E-Learning 2.0: Online Delivery of the Media Management Course

Transcription

E-Learning 2.0: Online Delivery
of the Media Management Course at SSE
ADIT
AMITAV
RAHMAN
Master of Science Thesis
Stockholm, Sweden 2010
E-Learning 2.0: Online Delivery
of the Media Management Course at SSE
ADIT
AMITAV
RAHMAN
Master’s Thesis in Media Technology (30 ECTS credits)
at the Media Management Master Programme
Royal Institute of Technology year 2010
Supervisor was Christopher Rosenqvist, SSE
Examiner was Nils Enlund
TRITA-CSC-E 2010:082
ISRN-KTH/CSC/E--10/082-SE
ISSN-1653-5715
Royal Institute of Technology
School of Computer Science and Communication
KTH CSC
SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
URL: www.kth.se/csc
E-learning 2.0: Online delivery of the Media
Management course at SSE
Abstract
The goal of this task was to propose an optimum method of online delivery for the Media
Management (MM) course at the Stockholm School of Economics. One problem with web
based instructions is that they often suffer from poor pedagogy. Also, there is no single
environment or medium that responds to the diverse needs of students and teachers. To address
these issues, I approached the task first from a pedagogical perspective, by relating the various
teaching-learning activities and interactions within the course to several learning theories and
models. This helped us identify the underlying teaching tasks and objectives of the course which
were subsequently translated into specific elements within the online courseware and learning
functions such as lectures and seminars, student presentations, group work, academic and social
interactions in and outside the class, assessment activities, administrative support and related
services. I then considered various synchronous and asynchronous technology formats and tools
that can support the courseware online. These included text, graphics, audio, video, multimedia,
web-conference/whiteboards, 3D virtual worlds, interactive learning objects, text chat, blogs,
forums, wikis, internet telephony, video conferencing and sophisticated learning management
systems among others. Next, I tried to address the diverse needs of students, teachers and course
staff by interviewing members of the MM teaching and course staff and by carrying out an
online study among MM students. These investigations were focused on their specific needs and
expectations, current way of working, preferred teaching/learning styles, thoughts and concerns
regarding particular tools/formats and general attitude towards online learning. The results led
us to conclude that a dual mode of delivery, consisting of a blended learning (on-campus) and a
distant learning (off-campus) channel running concurrently, would be the optimum solution.
Recommendations were made to use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods
and tools to facilitate instruction delivery and interactions. Finally, a three-phased
implementation scheme was proposed to facilitate a smooth transition from face-to-face to
blended, and from blended to a completely online mode of instruction delivery.
E-learning 2.0: Online leverans för Media
Management kursen i SSE
Sammanfattning
Målet med denna uppgift var att föreslå en optimal metod av online-leverans för Media
Management (MM) kursen på Handelshögskolan i Stockholm. Ett problem med webbaserade
instruktioner är att de ofta lider av dålig pedagogik. Dessutom finns det ingen enskild miljö eller
medium som svarar mot de olika behoven som eleverna och lärarna behöver. För att kunna lösa
dessa problem började vi med att se uppdraget först från ett pedagogiskt perspektiv genom att
relatera de olika undervisnings- och inlärningsaktiviteter samt samspel inom kursen med flera
inlärningsteorier och modeller. Detta hjälpte oss att hitta de underliggande pedagogiska
uppgifterna och inlärningsmålen för kursen som senare översattes till specifika delar inom
online-kursmaterial och lärande funktioner såsom föreläsningar och seminarier, elev
presentationer, grupparbeten, akademiska och sociala kontakter i och utanför
klassen, bedömningsverksamhet, administrativt stöd och relaterande tjänster. Vi ansåg då olika
synkrona och asynkrona tekniska format och verktyg kunde stödja kursmaterialet online. Dessa
inkluderade text, grafik, ljud, video, multimedia, web-konferens/whiteboards, 3D virtuella
världar, interaktivt lärande objekt, text chat, bloggar, forum, wikis, Internet-telefoni,
videokonferenser och sofistikerade system för inlärnings förvaltning bland andra. Därefter
försökte vi ta itu med studenternas, lärarnas och naturligtvis personalens olika behov genom att
intervjua medlemmar av MM undervisning och naturligtvis personal därefter genomföra en
online-undersökning bland MM studenter. Dessa undersökningar har inriktats på deras behov
och förväntningar, nuvarande sätt att arbeta, prefererade undervisning/inlärningsstilar, tankar
och funderingar om särskilda verktyg/format och allmänna inställning till online-lärande.
Resultaten har lett oss till slutsatsen att ett dubbelt leveranssätt, bestående av en kanal av
blandat lärande (på campus) och avlägset lärande (utanför campus) körs samtidigt, skulle vara
den optimala lösningen. Rekommendationer gjordes för att använda en kombination av
synkrona och asynkrona metoder och verktyg för att underlätta undervisningens leverans och
interaktioner. Slutligen hade en tregradig stege genomförts till det föreslagna systemet för att
underlätta en smidig övergång från ansikte mot ansikte till blandade, och från blandade till ett
helt online-läge för leverans av undervisningsspråk.
Table of contents
Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................1
1.1 Problem statement ...........................................................................................................1
1.2 Project goals....................................................................................................................2
1.3 Project significance .........................................................................................................2
Chapter 2: Background .............................................................................................................3
2.1 Introduction to online learning and Web 2.0 ....................................................................3
2.2 An overview to Media Management ................................................................................4
2.3 Applying learning theories...............................................................................................5
2.4 A closer look at interactions ..........................................................................................10
Chapter 3: Online courseware and learning functions ..............................................................16
3.1 Lectures and seminars ...................................................................................................17
3.2 Learning objects ............................................................................................................27
3.3 Group work ...................................................................................................................27
3.4 Outside-the-class interactions ........................................................................................28
3.5 Assessment activities.....................................................................................................30
3.6 Administrative support and related services ...................................................................31
3.7 Access through handheld devices ..................................................................................33
3.8 Formats and tools used at prominent universities ...........................................................33
Chapter 4: Methodology .........................................................................................................34
4.1 Interviews with MM teaching and course staff...............................................................34
4.2 Online study with MM students .....................................................................................34
4.3 Method criticism ...........................................................................................................35
Chapter 5: Findings.................................................................................................................36
5.1 Interviews with teachers ................................................................................................36
5.2 Interview with the teaching assistant..............................................................................39
5.3 Students’ views .............................................................................................................42
5.4 Finding summary ..........................................................................................................48
Chapter 6: Discussions and conclusions ..................................................................................51
6.1 Discussions and recommendations.................................................................................51
6.2 Recommendation summary ...........................................................................................59
6.3 Implementation .............................................................................................................63
6.4 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................65
References ..............................................................................................................................66
Appendix A: Interview guides.................................................................................................69
Appendix B: Online questionnaire for students........................................................................76
Chapter 1: Introduction
At the turn of the century, interactive Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, social
networks, media sharing and virtual worlds made it possible to create vibrant learning
environments on the internet that are able to provide organizations and learners with flexible
and convenient access, freedom to chose one’s own pace of learning, ability to support diverse
needs and talents, better employability skills and enhanced resource and cost efficiency. Web
2.0 is especially suited to active, community based learning that is widely considered to be the
most effective.[1] According to a 12-year meta-analysis research conducted by the U.S.
Department of Education, students taking all or part of their classes online perform better, on
average, than those taking the same courses in traditional face-to-face mode.[2]
Consequently, higher education institutions around the world are trying to reap the benefits of
online learning by converting existing courses and creating new ones for online delivery.
Notable global groups working to promote distance education include “British International
Studies Association, Central and East European International Studies Association, European
Association of International Education, U.S. International Studies Association, U.S. Information
Agency, IDP Education Australia, European Universities Continuing Education Network, and
Global Wireless Education Consortium”.[3, p.62] According to a Sloan Consortium report cited
by Wikipedia, “more than 96 percent of the largest colleges and universities in the United
States offered online courses” in 2006.[4]
In this situation, the Department of Marketing and Strategy at the Stockholm School of
Economics (SSE) is considering the creation of an alternate channel of online delivery for its
Media Management (MM) course with a hope to leverage the affordances of new media
technologies.
