide to distance learners. It’s easy to see how student services aren’t necessarily popular from a political or economic standpoint. The theoretical framework is essentially used as a way of providing rationale for student services, especially when you have students like me who don’t use them. According to Brindley (1995), this framework is created by using research findings and contextual factors to develop a relationship between theory and practice, goals of the interventions, which help lead to a particular compliment of services or interventions.
In addition to this information, Brindley also offers a detailed look at the strategies and issues in building an intervention model. Ultimately, the intervention model is a layout of proposed services and the technologies that will be supporting them. Brindley (1995) states that it’s important to be aware of the developmental aspects of a range of services and their delivery methods, as well as the objectives these services aim to meet (p. 4). While most of the issues practitioners face when developing a model are contextual, it is clear that having a sound framework with clear goals is essential when developing intervention models, especially in the case of online distance learning.
What I find most exciting about online distance learning is that it hasn’t been around for all that long. Even more, there are issues and theories alike that are still being challenged and altered as those involved learn more and more about this method of learning. Based solely on my own experiences, I’ve found that the few times I’ve used student services have been with the online courses I’ve taken and not the face-to-face courses. When taking courses online you can’t ask the student sitting next to you in class for advice or guidance, which seems to be how most students learn the ins and outs of college life. Student services can be lifelines to those who need assistance from their schools. In a way, I think the student services can help to build that sense of community so many DE students seek out. Knowing how much goes into the proposal and development stages of student services, I’ll definitely seek them out more often than I have in the past. Overall, I found this particular reading to be extremely informative and enlightening.
Reference
Brindley, J. E. (1995). Learner services: Theory and practice, Distansutbildning i itveckling, Rapport nr. 11 (pp. 23-34). Umea, Sweden: University of Umea
February 23, 2014:
This week was two weeks long, and covered the remaining aspects of Elements of Learner Support. The first week was essentially an introduction and history lesson regarding the different perspectives and rationale for approaches to learner support. These two weeks were concerned with elements like tutoring, teaching, advising, counseling, and other administrative functions. I found this part of the unit to be extremely informative and enlightening. I was unaware of some aspects of student support, and this part of the unit cleared up any issues and aspects I was unaware of. I am building upon the prior knowledge I had regarding student support before taking this course, and am learning much more about these elements than I thought I would. The following are my thoughts on some of the issues covered during this two week period:
I started my bachelor’s degree at UMUC in 2005, and am back to complete my master’s. In the nine years since I last took online courses there have been some extreme changes in both the role of the instructor and the social environment. I agree with Berge (1995) that in the past interpersonal interaction was only between student and instructor (p. 1). While there was a requirement for posting on the discussion board, it wasn’t utilized as a tool for social interaction the way it is now. Students met the minimum requirements, usually posting and responding to one other student, and certainly didn’t use it as a way to build a sense of community. Reading this article, it’s fascinating to see how far distance education has come, even in the last nine years.
Since I have absolutely no experience in the field of education, besides being a student, it wasn’t until last semester that I realized how much it takes to develop and manage an online course. As I progress through the courses in this program, the one thing that continues to come to mind is Börje Holmberg’s (2007) ideas regarding empathy-creating conversational style and how it can benefit an online learning environment (p. 430). I believe Berge (1995) embodies this same theory in his description of the social area of a computer conferencing (CC) environment. He claims that “creating a friendly, social environment in which learning is promoted is also essential for successful moderating” and promotes “human relationships, developing group cohesiveness, maintaining the group as a unit” (1995, p. 2). I believe that there has to be a certain sense of empathy projected by the instructor in order to be successful at this. I imagine that empathy is difficult to obtain in such a structured setting, but not impossible. I think the article by Berge (1995) is an excellent resource, and I’m going to hold on to it for future referencing. It provides a lot of recommendations for instructors to achieve a CC environment where students can be engaged and learn from one another.
