Online Education: How we can get the next phase right

 

 Background

Online Learning has become a household term and is becoming a way of life. Schoolchildren including those from some primary classes and more mature students from state and non-state higher educational institutions, along with their teachers and lecturers have started experiencing online teaching and learning hands on during the last several months. Although online teaching and learning existed in a very limited scale prior to the onset of Covid-19, a rapid transition to online teaching and learning occurred following the closure of educational institutions in connection with the spread of the virus. The way and the speed with which the state and non-state educational institutions adapted to the change and faced the challenges of shifting to online learning are commendable. State and non-state higher educational institutions and schools, private tuition providers and other academic and professional bodies have implemented online teaching and learning to varying degrees of success during the past period. The general satisfaction level among the students and teachers about the new mode of learning seems to be somewhat satisfactory subject to certain shortcomings such as internet connection issues, costs associated therewith, lack of suitable devices to practise online learning, suitability of learning material, etc.

 

Definitions and context

Online learning can be defined as education that takes place over the Internet. It is often referred to as “e- learning” among other terms. However, online learning is just one type of “distance learning” - the umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not in a traditional classroom. On the other hand, distance learning is described as any format of education provided to students who do not need to be physically present at an institution; previously materials were sent to students but now materials are provided via computer conferencing, video, Internet, and other electronic means.

Online learning can be used in both distance learning and in blended learning, which uses a mix of online learning and traditional face-to-face learning approaches. This however, makes it necessary for the online learning material to be prepared with appropriate design features to ensure self-study, student engagement, provision of feedback, opportunity for self-assessment, etc. It is not appropriate to use teaching material prepared for face-to-face settings in online teaching without modifications as the two teaching and learning contexts are quite different.

 

Current Situation

The common approaches to online teaching have been to use free videoconferencing software such as Zoom to organize online lecture sessions where the teacher or lecturer explains the subject matter using PowerPoint slides or directly working on whiteboards. Lecture notes are sent to students electronically in advance with the expectation that students read same and come prepared for the Zoom session on a specified date.  During the Zoom sessions, the teacher explains material, solves selected problems, questions students, answers student queries, etc. In some sessions, video and audio clips are played with or without teacher intervention, and/or sent them for use by students at their own time.

In many higher educational institutions, Learning Management Systems (LMS) are used for routine course administration purposes including sharing and uploading assignments, receiving answer scripts, project submissions, conducting surveys, checking attendance, setting discussion forums and chats, etc.

Notes, hand-outs, etc. prepared for face-to-face teaching may not be attractive to all the online learners. There are different types of learners in any given student cohort. Four primary types of learners are identified; Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing preference and Kinaesthetic. Appropriately designed online lessons shall meet most of these learner types. If one particular learning material cannot meet all types learner styles, there shall be other complementary material which can meet the unmet learner styles. Ideally, there shall be different learning material which caters for different types of learners. At least, two or more alternative media components should be provided to the students so that they could choose the best medium that suit them, e.g. visual, audio, text or practical or experiment-based, etc. Attention also needs to be given to learners who have visual, auditory and other impairments.

The above emphasises the importance of appropriate design of instructions to suit online learning. In order to achieve desired learning objectives the lessons need to be designed using appropriate instructional design strategies and models.

While the access to many institutional web servers has been made free by many educational institutions in collaboration with telecom providers, the poor internet connections experienced by students from rural areas, costs associated with internet access to other websites, heavy dependence on mobile phones (with attendant limitations such as small screen sizes, difficulty in reading and typing long texts, etc.) for online learning due to non-availability of better devices such as tabs or laptops, have not helped to make the online learning a pleasant experience to a significant portion of learners.

 

What comes next?

Now that the first phase of online learning has passed, what comes next? Following are a few specific actions that universities and other educational institutions could take in the next few months to help improve student learning, engagement, and experience while operating remotely:

These moves may inspire institutions to pilot new initiatives, learn what works, iterate, and position themselves to create capabilities that will enhance instruction permanently. However, the educational institutions may not be able to handle all of them on their own. Due organizational, professional and financial support need to be provided by the government, public and private sector corporations, non-governmental organizations, professional institutions, philanthropists, specialists, consultants, etc.

Focus on access and equity: Moving from on-campus to remote learning raises issues related to access and equity. There are the immediate logistical challenges of ensuring students have the basic technology they need to learn remotely. Some possible actions include: offer stipends for internet access and laptop rentals or purchases. Provision of loaned equipment and hot spots for internet access to under-resourced students.

Consideration also needs to be given to effects on mental health and stress created by the epidemic, and also to mitigate the additional difficulties encountered by physically impaired learners due to shifting to online education, e.g. provision of recorded lessons with captions, etc.

Support faculty: Most academics are working hard to respond creatively to teach their students to the same standards, even as their own lives are disrupted. What methods work best in a remote environment will differ by discipline and the technology available. There are a few broad ways that institutions can help.

Offer more teaching support. Many institutions have centres that offer support to faculty in their teaching; these should be scaled up as much as possible and shift their orientation to proactively support the academics in educational technology and preparation of necessary media components and lesson material.

 

Use social media and online forums so that faculty can share best practices. Collaboration forums can get early momentum when “seeded” with ideas from influential academics. Highlighting and explaining successful remote-teaching practices during faculty meetings can cultivate a sense of camaraderie, as well as a culture of sharing and improving.

 

Set up a structure for the faculty to get regular feedback on their teaching. Two sources for this are: short student surveys and engagement data derived from the institution’s learning-management system. Student surveys need to be short and specific, with pertinent questions, such as how well professors explain the concepts or cultivate a sense of connection. These surveys should be used not to judge professors, but to give them information on how students are responding and where they can improve. Survey results can also give administrators a sense of where they might need to intervene to support student learning.

 

Create online student centres.  As institutions move to remote learning, they can think about how to use existing tools to move in-person gatherings online and open up spaces for discussions, events, wellness classes, and other interests. The idea is to offer virtual spaces in lieu of physical ones to enable the university community to continue to connect. These centres also could be used to organise study groups and online tutoring.

 

Activate stakeholders.  One way to start is by identifying and activating tech-savvy students and staff to coach faculty and other students to use online tools. Another possibility is to ask alumni and community members to provide remote mentorship and coaching to support students with remote learning, career discussions, and virtual internships. In addition to professional support, financial and logistical support also can be sought.

 

Invest in cybersecurity to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning. The rushed efforts to move learning online have increased the risks of cyberthreats. Universities can prevent such problems by ensuring their cybersecurity teams are up to the task, closing the gaps that attackers can exploit, and making investments required to ensure security and data privacy while enabling teaching and learning to go on.

 

Summary            

Often with limited experience and training, our educational institutions have hurriedly shifted to online learning and teaching. Many have done so in an exemplary manner; others have not been as successful, at least so far. This forced and abrupt move to remote learning has not been easy. However, it can provide institutions with an opportunity to experiment and innovate. Universities may find that they have a new remote-learning capability that can be integrated with on-campus instruction, to everyone’s benefit, when this crisis has passed. This added capability goes hand in hand with the government’s commitment to enhance the intakes and provide access to university education to all those who qualify.

 

Author:

 

Dr. Gamini Padmaperuma, a  Fellow Member of IESL and a former Senior Lecturer at OUSL, holds a PhD from the University of Canterbury, NZ. His PhD thesis was on Instructional Design for Computer-Based Learning. email: gamini_pad@hotmail.com