1.1 Problem statement
While online learning offers many promises, it can only do so when it is “done right”. What this
means is that the online learning courseware and functionalities must be designed properly,
keeping the learners and the learning process in mind.[5, p.4]
Unfortunately, there is no single environment or right medium of online learning that responds
to all learners. Nor there is a specific formula that dictates interactions across all learning
domains.[6, p.54] Hence a proper design of online courseware and format for a particular course
would have to be based on the specific needs of learners and teachers at different stages of the
learning cycle.
Another key concern in applying Information and communication technologies (ICT) in the
design of higher education, pointed out by Quintero [7], is the pedagogical methodology to be
used. Unfortunately, there are many examples of web based instructions that suffer from poor
pedagogy. One way, suggested by Caplan [8] to address this issue is to ensure that the
educational standards applied to the development of online instructions are the same as that of
any other delivery medium, such as the classroom.
While being able to “do it right” resulted in success for the University of Phoenix1 (200,000
students [4]) and Athabasca University2 (38,000 students [9]), failure to do so meant the end for
programs such as New York University’s NYU Online, University of Maryland University
College’s UMUC Online and Temple University’s Virtual Temple [3].
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2
http://www.phoenix.edu/
http://www.athabascau.ca/
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1.2 Project goals
The goal of the project is to propose a design for an online delivery channel for the MM course,
which responds to the diverse needs of students and teachers and is consistent with its
underlying teaching tasks and learning objectives. Note that the scope of this work does not
include the actual technical implementation of this design.
The project objectives are as follows:
- to understand the underlying teaching tasks and objectives of MM by analyzing the
various teaching-learning activities and interactions within the course from a
pedagogical perspective
- to translate the activities and interactions into specific elements of online courseware
and learning functions
- to consider available technology tools and format to support the online courseware and
learning functions
- to find out what is important to MM students and teachers in the learning process
- to understand the general attitude of students and teachers towards online learning
- to understand students’ way of working
- to learn about the administrative functions of the course
- to determine the optimum mode of online delivery (i.e., distance vs blended learning)
- to refine the initially identified elements of MM courseware and formats in accordance
with the specific needs and preferences of the MM teaching and course staff and
students
- to recommend an optimal design of online delivery for the MM course
- to propose an implementation strategy
1.3 Project significance
Even though Sweden has one of the best IT infrastructure in the world and makes heavy use of
web technologies to support ‘on campus’ teaching in higher education, the number of online
learning courses and programs offered at the university level are few. (A few online masters’
programs are offered by Blekinge Tekniska Hogskola, Lulea Tekniska Universitet, Lund
University and Linkoping University.) However, the interest in this sector is increasing.
MM takes a dynamic approach to teaching using a combination of methods and activities
including lectures, seminars, guest lectures, case studies, ‘live’ project work and assessments.
The course attaches great importance to the principles of active learning and collaborative work
in that students actively participate in interactive discussions, break out sessions, exercises,
presentation seminars, peer reviews and group projects. These teaching-learning tasks and
activities are present in many other courses offered by SSE and different other universities. In
this respect this work could be beneficial to other similar programs and courses that might
consider moving towards online delivery in the future.
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Chapter 2: Background
In this chapter I will provide a background for the work by presenting an overview to online
learning and the MM course. Next, I will discuss several learning theories and relate them to the
teaching tasks and activities within MM. Finally, I will further evaluate these teaching tasks and
activities by taking a closer look at the interactions taking place between different actors
involved in the teaching-learning situation.
2.1 Introduction to online learning and Web 2.0
Online learning has many forms and is referred to by many different terminologies including elearning, web-based learning, distributed learning, virtual learning, computer-assisted learning
and distance learning. Consequently, it is difficult to come up with a universally accepted
definition for it. For this work, I have borrowed the definition provided by Means et al [2] in a
meta-analysis and review of online learning studies for the U.S. Department of Education,
which describes online learning as the “learning that takes place partially or entirely over the
Internet”. The definition excludes various other forms of distant learning including print-based
correspondence, broadcast television and radio, videocassettes, and stand-alone educational
software programs that do not have a significant Internet-based instructional component. (The
definition also excluded telecommunication channel based videoconferencing but internet-based
videoconferencing is still relevant for this work.)
Early examples of online learning can be traced as far back as the 1970s and 80s when online
courses were developed by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the University of Guelph
(Canada), the British U.K Open University and the University of British Columbia.[10]
However, it wasn’t until the internet boom in the mid 1990s that the concept spread broadly.[11]
Online learning in this period was somewhat passive in that students received packaged lessons
and assignments over the internet and sent back finished work to be graded; the communication
between teachers and learners were pretty much one way. The situation changed dynamically
with the emergence of Web 2.0 at the turn of the century which made online learning much
more interactive.
Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, wikis, social networks, media sharing and virtual worlds
made it possible to support interactive learning environments within the internet in which
knowledge is socially constructed through conversation and collaboration among members
within learning communities. According to experts, this sort of community based, process
driven approach is very effective in helping students become self-directed and independent
learners.[1] According to a European Commission report, university students are embracing
these social computing tools on their own to support their own research networks, to personalize
their knowledge and to manage resources.[12] Other benefits of online education include:
• Improved performance – Higher education students in online courses generally perform
better than those in face-to-face courses.[2]
• Increased accessibility – Online course materials can be accessed from anywhere, at
anytime. This makes them suitable for students living in distant geographic locations or
working professionals unable to attend regular class hours.
• Temporal freedom – According to Anderson the major motivation for students in choosing
online education is not the increased accessibility they offer, but rather the temporal
freedom they allow in moving through a course at a pace they themselves choose.[6, p.40]
• Diverse approach - Every student has their own way of learning. It is easier to cater to
students’ individual needs in online mode.
• Reduced bias - The bias caused by seating arrangement, gender, race and age are reduced
in online mode. Students are less intimidated in expressing themselves.[13]
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•
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Better match for 21st-century employability skills – The diverse range of
communication, collaboration, networking, information creation and sharing skills,
developed though the use of various Web 2.0 technologies are essential in today’s job
market. Higher education has a key role in helping students refine, extend and articulate
these skills.[1]
Resource and cost efficiency – Online delivery helps institutions make optimum use of
resources through process efficiency and reuse of materials. An increased number of
students can be supported at low marginal costs. [14]
2.2 An overview to Media Management
Media Management (MM) is a mandatory 15 ECT credit course for students enrolled in the
“Master in Marketing and Media Management” program at the Stockholm School of Economics
(SSE). The course is sometimes offered to students in other program at SSE and other
universities. According to the spring 2010 MM syllabus, the objective of the course is to teach
students how to explore business opportunities and take decisions in the rapidly changing media
industry by “observing, analyzing and understanding business models, value creation processes
and driving forces in the media environment”. The course expects that students who
successfully complete the course will be able to:
• define and articulate the meaning of central concepts and conceptual relations and relate
them to media business management and development activities
• apply theoretical models to solve problems
• make informed managerial decisions based on sound principles and advocate the rational
behind such decisions
The course is divided into three modules:
Module 1 introduces students to the core concepts and frameworks of strategic management.
Central activities in the module include lectures supported by reading supplements, in-class
exercises, case analyses, discussions and group presentations. Evaluation activities include a
written exam on literature at the end of the module.
Module 2 covers five media cases that aims to evaluate a student’s ability to make decisions in
a real life situation based on theoretical concepts learnt in module 1. Four of these cases are to
be solved in groups while the last one is to be done individually. Class activities include highly
interactive presentation and discussion seminars (during which student groups review and
discuss the works done by different groups and engage the audience by presenting interesting
discussion topics focussing on various aspects of the case) and guest lectures.
Module 3 exposes students to the real world by sending them off to work for a real media
company. According to MM syllabus, “the aim of the business project is to create a strategic
business plan including recommendations for a company in the media industry. The project is
completed in groups and is graded by the media company. Additional activities in the module
include several guest lectures.
MM attaches great importance to collaborative learning. Free and fluid exchange of ideas
between teachers and students and among students is essential to the success of the course. Thus
active involvement and meaningful contributions are strongly encouraged in all three modules.
The current mode of teaching is of course, face-to-face although online technologies are used in
various ways to support the learning process. For instance students can access reading materials,
lecture slides, schedules and other course content through the course web, assignments can be
submitted online and communication with faculty members and other students is possible over
email. By adopting a more inclusive channel of online delivery, MM hopes to achieve a greater
degree of flexibility, enhanced quality and resource efficiency, while maintaining its present
high standards.