I really enjoyed the article by Walti (2004), and felt that it helped me achieve a better understanding of the overall significance of developing and maintaining web-based portfolios and learning journals. Web-based portfolios serve a purpose that extends past simply accomplishing a learning objective. Based on the program requirements at UMUC, web-based portfolios serve as a student support service that benefits learners while working on their MDE and long after graduation. As it relates to student support, portfolios are a collection of items that demonstrates a learners knowledge and skills over a period of time, developing meta-cognitive skills, building self-confidence, and encouraging a contribution to the learning process (Walti, 2004, p. 157).
I took three courses my first semester of the MDE program, and I’ll be honest, keeping up with assignments, the development of my portfolio, and writing in the journals was extremely difficult. Walti (2004) explains that portfolios take a considerable amount of time and that time management is a major concern (p. 160). In an attempt to keep my head above water, I wasn’t able to fully grasp the value of this project during the semester. After the semester was over, I went back over my portfolio and added elements of the semester that I had missed. Reflecting on what I had learned over the semester was overwhelming; three courses and I had a lot to show for it. As Walti stated, my confidence on the subject matter increased and I can already see how it’s helped even in the last three weeks of the present semester. I decided to take on three courses again this semester, and have been able to keep up with the demands of the portfolio, especially since I now have a better handle on content requirements.
When it comes to the journals themselves, their purpose is to provide the learner with an opportunity to reflect on the material they’ve learned, supporting the development of insight, cognitive awareness, critical thinking (Walti, 2004, p. 162). I’ve referred back to my portfolio for assignments, discussions, and for resources. One of my concerns, that Walti (2004) mentions, is storage space. I currently use weebly.com as my portfolio platform. Three courses into my degree and I already have eighteen different pages connected to my portfolio. How many pages will it take before it either crashes or rejects additional pages? When you get towards the end of your MDE, how difficult would it be to add space or start over with another platform? That would be a lot of material to move around, and I’m hoping that won’t be the case for me. Perhaps I should look into this. Overall, I can already see how this portfolio is benefiting me and how it will benefit me in the future.
I went through the presentation and found this type of media to be very useful. It captured my attention and reminded me of books in CD form. I learn best when I read it, watch it, do it, and then review it. This example of media allows me to do all of those in one step. It would have been nice to hit one button and watch the whole presentation without having to click the next button every other minute, but it was useful pause when it came time to use the time calculator. Having to click the next button also gives the user time to reflect on what was covered before moving on to the next topic. I don't think I would design it another way, I don't need any extra frills or exciting technology to learn the material. It didn't have any distractions, like flashy advertisements or multiple links to surf through. It was a very "clean" way of presenting information, and I think that is what I enjoyed the most about this method.
I think this type of media would definitely be worth the time and money for development and management. For students that are more visually stimulated, I think this is a more effective way of presenting content than a page of text is. Personally, I think any content can be presented in this fashion. From enrollment to actual course content, this can be an excellent method of disseminating information. In conjunction with assignments and collaborative opportunities, I think this type of media would be an excellent tool for distance education practices.
I also found the article by Lefoe, Gunn, and Hedberg (2002) to be very interesting and informative. The authors claim that there is a gap in the research involving a convergence of a brick and mortar institution with distance education, and point out student-identified issues of a newly constructed flexibly delivered Arts degree in a distributed learning environment (p. 40). This study was conducted throughout the first year of implementation of an interdisciplinary degree, and asked students to provide feedback on the use of a distributed learning environment. A few of the issues students found included: workload, technical issues, learning support, dialogue, and guidance. While this article focuses on issues that can be improved in this program, it fails to point out the positive outcomes of this new program. For this study specifically, it would be interesting to see what students liked about the program too.
