preparing for blended e-learning

Allison Littlejohn, Chris Pegler

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781134140732
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Blended and online learning skills are rapidly becoming essential for effective teaching and learning in universities and colleges. Covering theory where useful but maintaining an emphasis on practice, this book provides teachers and lecturers with an accessible introduction to e-learning.

Beginning by exploring the meaning of 'e-learning', it supports tutors in identifying how they plan to use technology to support courses that blend online and face-to-face interactions. Illustrated by a range of case of studies, the book covers:

• designing quality, appropriate effective and online learning
• efficient and sustainable e-learning activity
• providing appropriate feedback to learners
• devising student activities and sourcing learning resources
• managing online and offline interactions

Packed with practical advice and ideas, this book provides the core skills and knowledge that teachers in HE and FE need when starting out and further developing their teaching course design for blended and online learning.

Chapter 1

What is blended e-learning?

Blended e-learning is:

• access to a wide choice of alternative resources on your personal computer drawn from international, as well as institutional, digital repositories, accessed via a single log-in that personalizes the ‘blend’ of learning you are offered;
• studying online with tutors as facilitators and emphasis on co-creation within a course that is rich in online collaboration;
• downloading content to mobile devices, using podcasts and e-books as resources, tablet PCs with wireless connections to take and share notes in class, and using text messaging to receive course updates while on the move;
• immersion in online multi-player gaming or multimedia role-playing using extended, authentic simulations to explore real-life problem solving;
• personalized content delivered through a customized interface with RSS alerts to flag new content relevant to individual interests;
• using a virtual learning environment (VLE) to access course materials and ask questions whether on- or off-campus;
• uploading notes to your own blog (weblog) while the lecture is in progress and using hand-held voting devices to offer instant feedback to the presenter;
• learning on a just-in-time basis using computer-based tutorials;
• staying in contact with study buddies away from the class through use of instant messaging and other informal ‘social computing’ mechanisms;
• assembling and publishing an e-portfolio of your work from courses studied across several institutions;
• seamless integration of physical and virtual learning spaces that integrate and accommodate technology, but focus on student learning;
• successful and rewarding student–teacher relationships initiated and maintained through online communication without ever meeting face to face.

You are probably already familiar with the term ‘e-learning’ and recognize that this approach to learning almost never exists in isolation. Even where a CD-ROM is attached to a textbook, there is an element of blending of print and computer-based instruction. The more complex learning activities in higher and further education will generally be examples of blended e-learning. The word ‘blended’ may refer to a blend within the ‘e-learning mix’ of media, or a blend of the e-learning with other approaches. As we move towards educational exploration of ‘social computing’ with emphasis on sharing and working informally, we also see a blend of technologies and skills that students use in their wider lives overlapping with and integrating into their studies.

You may already be using blended learning or e-learning as terms to describe at least some of your own activity. If so, you will have already wrestled with some of the questions posed by use of these terms. Is e-learning really about learning (the student experience), or does it primarily describe ‘e-teaching’? To what extent is existing effective practice in teaching and learning transferable to blended e-learning? Is any use of computers within education, for example e-administration, an aspect of e-learning? Is a good teacher a good teacher whatever the medium? Is the investment in blended e-learning really paying off?

Each of these questions invites a positive response, but the strength of that response will differ, depending on context and experience. Just as with any other aspect of teaching and learning, differences in expectations and experiences of blended e-learning exist within the same department, institution and discipline. What distinguishes e-learning and ‘blends’ of e-learning is a further layer of complexity associated with its reliance upon technology, and the uncertainty about technological developments.

Within education in general there is growing awareness of the potential and implications of blended e-learning, not just among the techno-enthusiasts (early adopters who embrace the novel and new), but also across the majority of teaching and support staff. This rise in interest in and enthusiasm for e-learning, although extremely timely, is not merely a matter of chance or coincidence. Neither is the popularity of e-learning purely a matter of politics, technological obsession or aggressive marketing – although all three have played a part.

The interest in the role of computers in education is not a new one, although use of the term ‘e-learning’ is relatively recent. What we currently understand to be e-learning is the latest stage in a gradual evolution spanning over a quarter of a century. The main difference now is that awareness and interest are becoming more extensive, more ‘mainstream’.

Where did e-learning come from?

Many of the constituent parts of e-learning, in particular the move towards students using computers for self-directed study, have been evident in education (particularly in higher and further education) since the early 1980s. This period was significant because personal computers (PCs) then became sufficiently affordable for some colleges and universities to buy them in quantity for student use. Tertiary institutions moved quite rapidly to equip computer suites with the new PCs and allow students access to networked packages and applications. Computers prior to this point were usually not trusted in the hands of many students (or even most staff). Earlier computers in universities were protected and cosseted in special environments, with access controlled by specialist staff who acted as interpreters and gatekeepers.