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2.3 Applying learning theories
As have been discussed earlier, a good way to maintain quality of online instructions is to
ensure that the educational standards applied to them are the same as that of the existing face-toface mode. Hence, a logical first step in designing the online MM course would be to
understand the educational standards and underlying teaching tasks and objectives present in the
existing face-to-face setting. This has been done by relating the various teaching-learning
activities and interactions within the course to several pedagogical models, standards and
learning theories.
2.3.1 Prensky’s learning activity theory
Anderson discussed Marc Prensky’s theory according to which, different learning outcomes are
learned through different types of learning activities. [6, p.50] In the previous section, I have
talked about the following learning outcomes of Media Management:
• Understanding the theories and concepts and being able to relate those theories and
concepts to real world situations.
• Applying concepts and theories to find creative solutions to problems.
• Acquiring the ability to make informed managerial decisions based on theoretical
principles.
According to Anderson’s discussion on Prensky’s theory [6] people learn:
•
•
•
•
•
theories through logic, explanation and questioning
observation through viewing examples and receiving feedback
creativity through playing
reasoning through puzzles, problems, and examples
judgment through reviewing cases, asking questions, making choices, receiving feedback
and coaching
In the context of Media Management the above is applied as students learn:
• theories through
logical explanations in lectures and reading materials
discussions with teachers and fellow students
• observation through
examples cited by teachers in lectures
examples given in reading materials
examples presented in other students’ work
feedback received from teachers and peers
• creativity and reasoning through
solving assignments
venturing meaningful insights in class room/group discussions
• judgment through
working on live and other cases
discussing with teachers and peers
receiving feedback
Here, it is interesting to observe how these various learning activities are rooted in MM’s
learning objectives. If an online system is to replace or supplement the current form of delivery,
it will have to provide efficient mechanisms to perform these tasks adequately.
2.3.2 Seven principles for good practice
The “Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education” [15] published by The
American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) is a set of standards, widely accepted by
post-secondary institutions in North America. “Originally written for classroom instruction, it
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was subsequently revised to include online educational practices”. [8, p.180] Chickering and
Ehrmann argue that “if the power of the new technologies is to be fully realized, they should be
employed in ways consistent with the Seven Principles”. [16]
Let us now consider how the seven principles can be applied to an online course:
I. Encourages contacts between students and faculty
Application of new technologies can benefit faculty-student communications in many ways.
According to Chickering and Ehrmann, it “increase access to faculty members, help them share
useful resources, and provide for joint problem solving and shared learning”. [16] They allow
students and faculties to converse and exchange work much more speedily, thoughtfully and
safely than when confronting each other in a classroom or faculty office. Many students
consider this sort of technology mediated communication more intimate, protected, and
convenient than face-to-face communication. [16]
Faculty-student communication is very important for MM; it is an important part of all learning
activities discussed in the previous section. At present, the faculty-student communication in
MM takes place in the following forms:
• Q&A and discussions during and after lectures
• Electronic submission of assignments
• Comments on assignments
• Meeting with the project (live case) supervisor
• Email correspondence
• Messages on the course web about class cancellations, exam rescheduling, submission of
grades, etc.
The interesting thing to note here is that the bulk of learning related interactions depends on real
time, face-to-face meetings. There is no course blog, forum or wiki to carry on the discussions
asynchronously, after class hours. Implementing ICTs to create a more open communication
channels would surely help in this situation.
Another point to be noted here is that in a completely online mode of delivery, technology tools
don’t just augment the on campus, face-to-face interactions, but replaces them completely. What
this means is that in designing an online learning platform for MM, we need to look for tools
that are able to facilitate all the forms of faculty-student communications effectively.
II. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
Good learning is collaborative and social and not competitive and isolated. Anderson cited
modern constructivist theorists who “stress the value of peer-to peer interaction in investigating
and developing multiple perspectives. Work on collaborative learning illustrates potential gains
in cognitive learning tasks, as well as increases in completion rates and the acquisition of
critical social skills in education”. [6] According to Chickering and Ehrmann, “working with
others often increases involvement in learning. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others’
improves thinking and deepens understanding.” [16]
MM attaches great importance to student-student communication and collaboration. It
encourages:
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Free and fluid exchange of ideas in classroom discussions
Almost all the assignments and tasks have to be completed in groups
Peer review of work in which groups of students comment and discuss the work done by
other groups of students
Collaborative learning in which students learn from the presentations made by other
students
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A lot of these activities, especially the collaborative work on projects and assignments, require
real-time, face-to-face interactions. Accordingly, one of the objectives of this work will be to
find the proper tools to facilitate collaborative work online.
III. Uses active learning techniques.
Chickering and Ehrmann argue that “learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn
much just sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and
spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write reflectively about it,
relate it to past experiences, and apply it to their daily lives.” [16]
As have been mentioned earlier, MM is very progressive in that it demands a high degree of
involvement from its students. Students don’t just sit through lectures, memorize things from
books and reprint them on exams; they learn what they mean and how to apply them in real life
situations. In MM, students take an active part in the learning process from the very beginning:
The lectures are more like seminars in which everybody participates. The teachers
encourage students to approach them with questions and comments every now and then.
• Students are asked to solve problems that cannot be solved just by recalling lectures or text
books; they need to carefully analyze the problem, think about it deeply and apply creativity
to come up with the solutions.
• Students are required to take interest not only in their own work but also in what others
think or do.
• Students have to learn to engage other students in meaningful discussions while making
presentations.
• The live case in module 3 brings students face to face with real life challenges where they
have to apply the things they have learnt in the classroom.
It should be noted here that even though MM attaches importance to participation in class and
group activities, it doesn’t really employ a good assessment technique to evaluate these
participations at the moment. It would be possible to do so in the online mode of delivery, for
example, by scanning comments left in blogs, discussion logs, chats, etc.
•
IV. Gives prompt feedback
Prompt feedback from instructors help students to stay on the right track by letting them know
what they have done right, where they have gone wrong and what more they need to
accomplish.
Feedback is vital to MM since many of the questions presented during the course of learning
don’t have right or wrong answers that students can verify on their own. Teacher’s feedback is
thus extremely important in shaping students’ observation, reasoning and decision making
skills. At present feedback in MM takes the following forms:
• Teachers comments in class discussions
• Feedback and grades on written assignments
• Comments on presentations
• Grades received in exams
• Supervisor’s comments on progress made in live case
Of the various types of feedback listed above, comments on written assignments and evaluation
of exams are already sent to students using electronic means (via email or a message on the
student web). The rest is communicated to students verbally, in face-to-face settings. If these
comments somehow slip a student’s mind, they are lost forever. Electronic means would do a
better job of documenting these.
V. Emphasizes time on task
Good use of time means effective learning for students as well as effective teaching for faculty.
According to Chickering and Ehrmann “New technologies can dramatically improve time on
task for students and faculty members.” [16] For example, allowing a student to participate in a
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lecture from home frees him/her from the obligation to spend good amounts of time commuting,
or looking for parking spaces. On the other hand it can save teachers the stress to repeat the
same things over and over again in classes and use that time to have more interactive
communications with their students.
Again, by allowing students to do things on their own time, teachers are sometimes able to steal
students’ beer time. That is, in online learning, students sometimes end up looking at lectures or
commenting on course blogs instead of catching the new video on YouTube or chit chatting on
Facebook.
Also, tools used in online learning can keep better record of students’ time on task. For example
with meetings conducted online, it is possible to see how much time a student puts in group
work, discussions and presentations.
VI. Communicates high expectations
Raising the bar on expectations drives the students to perform better, making it a self-fulfilling
prophecy. Higher expectations can be communicated through significant real-life problems,
conflicting perspectives, or paradoxical data sets that can set powerful learning challenges for
students. This way they “not only acquire information but sharpen their cognitive skills of
analysis, synthesis, application, and evaluation”. [16]
MM communicates its high expectations to students from the get to. Students are made aware of
the study plans and learning objectives before the course actually starts. The instructors make it
clear that the course is going to make high demands on a student’s time and abilities. This is
expressed through:
• The fast pace of the course since the very beginning; work groups are quickly created and
the first assignments are due within the first week.
