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Strategies for online distance learning The primary role of the student is to learn. Under
the best of circumstances, this challenging task requires motivation, planning, and the
ability to analyze and apply the information being taught. In a distance education
setting, the process of student learning is more complex for several reasons (Schuemer,
1993):
- Many distance-education students are older,
have jobs, and families. They must coordinate the different areas of their lives which
influence each other - their families, jobs, spare time, and studies.
- Distant students have a variety of reasons
for taking courses. Some students are interested in obtaining a degree to qualify for a
better job. Many take courses to broaden their education and are not really interested in
completing a degree.
- In distance education, the learner is
usually isolated. The motivational factors arising from the contact or competition with
other students is absent. The student also lacks the immediate support of a teacher who is
present and able to motivate and, if necessary, give attention to actual needs and
difficulties that crop up during study.
- Distant students and their teachers often
have little in common in terms of background and day-to-day experiences and therefore, it
takes longer for student-teacher rapport to develop. Without face-to-face contact distant
students may feel ill at ease with their teacher as an "individual" and
uncomfortable with their learning situation.
- In distance education settings, technology
is typically the conduit through which information and communication flow. Until the
teacher and students become comfortable with the technical delivery system, communication
will be inhibited.
Beginning students may have some difficulty
determining what the demands of a course of academic study actually are because they do
not have the support of an immediate peer group, ready access to the instructor, or
familiarity with the technology being used for delivery of the distance-education course.
They may be unsure of themselves and their learning. Morgan (1991) suggests that distant
students who are not confident about their learning tend to concentrate on memorizing
facts and details in order to complete assignments and write exams. As a result, they end
up with a poor understanding of course material. He views memorization of facts and
details as a 'surface approach' to learning and summarizes it as follows:
Surface approach:
- Focus on the "signs" (e.g., the
text or instruction itself).
- Focus on discrete elements.
- Memorize information and procedures for
tests.
- Unreflectively associate concepts and facts.
- Fail to distinguish principles from
evidence, new information from old.
- Treat assignments as something imposed by
the instructor.
- External emphasis focusing on the demands of
assignments and exams leading to a knowledge that is cut-off from everyday reality.
Distant students need to become more
selective and focused in their learning in order to master new information. The focus of
their learning needs to shift them from a 'surface approach' to a 'deep approach'. Morgan
(1991) summarizes this approach as follows:
Deep Approach:
- Focus on what is "signified"
(e.g., the instructor’s arguments).
- Relate and distinguish new ideas and
previous knowledge.
- Relate concepts to everyday experience.
- Relate and distinguish evidence and
argument.
- Organize and structure content.
- Internal emphasis focusing on how
instructional material relates to everyday reality.
The shift from 'surface' to 'deep' learning
is not automatic. Brundage, Keane, and Mackneson (1993) suggest that adult students and
their instructors must face and overcome a number of challenges before learning takes
place including: becoming and staying responsible for themselves; "owning" their
strengths, desires, skills, and needs; maintaining and increasing self-esteem; relating to
others; clarifying what is learned; redefining what legitimate knowledge is; and dealing
with content. These challenges are considered in relation to distance education:
- "Becoming and staying
responsible for themselves". High motivation is required to complete distant
courses because the day-to-day contact with teachers and other students is typically
lacking. Instructors can help motivate distant students by providing consistent and timely
feedback, encouraging discussion among students, being well prepared for class, and by
encouraging and reinforcing effective student study habits.
- "Owning one’s strengths,
desires, skills, needs". Students need to recognize their strengths and
limitations. They also need to understand their learning goals and objectives. The
instructor can help distant students to explore their strengths/limitations and their
learning goals/objectives by assuming a facilitative role in the learning process.
Providing opportunities for students to share their personal learning goals and objectives
for a course helps to make learning more meaningful and increases motivation.
- "Maintaining and increasing
self-esteem". Distant students may be afraid of their ability to do well in
a course. They are balancing many responsibilities including employment and raising
children. Often their involvement in distance education is unknown to those they work with
and ignored by family members. Student performance is enhanced if learners set aside time
for their instructional activities and if they receive family support in their academic
endeavors. The instructor can maintain student self-esteem by providing timely feedback.
It is critical for teachers to respond to students’ questions, assignments, and
concerns in a personalized and pleasant manner, using appropriate technology such as fax,
phone, or computer. Informative comments that elaborate on the individual student’s
performance and suggest areas for improvement are especially helpful.
- "Relating to others".
Students often learn most effectively when they have the opportunity to interact with
other students. Interaction among students typically leads to group problem solving. When
students are unable to meet together, appropriate interactive technology such as E-mail
should be provided to encourage small group and individual communication. Assignments in
which students work together and then report back or present to the class as a whole,
encourage student-to-student interaction. Ensure clear directions and realistic goals for
group assignments (Burge, 1993).
- "Clarifying what is
learned". Distant students need to reflect on what they are learning. They
need to examine the existing knowledge frameworks in their heads and how these are being
added to or changed by incoming information. Examinations, papers, and class presentations
provide opportunities for student and teacher to evaluate learning. However, less formal
methods of evaluation will also help the students and teacher to understand learning. For
example, periodically during the course the instructor can ask students to write a brief
reflection on what they have learned and then provide an opportunity for them to share
their insights with other class members.
- "Redefining what legitimate
knowledge is". Brundage, Keane, and Mackneson (1993) suggest that adult
learners may find it difficult to accept that their own experience and reflections are
legitimate knowledge. If the instructor takes a facilitative rather than authoritative
role, students will see—their own experience as valuable and important to their
further learning. Burge (1993) suggests having learners use first-person language to help
them claim ownership of personal values, experiences, and insights.
- "Dealing with content".
Student learning is enhanced when content is related to examples. Instructors tend to
teach using examples that were used when they received their training. For distance
learning to be effective, however, instructors must discover examples that are relevant to
their distant students. Encourage students to find or develop examples that are relevant
to them or their community.
Teaching and learning at a distance is
demanding. However, learning will be more meaningful and 'deeper' for distant students, if
the students and their instructor share responsibility for developing learning goals and
objectives; actively interacting with class members; promoting reflection on experience;
relating new information to examples that make sense to learners; maintaining self-esteem;
and evaluating what is being learned. This is the challenge and the opportunity provided
by distance education.
References
Brundage, D., Keane, R., and
Mackneson, R. (1993). Application of learning theory to the instruction of adults. In
Thelma Barer-Stein and James A. Draper (Eds.) The craft of teaching adults (pp. 131-144).
Toronto, Ontario: Culture Concepts. (ED 362 644).
Burge, E. (1993). Adult distance
learning: Challenges for contemporary practice. In Thelma Barer-Stein and James A. Draper
(Eds.) The craft of teaching adults (pp.215-230). Toronto, Ontario: Culture Concepts. (ED
362 644).
Morgan, A. (1991). Research into
student learning in distance education. Victoria, Australia: University of South
Australia, Underdale. (ED 342 371).
Schuemer, R. (1993). Some
psychological aspects of distance education. Hagen, Germany: Institute for Research into
Distance Education. (ED 357 266).
Willis, B. (1993). Distance
education: A practical guide. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Guide edited by Tania Gottschalk.
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This article is from a series
developed by Barry Willis and the University
of Idaho Engineering Outreach staff highlighting information detailed in Dr. Willis'
books: Distance Education - Strategies and Tools and Distance Education - A
Practical Guide.
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