One of the main reasons I was drawn to this article is because I experienced something very similar with my bachelor’s degree. The University of Oklahoma (OU) has had a distance education program for over 100 years, but didn’t offer totally-online degrees until recently. I took advantage of their interdisciplinary studies program, mostly because I was unsure of my direction and wasn’t interested in the other programs. A few courses in I was pleasantly surprised with the overall learning program, course offerings, student support, and convenience. This program didn’t have on-campus requirements, but offered on-campus support to students who wished to use the services. For example, for my statistics course I needed to have access to the IBM SPSS Statistics program, and I was allowed to use the computer labs and even had a lab tech present for support. Much like the study, it was like having a “satellite location” to access when I needed face-to-face support, and that was one of the aspects I liked the most. Unlike the study, I didn’t find any issues with the technology, learning support, dialogue, or guidance, but having experienced both face-to-face courses and online courses, the workload seems to be more intense in an online setting. Of course, this opinion is based on my experiences at OU and UMUC only. I am going to research this more, but I think a great deal of institutions nationwide are adopting some form of distance education program, and I think it’s about time.
References
Lefoe, G., Gunn, C., & Hedberg, J. (2002). Recommendations for teaching in a distributed learning environment: The student’s perspective. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 18(1), 40-56. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/melbourne01/pdf/papers/lefoeg.pdf
Walti, C. (2004). Implementing web-based portfolios and learning journals as learner support tools: An illustration. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 157-168).Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Unit 2: Management & Organization of Student Support Services
March 2, 2014:
This is the first week that we are covering unit 2, which encompasses management and organization as it relates to student support services. In this unit we are developing ways to plan and manage student support services within various contexts. This week specifically, we are covering learner characteristics and special groups, and how to accommodate the learner with support services. In the required readings for this week, there was an article by Muller (2008) that really got my creative juices flowing. It tackles the issue of being a woman who pursues higher education through distance education and the elements that act as barriers to their success. This week a lot of students had comments regarding this same reading assignment, so I thought I would add my thoughts here, since they are so very important to learner support. Ultimately,
I found the article by Muller very interesting, probably because I could relate to so many of the issues discussed. I have been on both sides of the fence, taking courses as a working mother, and taking classes as a stay at home mother. Both are very difficult!
When I began my first Master’s program through UMUC, I had 2 preschool aged children and taught in an elementary school full time. It was very draining and time consuming, as I was completing majority of my work either late at night or on the weekends during family time. Even now being home, while 2 of my children are in school now, I still have a 2 year old running around so I still find myself doing my reading and assignments late at night or over the weekend when my husband is home to help with the kids. One difficulty that really stood out to me was discussed on page 8, the guilt of balancing so many responsibilities and feeling as though I am missing critical time with my children. I do often wonder if it would have been easier or better to wait until my children were older to continue my education, but I also believe I am setting a good example for them by working to expand my knowledge and opening opportunities for myself also. It is a difficult balancing act!
Most of the difficulties Muller discusses, including technology trouble, mismanagement of time, disappointment in faculty, and preferring face to face interaction, are not issues solely faced by women. I believe men likely face the same issues with distance education. I think it would be interesting to see a study on men in DE, what difficulties they face and perhaps what holds men back from attempting DE since there is a disparity in enrollment. I know for our family, my husband works very long hours, and typically comes home and continues to work after the kids are in bed. So I wonder the stress and difficulties he would face in continuing his education, as i know he wants to once I am done with mine.
Reference
Muller, T. (2008). Persistence of women in online degree-completion programs. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 9(2), Article 9.2.6. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/455
March 16, 2014:
This week was two weeks long and covered management issues and considerations with student support. Specifically, we covered the following topics:
1.) Setting Goals, planning, and consideration of organizational structures
2.) Staff and staff development
3.) Quality assurance, evaluation, and research
During this period we had to write a position paper, which I felt greatly added to the overall learning and knowledge building of these topics. I ended up doing very well on the assignment, and could easily see how it facilitated the overall learning of this unit. The following are some of my reflections regarding this two week period:
In a previous course we had Alan Tait serve as a guest speaker, and he provided feedback to responses and answered questions. It was very interested to hear about his experiences, as both student and instructor, and I learned a lot from him in the short time he was available. I’ve been meaning to do some outside research into his ideas and theories, and was glad to see his work in the reading list.