• While working on assignments in module 1, it becomes apparent that the solutions to
problems will not be ‘handed out’ in the lectures or in the course literature; students need to
explore beyond the classroom and using whatever tools (ICT) they have in their disposal
and bring back viable solutions. The teacher gives them some idea on how to do this but she
doesn’t ‘hold their hands’ all the way.
• After the theoretical learning of module 1, students are taken closer to the real world, as
they study real world cases and attend lectures given by industry experts in module 2.
• It is not enough for one to relate theoretical models to solve problems, s/he must be able to
understand what that implies in the context of the given problem and draw meaningful
conclusions.
• The assignments are increasingly more complex as the course progresses, making higher
demands on students’ cognitive abilities.
• The ultimate expression of MM’s high expectations is the live case in module 3 in which
students are sent off to real companies to solve real problems.
If MM is to retain its integrity on the online mode, it will have to ensure that the new mode of
delivery will continue to communicate the high expectations of the course, the same way it does
now.
VII. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning
Different students bring different things into the mix. They also may have different learning
styles. “Brilliant students in a seminar might be all thumbs in a lab or studio; students rich in
hands-on experience may not do so well with theory. Students need opportunities to show their
talents and learn in ways that work for them.” [16]
MM tries to cater to students’ diverse talents and styles by:
• employing different types of learning activities to develop students’ theoretical knowledge,
observational skills, creativity and decision making abilities. (see section 2.3.1)
• assigning tasks that require analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
• exposing students to real-life situations.
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•
driving collaboration and group problem solving.
Technology can further this cause by providing
• powerful visuals and well organized materials
• direct, vicarious and virtual experiences
• encouragement of self reflection and evaluation
• allowances for students to move at their own pace; the bright students can move quickly
through materials and move on to more difficult tasks while slower students can take more
time and get more feedback from teachers and fellow students. [16]
• insurance of equal treatment to all students in the class; studies show that in conventional
classrooms, the top one-third students get most of the attention while the bottom third
receives the least. [17, p.11] Online education promises a more equal treatment in this
regard.
It is apparent that MM, in its existing form, already addresses the seven principles. The same
principles need to be upheld and if possible, advanced further in the online mode.
2.3.3 Bloom’s alterable variables of learning
Benjamin Bloom argued that alterations to two or three variables of learning may lead to
significant performance improvements. [17] Even though this learning theory is pre-online,
considering the following variables can be very relevant to this work:
• Quality tutorial instruction
• Reinforcement and feedback
• Cues and explanations
• Student classroom participation
• Students’ time on task
• Cooperative learning
• Homework (assigned and graded)
• Higher order questions
• Classroom morale
Online technologies can be applied to induce effective changes to all these variables and
simulate tutoring effects similar to that of one-to-one tutoring. [18]
We need to note that most of these variables have also been emphasized by the seven principles
of learning, discussed in the previous section.
2.3.4 Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Offered Programs
Caplan [8, p.181] extracted another set of standards from the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education’s (WICHE) “Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Offered
Academic Degree and Certificate Programs”. According to this an institution should
provide/ensure the following:
• timely and appropriate interaction between faculty and students and among students
• faculty oversight to ensure both the rigor of programs and the quality of instruction
• appropriate faculty support services and training
• access to library resources for students
• access to a range of student services including admissions, financial aid, academic advising,
delivery of course materials, and placement and counseling
The standards, mentioned above, are completely relevant for our purposes. While the first two
overlap with the issues addressed in previous discussions, the rest adds new items to our list of
requirements.
9
2.4 A closer look at interactions
All the learning theories, discussed so far, have in one way or another stressed on timely and
appropriate interaction between faculty and students and among students themselves. This way,
as Fahy [19] suggests, a key role of media or online technologies would be to reduce the
“transactional distance” or communication gap between participants in a teaching-learning
situation. It is thus prudent to take a closer look at the interactions in MM.
According to Moor, the three most common forms of interaction in distance education are
student to student, student to teacher and student to content [20]. Boettcher [21] suggests that an
advanced online instruction
should design for a balance for
these
three
dialogues.
According
to
Anderson,
“sufficient levels of deep and
meaningful learning can be
developed, as long as one of the
three forms of interaction
(student-teacher;
studentstudent; student-content) is at
very high levels. The other two
may be offered at minimal
levels or even eliminated
without
degrading
the
educational experience.” [6]
This list was later expanded by
Anderson and Garrison to
include teacher to teacher,
teacher to content, and content
Figure 2.1: Interactions in Education [6, p.46]
to content interactions. [6]
Now let us see what these interactions entail in the context of MM.
2.4.1 Student-teacher interactions
In MM, faculty-student interactions take place in the following forms:
Lectures and seminars
There are three types of lectures in MM: the theoretical lectures in module 1 and case seminars
and guest lectures in module 2. Compared to lectures in most other programs, lectures in MM
are more interactive in that they highly encourage active student participation in classroom
discussions.
Even the lectures on theory in module 1 are designed to be like interactive seminars during
which students are frequently asked to share questions, insights and examples. There are also inclass exercises in which students collaborate with two or three other students (normally the
people sitting next to them in class) to present questions or ideas to the class.
The seminars in module 2 are even more interactive as they are built around evaluation of case
studies by students. In the course of these discussions, students are called to explain their stands
on various aspects of the case. It is also not uncommon for the teachers to invite students to take
the stage and use the blackboard to explain their ideas to the whole class.
The guest lectures are the most passive of all three in that the communication is, for the most
part, one way like traditional lectures. But even during these students are asked to participate
with questions, ideas and reflections.
10
Student presentations
As a part of coursework, students are sometimes asked to present their work in front of the
whole class. In this they address the teachers, as well as the rest of the class. In autumn 2010,
students were asked to make audio-enabled, self explanatory presentations that can be viewed
online, without coming to the class.
Submission of and feedback on assignments
Students upload written assignments (cases in module 2) and presentations (in module 1 and 2)
online, on a specific deadline. The teachers, in turn, get back to them with their comments and
grades. For the most part, the comments are passed on face-to-face, verbally, allowing students
to ask additional questions that they may have.
Examination and grading
At the end of Module 1, students sit for an exam on theory consisting of descriptive questions.
The teacher posts the grades online.
Project (live case) supervision
In module 3, the students periodically meet with the ‘project coach’ to discuss the progress
made. Students some times make use of PowerPoint presentations to communicate their
thoughts and ideas about the task at hand. The supervisor’s feedback is crucial in that this helps
the students organize the tasks, refine objectives, concentrate on specific aspects and finish the
job. For the most part these discussions take place face-to-face. However on some occasions,
the communications take place over the phone or email.
Other interactions
Students can also meet teachers during their office hours or email them about course related
issues. It is also not uncommon for students to approach teachers with questions during recess
or after lectures. These can include questions about things discussed in a lecture, confusion
about a given task, received grades or a new deadline for assignment submission.
2.4.2 Student-student interactions
Student-student communication is very important for MM as it attaches a high importance on
collaborative learning. During the course, the following interactions take place among students:
Open discussions and exercises
Open discussions are not one-to-one communications between a student and a teacher but rather
many to many interactions involving everybody present in the class. When someone shares an
insight with the teacher, s/he shares it with the whole class. The teacher’s actual role here is that
of a moderator. Also, for some in-class exercises student break out in small groups (typically
with the people sitting near by) and engage in short discussions. The ideal online system should
facilitate all these interactions.
Making presentations
Just like in class discussions, students don’t present just for the teacher, but for the whole class
and everybody is welcome to ask questions and comment on them.
Group assignments
A bulk of the assignments in MM, including the case studies and final project (live case in
module 3) has to be completed in groups of four or five. These groups are large enough to
provide diversity of opinions and experience but not so large that the situation becomes
unmanageable.
To do these projects, student have to sit down together, bounce ideas off of each other, assign
individual tasks, coordinate with each other and finally, compile and edit the work. Most of
these group meetings take place face-to-face. If MM is to be delivered online, students would
11
need access to proper tools that can facilitate these interactions online. Also, group work in
online mode could benefit from the following practices:
• Some faculty give students written contracts or team charters which underlines members'
obligations and responsibilities to the groups. [22]
• Use of chat protocols are said to improve group members’ ability to communicate and work
together. [23, p.212] A chat protocol is a recommended set of rules for online
communications such as not to intrude while others are expressing their opinions, avoiding
side conversations and so on.