Even when personal computing in education started, the PCs were not ‘personal’ in the sense that we now understand. Students today often own at least one computing device for their exclusive use. Some may be carrying a computer in their backpack and another in their pocket, and perhaps even have one in their car. A modest mobile phone offers more functionality and computing power than the earliest PCs. For example, the Acorn/BBC ‘B’ microcomputer was introduced in 1982 as a popular and affordable computer geared to educational use. It remained in use for the next ten years, yet in its basic form it offered only 64 kilobytes (kb) of memory. In 2002/3, colleges of further education in the United Kingdom reported that they would not consider purchasing machines for student use with less than 2 gigabytes (Gb) of memory, a 300,000-fold increase (Becta, 2003).

Back in the early 1980s the reasonable assumption was that neither students nor tutors would be familiar with how a computer worked, yet most PCs did not offer a user-friendly interface. They were also slow (compared to today’s machines) and relatively scarce. Nonetheless, they represented a massive leap forward when compared to the previous use of computers on campuses. For the first time, students were now able to use computers without first learning how to program them, or relying on someone else to do the programming.

The arrival of user-friendly, relatively inexpensive, compact computers led to a dramatic transition. Computers changed from being a relatively limited and very expensive educational resource tied to the classroom, to being powerful, relatively inexpensive, portable and usable tools. While the technology has improved dramatically, so too has the design of learning to take advantage of those improvements.

Figure 1.1 Increase in computing power, 1982–2002

This journey continues today, but set in the context of developments in teaching and learning approaches, the progress in adapting to use of computers in education has been very fast. We need to remember that education is in many ways a very conservative arena, where the face-to-face lecture remained relatively unchanged for centuries.

As we would expect, the use of computers in education has changed as the functionality has developed. Many of the systems used to develop and deliver this early form of e-learning (called computer-based or computer-assisted learning/training) are now no longer in use, but some of the early approaches to using e-learning have been remarkably robust. Several notable innovations at the start of personal computing in education are still recognizable in today’s blended e-learning. For example:

• Personalization: The early PCs were able to ‘recognize’ and use the student’s name, personalizing responses to student activity, e.g. ‘Well done, Chris, now try this new question’. Now, more refined personalization of the environment is possible, using a student home page or portal that recognizes each student when they log in, and can offer them tailored content based on preferences, performance and permissions.
• Saving individual work-in-progress: While students at one time would save work on to floppy disks (carried along to every session), they are now more likely to save progress to a central server that they can access from many locations. Or they may save files to a USB device so that they can work on these using their own off-campus machines. Being able to save work-in-progress allowed students to complete more complex tasks across several, separate sessions and led to widespread word-processing of notes and assignments.
• Self-paced learning: A significant virtue of computers is that they never grow weary of explaining the same point repeatedly. Computers do not generally impose a time limit on the student’s activity. If the student is working one-to-one with the computer, there need be no suggestion that they are slowing down the rest of the class, or moving ahead too fast. Computer-based courseware can permit a student to revisit content as often as necessary, when they wish. It works at an individual student-centred pace, rather than at a speed set by others.
• Multiple choice and automated feedback: The multiple-choice quiz (MCQ) was often a substantial element within early computer-based learning packages. MCQs were easy to generate, and if students provided the wrong answer, the computer could address this through constructive feedback, providing information on why that answer was incorrect. Unfortunately, this element was sometimes overdone in early computer-based tests. Students could become so bored with repetitive question answering that they would randomly select options in order to be allowed to continue. MCQs in computer-based learning became discredited, but they remain a feature of e-learning, now presented with a much greater degree of sophistication. Online programs such as Hot Potatoes (www.hotpot.uvic.ca/) are readily available to teachers under educational licences that allow use free of charge if there is dissemination of the tests created. Modern MCQs offer variety, are easy to use and can be highly effective in some contexts.
• Tracking student progress. Using a computer not only makes testing easier to do, but makes it easier to collect data on individual student performance in a form that allows analysis of the class or student, or even comparison across classes. Refinements in data mining and student tracking now mean that it is possible to see how individual students, or groups of students, tackle a particular activity (time spent on each screen, use of help screens, number of attempts, etc.), as well as noting scores. This level of information can act as an early warning of which parts of the course students find difficult. It can also alert teachers to parts that are habitually skimmed or omitted.
• Using third-party content: It was not feasible for most tutors to create their own computer-based learning packages. Even today, with availability of powerful and intuitive ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ (WYSIWYG) word processors and web editors, there remains a tradition of using third-party computer-based resources. With the growth in the internet, there are many more externally produced resources to use, and it is easier to locate and tailor suitable material for e-learning. High-profile international educational initiatives such as the MIT Open Courseware initiative (www.ocw.mit.edu), and the emergence of national repositories such as Jorum (www.jorum.ac.uk) in the United Kingdom and MERLOT (www.merlot.org) in Canada, increase the ease with which suitable educational resources can be found. So, although it is now easier to make your own online or computer-based material, this remains an unusual approach in the face of the greater quantity and higher quality of third-party resources available for reuse or repurposing.

