Choosing & Using Technologies in Education & Training
TAFE SA has established a target of 50% of students studying online by the year 2000. In 1996 fourteen pilot projects and a number of infrastructure initiatives were conducted under the auspices of the TAFE SA Learning Systems and Resources Standing Committee (LSRSC), with support from national flexible delivery funding. The primary aim of these initial projects was to develop an understanding of the educational, organisational and technical infrastructure requirements for online development, delivery and learner support. Building on the outcomes of the initial projects, a number of major online projects have been conducted in 1997 and further initiatives are planned for 1998. (http://www.tafe.sa.edu.au/lsrsc/database/home.html)
The project that is reported in this case study was an early part of this TAFE SA initiative and involved the delivery of Communication Studies online.1 An evaluation of this project was funded as one of the fourteen initial projects to record the experiences of both students and teachers working in the online environment.
The modules involved in this project were the National Communication modules:
They were delivered to students studying Business Studies Awards and as individual training packages.
There were three main aims for the project:
Learners
There were two distinct groups of students studying Communication Studies online.
One group were students studying at TAFE having enrolled through the South Australian Tertiary Admission Centre (SATAC). In the main, these students were in their late teens or early twenties, studying at TAFE as full-time students.
The other group were students who were employed, generally older than the full-time students and studying part-time mainly in the evenings.
Stakeholders
The following groups all had a keen interest in outcomes from the project.
Adelaide Institute Executive: they funded the development of the online materials, and needed to make decisions about further development and funding.
LSRSC: they funded the evaluation project and wanted to know the impact of online delivery on learning outcomes and professional development needs.
IT Staff: they provided the technical support and wanted feedback on the environment in order to progress the delivery onto the Internet.
Teaching and Learning - Student Views
Initial responses from students to the online environment were positive.
First impressions of the online environment from students included good becoming easier 54%; new and strange at first 21%; convenient 11%. Time spent using the technology in class showed 85% indicated between two and three hours. Out of class usage of technology of between one and three hours was reported by 87% of the respondents.
In this first week of semester, 54% of the online students reported feeling confident about the use of this technology for learning, 18% felt OK about it, and 25% of students reported feeling uncomfortable about the use of the technology for learning.
Online students were asked how supportive they found the current learning environment to be. 45% indicated that it was very supportive, and a further 45% indicated that it was OK. Only 4% indicated that it was not supportive.
Communication Studies modules develop skills in writing business documents and in interpersonal relationships. Online students were asked to identify other skills learnt while studying these modules. In order of preferences, students chose skills in problem solving, in the use of the LRC to locate information, in the use of technology in learning, in taking notes from texts, and in sorting and selecting appropriate information.
Students were asked if using the online environment had helped with their learning and asked to give reasons. Comments from those who responded positively included ease of accessing and gathering information, improved computer skills and insights into workplace situations. There was strong support for this mode of learning, including easy access to materials, greater control of the learning process, more enjoyable than face-to-face classes, benefits from the use of computers for learning, and encouragement to learn new skills.
Students who responded that they were unsure about online delivery indicated that the use of computers was too new, that some concepts were hard to grasp, and that it was too hard to gauge whether or not this delivery had helped with their learning.
Overall the students benefited from a learning environment that incorporated online technologies; they reported higher levels of satisfaction with the learning environment than students in face-to-face classes and it was noted that the competency outcomes were achieved.
Teaching and Learning - Teacher Views
Teachers were both interested and anxious about using online technologies with their students. The teachers working with the online learning environment had all had experience with off-campus print based delivery. This helped them to work more flexibly with students but throughout the semester they found themselves continually modifying their delivery.
Teachers needed to ensure that their teaching style was not too intrusive in the online environment, as there was not as much need for directing students or engaging in activities during the sessions. They indicated that there was less need for actual lecturing or teaching content in the online environment; and there was more time for talking to students on a one-to-one basis, or working with small groups, particularly on questions or problems.
Technology, Equipment And Facilities
The online environment is accessed via a PC and Web browser using electronic main in a Windows environment. The material can be provided to students on disk, CDRom, via a network - intranet - or via the Internet. Students with their own Internet access can connect to the online environment from home or work. The main focus of the initial delivery was intranet, with students accessing material on-campus using computes in classrooms, the Drop-In Centre or the LRC.
Learning Resource Materials
Content, activities and assignments were developed in HTML format for access via a Web browser. Microsoft Word was linked into the environment to give students access to templates where they could enter comments and produce documents.
Search engines were linked into the environment with help on how to use them to search for resources on the Web, and direct links to particular sites were provided by embedding the URL into the HTML code.