• It helps to have clear instructions and grading policies. [24]
• It has been argued that “undifferentiated group grades for a single project can lead to
inequity problems”. Peer ratings of individual members can be an effective motivator in the
group process. [24]
Peer review of work
The work submitted by students (The presentations in module 1 and cases in module 2) are not
for the teachers’ eyes only, but are also reviewed by peer/opposition groups, consisting of
fellow students. Students or teachers send the completed assignments to the groups responsible
for reviewing. The reviewing group then presents their findings/comments before the whole
class or confronts the opposite group in Q&A sessions.
Social interactions
Students don’t just talk about things they learn in the class or projects they work on, they also
talk about the football game they saw the previous night or the pair of shoes they really want to
buy. And while they are doing this, they put in a little complain (or excitement) about the boring
lecture today or the dreadful exam next week. In a traditional classroom these conversations
take place through the “back channels” [25], - through friendly smiles, rolling of eyes, notes
passed on during the class, chit chat during recess and so on.
Social interaction among students is a significant motivator in learning that shouldn’t be
underplayed. Redecker cited Kester et al. who argue that while task-driven interaction can have
detrimental effects to learning, social interaction enhances the emergence of learning
communities, in which people collaborate and cooperate with each other to acquire new
knowledge. [12] Again, Hurst and Thomas cited Hartman who suggested that having “fun” in
projects is a substantial motivator that can help evade ‘burnout’ situations and one of the ways
to have fun is to catch up on things outside the project activities, - the social aspects of the team
members’ lives. [23, p.217] For all these reasons, the ideal online course should facilitate these
social interactions in someway.
2.4.3 Student-content interactions
In the context of MM, content would refer to a wide variety of materials including:
•
Educational content
This would include class lectures, suggested reading materials, external web resources, case
studies, assignment instructions and library resources. Also, in electronic mode, other
students’ works and discussion logs (e.g., blog entries, comments and chat logs) can
become useful educational content for students.
•
Administrative content
This should include detailed course description, syllabus, grading criteria, schedules,
policies regarding assignments and plagiarism and important contact information. We need
to keep in mind that an online course plan should be more detailed than its traditional
classroom counterparts. Students will most likely download, print-out and follow the
syllabus like a road map, using it to chart their progress though the course. So, all
information on it should be clearly articulated and easy to follow to avoid confusion and
misinterpretations [26]. An efficient online system for MM should give students access to
the following:
12
•
a detailed course plan underlining course procedures and policies
an interactive course calendar highlighting all important dates and activities such as
classes and meetings, assignment deadlines and exam dates, etc.
automatic updates and reminders
relevant contact information
Support materials
Students taking the course in online mode are very likely to run into trouble with the system
(despite the best precautions taken to avoid them) at one time or another, and would require
technical assistance. Providing them with support materials such as an overview of the
system (video), detailed system requirements for users, frequently asked questions and ‘how
to’ guides can help in this situation. This will not only provide students with ‘just in time’
answers, but will also reduce the pressure on support staff.
In addition, students would also benefit from a list of recommended tools (required and
optional) that they can use in this course (for example, to facilitate group meetings).
2.4.4 Teacher-content interactions
As Anderson put it, this type of interaction is concerned with the creation and continuous
monitoring and update of content and learning activities by teachers. [6, p.48] In the context of
online delivery of MM, this would mean the following activities:
•
Preparation and editing of lectures
Teacher would need proper tools and/or technical assistance to create lectures that can be
offered online. They would also need the tools and support to easily update these online
materials.
It should be noted that teacher’s would also need to have the proper tools to review and
moderate student discussions on online media. However, this issue is better addressed in the
context of student-teacher interaction.
•
•
Publishing lectures online
Once the content is created, they need to be made available to all students by posting them
online. Also, these materials should be included an online repository of resources that can
be reused as needed.
Posting suggested reading and external materials
In addition to the content created by themselves, teachers may want to use external
materials such as websites or videos. The system should provide some way for them to
make these materials available to students.
2.4.5 Teacher-teacher interactions
Teachers responsible for different modules need to communicate with each other regularly to
coordinate different activities. They might also need to communicate with their colleagues
outside the program. However, this work will not focus on this type of interactions as MM
faculty members have ample opportunities to meet face-to-face and adequate media resources at
their disposal to communicate over long distance.
2.4.6 Content-content interactions
According to Anderson, “Content-content interaction is a newly developing mode of
educational interaction in which content is programmed to interact with other automated
information sources.” [6, p.48] In subsequent discussions we will consider automated ways of
scanning and assessing student participation on online discussions. But for the most part, this
sort of interactions has been ignored in this particular work.
13
Figure 2.2: Interactions in MM
2.4.7 Other interactions
The six types of interactions, discussed above, do not cover all the nodes of interaction in MM.
Like in most other course, teachers in MM rely on course assistants to provide administrative
support for the course. In addition, the final project work (live case) in module 3 brings in an
external actor – the company.
Interactions with course assistants
MM course assistants perform a variety of administrative tasks including managing registrations
and attendance records, answering students’ queries, relaying grades and assignment
information, announcing changes to schedule, issuing reminders on upcoming events and so on.
In the existing system, the course assistants are able to perform a good portion of these tasks
online, by managing information on the course web and/or interacting with students via email.
However, on some occasions, face-to-face interaction is necessary (for example when students
need an access card or a signed copy of transcripts). Students also contact them over the phone
to discuss urgent matters.
14
Communicating with the company
Student groups have the responsibility to meet with company representatives and work to find
solutions to the problems they present. The process typically involves several meetings with the
company, during which the students gather necessary background information, present various
options, obtain feedback, formulate solutions and make the final presentation.
The question of whether MM should follow a blended (mixed mode) or distance learning
(completely online) approach depends a great deal on whether this interaction can or can not be
facilitated over online channels. At present, most of these meetings take place face-to-face. As
such, the supervisor is not present at these occasions; he hears or reads about them when the
students meet him for counseling. On the online mode, it might actually be possible for the
teacher’s to witness these meetings first hand and coach the students better.
Figure 2.2 illustrates the various types of interactions, discussed so far, in the context of MM.
End note
In this chapter I have used several learning theories and related them to various teachinglearning activities and interactions within MM. This has helped us understand the underlying
teaching tasks and objectives of the course. The next step is to group these activities and
interactions together, into specific courseware and online learning functions. The next chapter
of the report will be dedicated for this purpose.
15
Chapter 3: Online courseware and learning functions
Chapter 3: Online courseware
and learning functions
Once the theories and intentions have been thought through, they need to be translated into
specific courseware and online learning functions. Appropriate formats and ICT tools can then
be found to support these functions online.
Based on the discussions in previous sections, the MM courseware and learning functions can
be summarized as follows:
Table 3.1: Elements of MM courseware and learning functions
Courseware elements
Lectures and seminars
Group work
Outside the class interactions
Assessment
Administrative functions
Additional resource and services
Functions
Content delivery
Facilitating interactions
Content creation
Content delivery
Meetings and discussions
Collaborative writing and presentation making
Student-teacher correspondence
Social interactions
Meetings with the company
Meetings with the supervisor
Literature exam
Written reports
Class participation
Group participation
Managing registrations and attendance records
Responding to students’ queries
Relaying grades and assignment information
Announcing changes in schedule
Reminders on upcoming event
Content repository
External resources
Library resources
Course plan/syllabus
Course calendar
Policy documents
Address book
Technical support
The online courseware and related functionalities are usually delivered through a learning
management system (LMS), which can be accessed through a user-friendly web portal. [27,
p.101] (In many cases, the LMS and the portal are one and the same.)
16
3.1 Lectures and seminars
There are two major tasks in offering online lectures and seminars, - delivering content and
enabling interactions. Content can be delivered in a variety of formats. In this work, I have
considered the following:
3.1.1 Text and graphics
Printed materials containing textual and graphic elements have been a dominant medium of
communication in distant education for years. As Fahy puts it, they are familiar, low-cost, easy
to produce and re-sequence and easy to translate across platforms. [19, p.152] Accordingly,
many online/distance education programs convert the class lectures into one way, text based
lessons that can be copied onto static web pages or presentation slides. For instance, the free
educational resources provided by the British Open University3 are all in text mode. (Figure
3.1) The same is true for the online MBA program at Liverpool University4, UK, which offers
its weekly lectures in text format. [28]
Figure 3.1: Example of text based instruction
This type of lesions/tutorials can be easily put together using standard HTML editors (e.g.,
Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage) and presentation tools (e.g., PowerPoint, Flash). Also,
popular LMSs (e.g., Blackboard5, Moodle6) usually include easy to use page making tools for
teachers that can be used to create these lesions.