In this chapter, one of the things he addresses is the “invisibility of service”. Tait (2004) states that tutoring and student guidance and counseling are invisible because they are delivered on a decentralized basis and are delivered where management and quality assurance activities find it difficult to operate (p. 206). He goes on to list some of the more important elements of successful student services, including communication mapping and management. When reading about course production and course presentation communications, I was reminded of Anderson’s model of online learning. It focuses on student, teacher, and their interaction with content. I tried to post it to this message with no luck, but have provided a link in the reference section below where you can find it (figure 2-4). Anderson divides communication into asynchronous and synchronous and makes it a prominent feature of the model. Tait points out that consideration must be given to how students will study and with what materials, and I believe Anderson’s model addresses this issue adequately.
When it comes to centre-periphery communications, I believe Anderson’s model is applicable here as well. Centre-periphery communications refers to a structure that shows how two elements communicate. In the model, Anderson links communication with the student, with the teacher, and to the actual content itself.
At the end of this chapter Tait (2004) states the following: “the commonalities of delivering student services in distributed ODL systems will tend to drive at least some commonalities of practice around the world, which make discussion of this nature worthwhile” (p. 217). It makes me wonder what commonalities of delivering student services will be driving forces. Is he referring to the evolution of online technology, improved services based on student feedback, new theories, or a combination of things. Is there one commonality that is more important than another?
While going through the required reading list, I found myself interested in the new types of support institutions will need in this always-evolving digital age. Technology seemed to be of great concern, as it has the potential to improve the overall quality and development of online distance learning (ODL). Guri-Rosenblit (2004) points out that senior academic faculty are required to not only develop courses, but also be involved in the teaching process. Coordinators, tutors, and counselors are frustrated having to stick to content while trying to be more flexible and attentive to student needs. It seems as though future support systems will be based on the fact that all students are different and have different needs.
In the same publication, Guri-Rosenblit (2004) asks “who will be responsible for the ongoing update of the study materials – the developers of the initial course or the course coordinators of the course” (p. 68)? I’m currently studying something relating to this in another course, which covers the teacher exemption under the work for hire doctrine. Typically, anything an employee creates within the scope of their employment belongs to the employer. However, the de facto custom and persuasive court dicta claims that a teacher exemption allows them to own copyrights to the works and publications created during their employment with an institution. Unfortunately, institutions are able to develop policies that supersede the teacher exemption, gaining ownership to courses or other creative works developed by the teacher. How does this inspire faculty to produce top-of-the-line work? On the other hand, what if a faculty member has total ownership and jeopardizes an institution’s program by withholding a course they designed? Personally, I think institutions should develop policies where both have a degree of ownership. I’m finding more and more often that topics from different courses are interrelated or connected somehow, and is an example of the blending of prior knowledge and new knowledge (cognitivism, also from another course).
I thought I should add this to my learning journal, since it has some very important information regarding evaluation and student support in distance education. After going through the required reading list, I found that the chapter by Thorpe (2004) provided the best examples of challenges faculty face regarding quality assurance and evaluation in learner support in online distance learning (ODL). Here’s what I found:
1.) It’s hard for faculty to know whether or not supporters (tutors, mentors, advisors, counsellors, etc.) are carrying out the terms of their contract. As Thorpe points out, most times it is assumed that things are going as planned, and it is important to ensure, not assume, that they actually are.
2.) One major challenge to quality assurance and evaluation in learner support in ODL is learner behavior. By evaluating how a student is progressing through the content and course, practitioners can determine how their learner support system is succeeding.
3.) Another challenge has to do with understanding that why’s and what’s. For example, why did things turn out a certain way and how can they be improved?