Those are only some of the elements of computer-based learning which persist in e-learning today. It is perhaps inevitable that while key teaching features have been retained and refined over time, so have several of the concerns that educators have expressed about use of computers for teaching or learning.

We can broadly classify the most persistent and significant concerns into three types:

• Concerns about quality: These can arise as technical, pedagogical and/or operational questions. Will the learning experience be comparable with that which the student would obtain through more conventional teaching? If the content is devised by someone else, will it be relevant to the context in which your students are being taught? Is this content as good (e.g. as accurate and topical) as that which you could generate yourself? Will the application prove robust in use? Will the service on which it relies continue to be available when, and as long as, you and your students need it? Will the service remain affordable?
• Concerns about control: The question of how to maintain control of a class is one that all teachers wonder about, and not just in respect of e-learning. In that sphere the questions may include ‘How can I make sure that your students are not wandering off and aimlessly exploring the package (or the computer or internet more generally)?’; ‘Will they access applications, or information, which they should not be allowed to see, or which should be released in a staged way?’; ‘How can you be sure that they are understanding and learning, rather than unreflectively pressing the “Next” button until they reach the end?’; ‘If student performance is assessed using a computer, without the tutor being present, how can you be sure that the work is their own?’
• Concerns about change: These are perhaps the most significant set of concerns. How is it possible to keep up with the demands of the technology as well as with the demands of teaching a syllabus that includes student activity and course content which you have not yourself devised? Will this ultimately lead to a reduction in the status of tutors while increasing the numbers of students that they are expected to teach? Where is all this change leading?

Concerns about quality, control and change were voiced when personal computers first started to be used in education. Although we now know far more about the design of effective e-learning environments, similar concerns are still expressed today. One of the advantages in embracing e-learning may be that it requires us to address these questions. These concerns are relevant to other forms of teaching and learning, but rarely applied. For example, plagiarism is not new. Is e-learning simply making more visible something that was previously easier to ignore? Is plagiarism detection software the solution to preventing plagiarism, or should we be looking at ways of assessing courses which make plagiarism less tempting and less rewarding? Should we find a solution that is effective across all forms of teaching, not just e-learning?

It is important not simply to focus on the anxieties that e-learning raises. We need also to recognize that e-learning offers exciting opportunities. Students can now communicate about their learning using mobile devices, hold discussions with other students from around the globe, access course resources and conduct academic research on a 24/7 basis all year round using online databases and repositories.

Examples of how far we have travelled in our thinking and acceptance of educational technologies can be seen in recent designs for ‘wired’ buildings. These spaces offer flexible spaces that can be transformed by use of portable technologies, whether the personal technology of the learner or the presentational technology of the tutor. The centrally timetabled computer suites that supported computer-based learning in the 1980s are now giving way to more exciting and inviting spaces such as the Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University (JISC, 2006) – versatile, social spaces that integrate and accommodate technology, but principally focus on student learning.

Definition of e-learning

Although initially used in the corporate sector to describe computer-based or online training, the term ‘e-learning’ has increasingly been taken up within education. This has been a gradual transition, and a variety of other terms continue to be used to cover much the same sort of activity. Terms such as ‘telematics’ and ‘telelearning’ were at one stage popular, and are still sometimes used. They reflected the impact of telecommunications at a time when the use of information technologies (IT) in education was starting to expand into information and communication technologies (ICT), noting the contribution of computer-based interactivity and communication. The term ‘e-learning’ was not in general use in education until 2002; other terms were used as being synonymous with e-learning. A search in the literature throws up ‘networked learning’, ‘online learning’, computer-assisted learning’, ‘web-based instruction’ and ‘computer-mediated learning’, but e-learning is increasingly an umbrella term used to describe them all. As Chapter 2 points out, e-learning is often only part of the approach, being blended with other – perhaps traditional – approaches as blended learning.

One of the reasons that it is difficult to be precise about what e-learning means and what it covers is that the technologies that make it possible continue to change and develop. What we each mean when we talk about e-learning in the context of teaching and learning may differ, but e-learning is commonly taken to mean the use of computers and the internet for learning. This can be taken to mean only using e-learning at a distance, for remote students. However, there are a growing number of applications of e-learning with campus-taught students in either blended or fully online mode.

Other terms may emerge to reflect further changes in the way we use technologies in education. Currently there is considerable interest in mobile learning, or m-learning as it is sometimes called. Is this simply a part of e-learnin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of examples
• Series editors’ foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. What is blended e-learning?
• 2. Different approaches to blended e-learning
• 3. Devising blended e-learning activities
• 4. Documenting e-learning blends
• 5. Choosing e-tools for blended activities
• 6. Environments to integrate activity blends
• 7. Sustainable blended e-learning designs
• 8. Support structures for blended e-learning
• 9. Ethical issues in blended e-learning
• Glossary
• References
• Index