It is argued that this format doesn’t really take full advantage of the affordances of online
technologies. Citing Fahy, this format lacks appeal compared to the rich experience provided by
multimedia. [19, p.152] However, we shouldn’t be too quick to label it irrelevant; a study
conducted among students at the University of Murcia (Spain) showed that “students are not
prepared to use new media effectively to learn and (…) prefer plain text in order to work”. [7]
3
http://www.open.ac.uk/
http://uol.ohecampus.com/index.php?mod=dcp&act=navigationindex&navigationid=11
5
http://www.blackboard.com/us/index.bbb
6
http://moodle.org/
4
17
3.1.2 Audio
Downloadable or streaming audio files can supplement normal classroom-based course delivery
in the form of prerecorded lectures. For example, University of California Berkeley’s webcast
site7 contains many such ‘podcasts’8. Another form of strictly audio-based delivery is real-time
audio conferencing.
Figure 3.2: Effectiveness of formats in fulfilling information exchange and relationship building needs [19,
p.158]
Learning gains from audio alone are at best weak. Fahy cited Picard’s analysis according to
which, audio alone may suffice only when relationship building and information exchange
needs are both low in a learning process (see figure 3.2). [19, p.158] As both needs are high in
MM, this medium will not be very suitable.
3.1.3 Video recorded lectures
A simple and effective way to make traditional lectures reusable is recording them on video and
uploading them on the web. This can be done synchronously (live webcasts) as well as
asynchronously (pre-recorded). Many institutions of higher learning use this format to
supplement the traditional ‘in classroom’ lecture delivery. Many of the free online courses
offered by MIT9 and U.C. Berkeley include this type of video lectures or webcasts.
A good quality video lecture would have the following features:
•
•
•
Students are able to follow what the teacher is demonstrating
Students can see the writings on the blackboard/presentation screen clearly
Students can pause, rewind and forward the video as they please
These lectures aids the traditional lecture delivery by
• making lectures reusable
• increasing accessibility and reach
• allowing students to review the lecture as many times as they need
• and finally, the closeness to reality of these videos make them good for relationship
building needs.
7
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details_new.php?seriesid=2010-B-2603&semesterid=2010-B
a pre-recorded audio program posted on a website
9
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
8
18
Making video lectures to post on the web at a later time (asynchronous) is relatively simple. All
it needs is a few strategically position cameras and a little bit of editing. The situation can be a
little trickier when they are being webcasted in real time. There are certain tools that can help
with this task. One such product worth mentioning is the Matterhorn10 lecture capture tool
developed by the Opencast Community. This opensource software application is designed to
handle all aspect of educational audio and video content including scheduling, capture,
managing, encoding and delivery across the web. [29]
3.1.4 Audio enabled data slides
In the simplest form, this is a PowerPoint presentation with embedded audio. The idea is to
make the data slides self-explanatory so that the teacher doesn’t have to give the same
explanations over and over again.
Figure 3.3: Features supported by audio enabled data lecture
The basic elements of these materials are of course text, graphics and audio. Good quality
lectures sometimes support the following functions (see figure 3.3):
• Interactive menus and navigation pane that allow students to jump to different sections
• Audio controllers allowing modulation of sound
• Transcripts of the audio to support people with disabilities (sometimes)
3.1.5 Multimedia lectures
A multimedia lecture combines audio, video and data (text and graphics) into a single rich
format of delivery (see figure 3.4). According to Fahy’s citation of Picard, this type of format
should be used when both informational exchange and relationship building needs are high. [19,
p.158] (see figure 3.2) Now a day, it is possible for teachers to quickly and easy record and edit
multimedia lectures, by themselves, using a laptop computer with a webcam and a microphone
and the appropriate software package.
10
http://www.opencastproject.org/matterhorn
19
A huge assortment of products (e.g., Mediasite11, EchoSystem12, sofTV13) is available in the
market to facilitate the creation of multimedia lectures. The basic interface and functionalities
(illustrated in figure 3.4) include:
• A large data area for presentation slides, whiteboard or any other thing on the
teacher’s/presenter’s computer screen
• A full motion video area showing the presenter
• Scene navigation pane allowing students to jump to particular sections
• Simple and easy to use interfaces for teachers to create these lectures
Figure 3.4: Standard interface for multimedia lectures
Multimedia lectures can be viewed in synchronous or asynchronous mode. In some cases, the
applications allow for student teacher communication via email and chat (during live webcasts).
3.1.6 Video conferencing/whiteboarding
Web conferencing/whiteboarding tools facilitate real time collaboration among participants
using video, text, graphics, online whiteboards, teleconferencing and application sharing. Also
referred to as ‘webinars’, the technology is especially suitable for real time online meetings,
presentation, lectures and seminars. As such, they are becoming increasingly more popular in
educational settings.
The normal web-conferencing interface is very similar to that of multimedia lectures discussed
in the previous section. (In fact there is little or no difference between a web-conferencing tool
and a multimedia lecture capture tool that allows real time viewing and sharing) As such, webconferencing tools can be used to make multimedia lectures and presentations, offered in
asynchronous mode.
11
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/mediasite/
http://www.echo360.com/the-echosystem/
13
http://www.softv.net/
12
20
There are many web conferencing solutions available in the market. Popular products include
Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro14, DimDim15, GoToWebinar, IMB Lotus Live, Microsoft Office
Live Meetings, Yugma16, Yuuguu and many more. Typical web conferencing features include:
• Multiple presenters: Presenters are able to transfer control to others members of the group.
• Slide show presentations: Presenters are able to use PowerPoint/Keynote slides and
remote pointers
• Annotation tools: Presenters and/or participants can use these to highlight things on
presentation slides
• Interactive whiteboards: Here the presenter and/or attendees can write or sketch out ideas
• Live or steaming video: Presenters can share live or recorded video with participants
• Teleconferencing and VoIP: Participants can talk to each other in real time
• Instant messaging: Participant can chat with the whole audience or engage in one-on-one
conversations with each other
• Meeting Recording: The whole session can be recorded and saved
• Polls and surveys: Used for instant voting and assessments.
• Screen and application sharing: Presenters are able to share their computer screens with
the audience. In some cases, they can give participants remote desktop control.
Additional web-conferencing features include videoconferencing and mobile access through
smart phones, PDAs and Blackberries.
The following table, collected from Brian Satterfield’s article [30], shows a comparison among
some of the notable web-conferencing tools.
Table 3.2: Comparison of some notable web-conferencing tools [30]
APPLICATION
Adobe
Acrobat
ConnectPro
DimDim
GoToWebinar
IBM Lotus
Live
Microsoft
Office
Live
Meetings
Screen Sharing
Desktop and
Applications
Desktop
and
Applications
Desktop and
Applications
Desktop and
Application
Desktop and
Applications
Multiple Presenters
Yes
Yes - Max of 4
Yes
Yes
Yes
Annotating Tools
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Text Chat
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Teleconferencing
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
VoIP
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Mobile Access
No
Videoconferencing
Yes
Yes
No
Yes - only
presenters
can video
Yes
Recording
Yes
Yes with Pro and
Webinar
Yes
Yes
Yes
14
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/elearning/
http://www.dimdim.com/
16
https://www.yugma.com/
15
21
APPLICATION
Adobe
Acrobat
ConnectPro
DimDim
GoToWebinar
IBM Lotus
Live
Microsoft
Office
Live
Meetings
Polling and Survey
Yes
Yes with Pro and
Webinar
Yes
Yes
Yes
Post-Meeting
Reports
Yes
Yes with Pro and
Webinar
Length of stay
in
meeting
and
interest
metrics
Participant
roster
and
polling
Yes
Trial Version
15-day
DimDim Free
30-day
30-day
Yes
Subscription
$55 per host
per
month
(training,
events,
and
webcasts
additional).
Annual
purchase
discounts
available.