The material is complex in design but user friendly and simple to use. All transitions between software and onto the Web are achieved by a simple click and even students who have not used a computer before, can login and move around the environment and complete an activity in Word in the first three hour session.
All the various aspects of the environment are available from a Main Menu, providing students with many pathways for their learning. Hyperlinks are made throughout so that effective learning outcomes could be achieved. For example, a student working through the activities to develop the skills has hyperlinks to the relevant readings or resources if more information is needed to help complete the activity.
Sample responses are provided throughout for the activities. Formative assessments are sent via email for feedback from lecturers. Where appropriate, summative assessments are submitted electronically. The focus of the assessment is problem - solving based on a Workplace Case Study that is integrated into all the aspects of the environment.
Finance and Management
Funding for the development stage of the project was provided by the Business Studies workgroup at Adelaide Institute to cover the release of staff to develop the content material. Centralised Institute funding was provided for project management, technical support, HTML input and graphics, and technical set up. Aspects of staff development for this and another project were achieved through an Action Learning Project funded by the Department for Employment, Training and Further Education under the Information Technology in Action Learning scheme.
Human Resources
The development and delivery phases of this project were achieved through a team-based approach. The team consisted of the following:
A wide range of approaches to professional development were taken including:
A formal evaluation of the project was conducted with funding
from LSRSC. The results of the evaluation have been documented
"Evaluating Online Delivery-Communication Studies at
Adelaide Institute" and this report has been placed on the
LSRSC Website at
http://www.tafe.sa.edu.au/lsrsc under
projects.
For the evaluation, it was decided to compare information about the attitudes and responses of the students from two classes working in the online environment with students from two classes working in the face-to-face environment. A full-time day class and a part-time evening class were sampled from each learning environment. Face-to-face classes were involved in the evaluation to provide a control group for evaluating online delivery. The data was collected through questionnaires administered at three points in the semester. The first questionnaire recorded the initial responses of students, while the second questionnaire which was administered mid-term, evaluated the learning and teaching environment. The third questionnaire was administered at the end of semester to provide a comparison of competencies and outcomes from the classroom and online groups.
Teacher Comments From The Evaluation
The further development of the online environment towards full access for students from their home and their place of work, as well as TAFE, emerged as a priority. In addition, it was noted that teachers needed to have ready access to equipment and to software, as well as having access to appropriate staff training and development in the use of computer equipment and software. Teacher expertise in managing technical
problems in the classroom was seen as important, as was having alternative strategies to cope with unexpected technical difficulties during online delivery.
It was also strongly noted that teachers new to online delivery would need to think through their use of this environment. A very professional approach to the materials would be essential, including comprehensive familiarity with the content of the learning materials, knowing what might be needed by way of resources or activities to ensure appropriate learning, and being able to anticipate student questions.
It would also mean a commitment to less teaching or lecturing in traditional ways, to developing less intrusive approaches to teaching, and to the allocation of more time for working with individual students. There was a need for teachers to think through new approaches to cooperative learning - with students working together, or students even helping out the teacher from time to time. Finally in this context, a team teaching approach should be continued to ensure appropriate and coordinated strategies by all staff involved in delivering Communication Studies modules.
Although much was seen to have been achieved in developing learning modules and the materials were seen to be effective, it was noted that further research on the pedagogical aspects of these new materials would certainly be advantageous. The acceptance by students of case studies suggested that there was more work to be done in developing case study materials for these modules. As students were now encouraged to learn at their own pace, it would be important for multiple pathways to be available and explained to students, so that they didn’t look for a more traditional linear progression, as the only approach.
Wider use of online delivery would encourage students to develop the skills to learn in the online environment. There was a tendency for some students to print out much of the material. There was seen to be a need to investigate reasons for this and for alternative learning strategies to be practised with students.
Student Comments From The Evaluation
Students reported enjoying the easy access to learning materials, and valuing the greater control they had over their own learning. Students gained benefit from using computers, and reported that online delivery was more enjoyable than face-to-face teaching. They also reported learning new skills, including greater familiarity with the technology.
Some aspects of the learning process were noted for further improvement. Online students reported that time was wasted in the login process, that more instructions were needed on how to use online materials, and that hard copies of assignments and feedback exercises should be readily available. Some students requested more time with teachers for one-to-one questioning, and opportunities for students to access materials outside TAFE. Students indicated that a better elaborate on the purpose of online delivery would be useful.
Thanks to Sue Goldman of Adelaide Institute for the preparation of this case study.
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