4.) It’s difficult for faculty to understand learner motivations and perceptions and how supporters are relating to and interacting with students. It would be important for them to address any preferences, constraints or technical issues the learner may be dealing with, so that proper learner support can be provided.
5.) Lastly, practitioners may find it difficult to understand learner attitudes and insights regarding learning. This includes recognizing issues surrounding confidence, barriers, goals so that faculty can address the strengths and weaknesses of their learners and learner support system.
While the above five challenges were found under the heading “Key Issues in Learner Support”, I found a couple others throughout the article that I felt should be recognized.
1.) It’s difficult for faculty to traverse the blurring boundary between the two sub-systems of distance education. However, by communicating through email and conferencing faculty can improve their communication between groups and individuals.
2.) Obvious challenges at the very heart of distance education are time and space. While these barriers are becoming increasingly insignificant with increased communication between faculty and students. More importantly, communication between students can serve as a vital role in learner support.
3.) Another challenge occurs when evaluators must analyze computer-mediated communication. This can be a daunting task, as there is considerable amount of data to examine. However, Thorpe (2004) suggests taking samples that are representative of the whole.
4.) Lastly, speed can be a challenge to evaluators. Obviously, it is quicker to make changes within online courses compared to printed and other non-computer-based forms.
References
Anderson, T. (2004). Toward a theory of online learning . In T. Anderson’s & F. Elloumi’s (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Retrieved from http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/ch2.html
Guri-Rosenblit, S. (2004). Distance education teachers in the digital age: New roles and contradictory demands. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 63-70). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Tait, A. (2004). Management of services to students. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 205-217). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universitat Oldenburg.
Thorpe, M. (2004). Evaluating the quality of learner support. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 251-258). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Unit 3: Developing a Model of Learner Support & Case Studies
April 27, 2014:
For the past six weeks we’ve been covering our case studies, working within our groups to develop a strong case study, and then completing a paper with recommendations to that organization based on the case study. I volunteered to be group leader, probably because of my control issues and bad experiences in past group projects, and we completed our case study on Virtual Virginia, a K-12 online learning program. Fortunately, all members of the group participated and completed their portions of the assignment within the agreed-upon time frame. I found that Stephanie DeMarco and I continued to develop a strong friendship during this project, as we also did a group project together in a previous course. It was nice to have a friendly face in class, and it was even better to have someone I could really count on for such an important group project. Overall, I think we completed a thorough and professional-looking case study that covered all of the aspects required in the assignment directions. The case study set us up perfectly to develop our own recommendations for the second part of the case study assignment.
In the case study, we were required to cover the following elements: history, rationale, and various elements of learner support in distance education and training. We had to cover learner characteristics and influences to support, as well as management and the strategic planning of support services. This project was intensive, but I learned a lot about learner support and myself as a learner in addition. I realized that there are services available that I need to take better advantage of, and even learned what goes into developing and managing a support service. For example, one service that I am very fond of is the writing coach that has been offered for the courses I’ve taken so far in my MDE journey. I’ve utilized the writing coach service every chance I had, and I feel that my writing has improved greatly as a result. I found out from a source that UMUC was considering eliminating the writing coach service and was upset to hear this. I think this is an integral component that is necessary for higher education, especially when the student body is comprised of adults who may have been out of school a while, or students who haven’t taken a formal writing course in decades. I’ve been considering doing my research project on this topic or on student support as a whole. I feel this form of student support is that important to me; important enough to let it be my focus.
Overall, this course has been so helpful in my distance education journey. I especially enjoyed the collaborative work, as we were able to apply what we learned in the course to a real-world scenario. I also like that the last individual project was based on the collaborative assignment, and that each of us students was able to evaluate the institution we chose individually. I am excited to use what I’ve learned in this course over the summer semester, as I take Teaching and Learning with Multimedia and Instructional Design. I think this course was a great prerequisite for the courses to come.