DimDim
Free
(up
to
20
participants),
DimDimPro $25
per month (up to
50 participants),
DimDim
Webinar $75 per
month (up to 100
person meetings)
$99 per month
or $948 per
year
Lotus Live
Meetings
$39
per
month (15
participants),
and $59 per
month (200
participants)
Standard Users
(250
participants per
meeting) $4.50
per user per
month.
Among these, I took a special interest in DimDim opensource (but not free) product, because it
has a nice clean interface, supports all the necessary functionalities and cheaper compared to
others. It can also be integrated with popular learning management systems (LMS) such as
Moodle (discussed in a later section).
3.1.7 Lectures in 3D virtual classrooms
Virtual worlds like Second Life17 (SL) provide its ‘residents’ (represented by three-dimensional
‘avatars’) with immersive, interactive experiences in three-dimensional graphical environments.
The 3-D lecture halls or gathering spaces are good for conducting online lectures in that they
provide:
• an aesthetically pleasing environment
• clearly visible lecture slides; participants are able to zoom in on the screen (see figure 3.5)
• ability to communicate verbally as well as through messages
• ability to walk up to someone or send message from anywhere in the room
• ability to record the interactions, discussions and activities so that the student can review it
later [31]
• ability to create story driven scenarios or ‘machinimas’ [32]
• a more personal and immersive experience compared to other forms of online meetings
Since SL came along, universities around the world have started experimenting with it to
enhance students’ learning experience in both regular and outreach programs. According to
Michels, Claudia L'Amoreaux at the Linden Lab (creators of SL) claimed that “at least 300
universities around the world teach courses or conduct research in SL”. [33] These include
world renowned universities such as Oxford and Edinburgh, which have setup their
own virtual islands with lecture halls and learning centers inside SL. The US Department of
Education meta-analysis and review cited before mentions a New Media Consortium survey,
conducted among 209 educators using SL, in which 60% of the respondents saw a significant or
high potential for teaching full courses in SL. [2, p.37]
17
http://secondlife.com/
22
Figure 3.5: Avapreneurship day at SSE [34]
It should be mentioned that Robin Tiegland, the instructor of the strategy module in MM, has
already conducted a successful presentation seminar in SL last January. During the course of
this experiment MM students met at the SSE MBA island in Second Life18 and presented their
analysis of ‘avapreneurs’, i.e., companies in virtual worlds.
Despite all the excitement caused by SL, there are many who have doubts about its
effectiveness in teaching. According to Professor Alan A. Lew at the Northern Arizona
University, teaching/learning in SL requires too much effort on the teachers’ part as well
presents a major challenge for their students. On his blog he cited a quotation from Dr Andrew
Hudson-Smith that expressed a similar opinion. [36] The popularity of virtual worlds among
young learners can also be questioned. During a thesis presentation seminar recently held at the
Media Technology and Graphic Arts Department at KTH, Professor Nils Enlund conducted a
quick survey among the students present (25-30 in number) by asking for a quick show of hands
from the users of SL. Not a single hand was raised.
3.1.8 Interaction in lectures
The table below (table 3.3) summarizes the mode of delivery and interactions supported by the
various formats of online lectures discussed so far.
It is interesting to note that only the more sophisticated, robust formats (i.e., multimedia, webconferencing and 3D virtual worlds) support some form of interactions. This is an issue of
concern since interactivity of materials has a direct effect on learning. A meta analysis and
review of online learning studies conducted by the US Department of Education cited results
from the work done by Zhang et al. who showed that students with access to interactive
video perform significantly better than those with non-interactive video and no video. The
study also showed that there is no statistical difference in performance between groups that
have non-interactive video and the groups that do not have any video. [2, p.40]
However this doesn’t mean that interaction is not possible with the other, simpler formats. They
can always be augmented with various forms of synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Let us now consider some of these tools/methods:
18
SSE MBA island in Second Life
23
Table 3.3: Mode of delivery and interactions supported by different lecture formats
Format
Mode of Delivery
Supported Interactions
Text and graphics
Asynchronous
One way
Audio only
Synchronous / Asynchronous
One way
Video
One way
Audio enabled slides
Asynchronous
One way
Multimedia lectures
Web conferencing
Text chat (in some products)
Text chat
Teleconferencing/VoIP
Whiteboards/annotation tools
Application sharing
Virtual 3D classrooms
Synchronous
Talking
Messaging
Bodily gestures of avatars
Text Chat
Text chatting or instant messaging (IM) has been a popular method of synchronous online
communication for a long time. With text chats, people can send and receive text messages to
and from groups and/or individuals.
IM has come a long way since the early years of IRC (internet relay chat) and ICQ. Now a days
popular IM services such as Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk
provide users with a variety of useful and fun options such as the ability to share links, files and
pictures, send each other electronic ‘nudges’, change text formatting and even make audio/video
calls.
Forums and Wikis
Online forums or message boards facilitate asynchronous, text based communication and
discussions on various topics among groups of online users. With forums, users are able to start
a new discussion by posting a new topic or participate in an ongoing discussion by posting
messages on an existing thread. In recent times, it is common for forums to allow additional file
attachments with posts.
A wiki is basically a website that allows users to collaboratively create and update primarily text
based content. It supports a history function, which allows previous versions to be examined
and used as needed. The most prominent example of a wiki is the Wikipedia. In educational
contexts, wikis are ideal for collaborative writing or group projects. [12]
Blogs
Blogs or weblogs primarily are online writing environments that allow a single author or a
group of authors to ‘post’ articles, notes or messages. Listed in reversed chronological order, the
posts can be publicly viewed and commented upon by readers and followers. In addition,
authors may also include graphic, audio and video content to their posts.
In educational settings, blogs are used by institutions and teachers as an easy way to produce
dynamic learning environments for course announcements, news and feedback to students. [12]
It has become a common practice to use course blogs to support fluid discussions, exchange of
ideas and teacher-student correspondence. Many teachers prefer to use course blogs over email
to answer students’ questions as it saves them from the trouble of answering the same questions
over and over again.
24
Blogs can be particularly effective in facilitating asynchronous interactions in online lectures.
Text, audio and video materials can be easily embedded onto a post and subsequent discussions
can take place as a series of comments.
Audio/video conferencing
Audio/teleconferencing can be very effective in facilitating real time group discussions over the
internet. User of instant messaging services like Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo
Messenger are able to make free one-to-one computer calls. Popular Internet telephony services
such as Skype19 make it possible to have one-on-one as well as group conversations over the
internet (using personal computers) for free. Also, cheap calls can be made from a user’s
computer to public telephone systems worldwide.
The online services mentioned above also support one-to-one video calling options. Some web
conferencing tools such as Adobe Connect Pro allows video conferencing with multiple
participants. In educational settings, one-to-one video calls are sometimes used to make remote
presentations. Some institutions provide learners with sophisticated video conferencing tools.
For example the UK Open University give students access to Flashmeeting (FM)20, a product of
a research project “aimed at understanding the nature of online events and helping users to meet
and work more effectively” [36]. The application is freely available to members of the European
Association of Technology Enhanced Learning21.
3.1.9 Implementing technology
Now let us consider how the technologies discussed so far can be used to support content and
interactions in MM lectures and seminars.
Strategy lectures in Module 1
Table 3.4 lists the various activities within MM lectures and seminars and describes the possible
formats that can support them. As we can see, most of the activities in the theoretical lectures in
Module 1 don’t demand real-time, synchronous communication. However, the occasional break
out sessions and ‘in-class’ exercises can sometimes require synchronous communications. What
has been proposed here is that instead bundling all these into a two 90-120 hour class package,
we can break them down into smaller activities and facilitate them online.
First, the theoretical part of the lecture describing the various concepts and framework stays
relatively unchanged over time. It can also be argued that the communication in this part of the
lecture is pretty much one way from the teacher to students. As such they can easily be made
into multimedia objects that students are asked to view on their own time. On one hand this
would create teaching materials that can be reused time and again. On the other hand it can help
improve students’ time on task. Once these materials have been made available online, the
teacher can initiate an online discussion on the student blog by posting one or two discussion
questions.
Next, the breakout sessions can be held using a combination of synchronous and asynchronous
methods using the course blog or hosting short meetings in webinars or in SL. An example of
using SL to facilitate ‘break out’ sessions in study groups can be found in the Terra Incognita
project of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. In this project a classroom in SL
allows small groups of students to “break off” from the rest of the class and work on their tasks
in private, before being summoned by the teacher to rejoin the larger group. [37]
19
http://www.skype.com/
http://flashmeeting.open.ac.uk/
21
http://www.ea-tel.eu/
20
25
Finally, students can be asked to make self explanatory presentation with embedded audio and
upload them on the web. It should be noted that MM students in 2010 have already done this.
Subsequent discussion on the topic can take place on the course blog.
Table 3.4: Possible formats and tools for MM lectures
Activities
Must be
synchronous?
Possible Formats
Presentation of concepts and
frameworks
No
Text/Multimedia (pre-recorded)
Q&A and open discussions
No
On the course blog/forum
Break out sessions and short
exercises
On some occasions
- Groups of three of four discuss things
over IM or teleconference and share
results on the course blog
Lectures in Module 1
- Web-conferencing
- Meetings in virtual worlds
No
•
Presentations
student groups
•
Q&A session with
opposition group
Questions from the
audience
Teacher’s comments
•
•
by
Self
explanatory
presentations
audio
enabled
Seminars and lectures in Module 2
Case introduction
•
•
No
Teacher’s
presentation
Q&A
Text, Multimedia (pre-recorded)
On the course blog/forum, FAQ
Case seminars
Yes
•
Interactive discourse
moderated by teacher
Conducted using web-conferencing tools
that support VoIP for interactions
•
Occasional invitation
to ‘take the stage’
Student uses interactive whiteboard
supported by the web-conferencing tool
•
Presentation
student groups
Teacher transfers control to student
presenters
by
Guest lectures in Module 2 and 3
•
Traditional, one way Sometimes
lecture
Multimedia
(pre-recorded),
webconferencing or virtual world
(depending on the lecturers choice)
•
Q&A sessions
intervals
On blog/forum
at
Sometimes
26
The introductory lecture contains an overview of the course and can be made into a text
document or pre-recorded multimedia presentation. Students’ questions can be answered on the
course blog or forum. In addition, students can be directed to a list of frequently asked questions
(FAQ) so that the teacher doesn’t have to spend time answering common questions.
During the case seminars, the teacher engages students in interactive discussions, citing
references from the work done by various groups. Occasionally, the teacher invites one or two
students to take the stage (i.e., the blackboard) and explain certain things in his/her work. Last
but not least, student groups make presentations that encourage active participation of the other
groups. All these highly interactive activities can be best supported in synchronous mode.
Among synchronous tools, webconferencing supports voice communications, interactive
whiteboards and control sharing options which can be very suitable for this purpose.
Guest lectures
The guest lectures do not need to be offered synchronously. They can be offered in pre-recorded
multimedia format as well as through real time web-conferencing or virtual meeting, depending
on the lecturer’s choice. It should be noted that the image or video of the lecturer is probably
more important for these lectures than they are for others. (The lectures are given by industry
experts; using their image or video would bring them closer to students.) As with other
asynchronous lectures the discussions and Q&A for these can take place on the course
blog/forum.
3.2 Learning objects
In MM, it could be possible to enhance students’ experience by replacing some of the text
materials and case studies with interactive learning objects (autonomous teaching tools that use
text, audio, video and other elements in an interactive way to embody a lesion or a learning
unit). This is also good in that adding to the variety of course materials would further the cause
of catering to diverse needs, talents and learning styles of students. Athabasca University uses a
variety of learning objects such as interactive demonstrations, presentations, simulations, quiz
modules among others.
Again University of Phoenix (USA) uses virtual organizations (ranging from fortune 1000
companies to start ups) instead of traditional case studies to teach students how to take business
decisions in the real world. Students are given access to the extranet and intranet of these virtual
companies to collect the information they need. Not all information is relevant or useful, just
like in the real world. And also like in the real world, there is no single right or wrong answer to
the problem but many different possibilities.
3.3 Group work
As have been mentioned before, group work is a substantial part in the MM coursework.
Usually there are two major parts in group activity – joint discussions and collaborative creation
of documents and presentations.
Now a day, students use a variety of online tools and services for group work. They can be
divided into two major categories:
Communication tools
These typically include email, text chat and internet telephony. In some cases, institutions
provide students with access to web meeting, video conferencing and whiteboard tools.
27
Collaboration tools
These normally include
•
•
Media sharing services: such as Slideshare22 for presentations, YouTube (for video),
Flickr23 for photos and many more.
Document creation and management tools: such as Google Docs24 which allow webbased creation and editing of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Another collaboration tool that has gained popularity in recent times is Google Wave25 which
brings together various communication and collaborative tools supported by Google.
According to an empirical study conducted among UK university students, students appear to be
adept at “using tools in a combination of ways to suit individual needs” [12, p.21] Institutions
should recommend and offer communication tools to students, but ultimately let them decide
what to use. [24] MM could recommend the following to students:
• Google Talk, Windows Live and Yahoo messenger for text chat
• Skype for teleconferencing
• Google Docs and Google Wave for document creation
• Slideshare for presentation hosting.
• Free web conferencing/whiteboarding tools. For example Yugma26 and DimDim is free for
up to 20 participants in a web meeting and supports almost all typical web conferencing
features such as VoIP, whiteboarding, control sharing, text chatting and session recording.
3.4 Outside-the-class interactions
These include social interactions among students, outside class correspondence between student
and faculty, meetings with the company and with the supervisor.
3.4.1 Social interactions
Social presence in online learning helps learners to be perceived as “real people” in mediated
communication by projecting themselves socially and emotionally. This ultimately results in an
increased satisfaction with both the learning process and its delivery medium. In a previously
cited study on the impact of Web 2.0 education and training in Europe, Redecker quoted
Garrison & Arbaugh who argued that social presence must create personal, but purposeful
relationships. [12, p.26]
Popular social networking services like Facebook27 and MySpace28 allow students to create
online identities by describing themselves and their personal interests, connect with teachers,
friends and colleagues, meet new people, communicate via email and IM, participate in online
discussions and share blogs, photos, audio, video and other digital content. Virtual worlds like
Second Life can also be described as 3D social networks as they provide users with an
opportunity to create a personal identity and connect with likeminded people.
Online social networks can be very useful in creating social presence and facilitating
communication among students. Accordingly, university course webs and learning management
systems (LMS) try to incorporate some social networking features (e.g., student profiles, photo,
22
http://www.slideshare.net/
http://www.flickr.com/
24
http://docs.google.com/
25
http://wave.google.com/
26
https://www.yugma.com/
27
http://www.facebook.com/
28
http://www.myspace.com/
23
28
blogs and text chat) into their design. For example the Stockholm School of Economics course
web allows students to create online profiles by adding their personal information and photos.
In implementing social networking features for MM, the following could be considered:
The course web should support profile creation and online chatting. This is because new
students, at the initial stages of the course, may not want to add people they barely know to
their friend lists on Facebook or messenger.
• Promote a Facebook group. While asking students to add each other on Facebook might be
too much, it would be perfectly all right to encourage them to join a Facebook group. This
could provide students with a ‘space outside school’ where the communications can be
more relaxed.
• It might be a good idea to support student blogs that can be easily shared among peers. For
example the Moodle29 LMS allow all students to create blogs that can be made visible or
invisible to specific people as necessary.
In addition to the above, online MM may consider hosting ‘ice breaking’ sessions in Second
Life, in the beginning stages of the course. This might help students relate to each other as ‘real’
people and build relationships.
•
3.4.2 Faculty-student correspondence
In online mode, additional faculty-student correspondence can take place asynchronously over
email, discussion forums, and blogs. One concern with this is that teachers may get swamped
with all the messages coming in from students through these various channels. The following
can be done to deal with this situation:
• Create and frequently asked question (FAQ) page with answers to common questions. [8,
p.185]
• Encourage students to ask questions on public blogs/forums where answering once will
sufficient to address all students. Students should not email faculty unless it is absolutely
necessary. A good way to promote this would be to be to put up the message board or blog
link in a prominent location on the course web while hiding the link to course email behind
more clicks.
• Enlist help from graduate/teaching assistants to answer to course email. [8, p.185]
Another thing to consider is that “face to face contact with staff – the personal element in study
– matters to students” [1]. Online learning should try to recreate this experience as much as
possible. For this, teachers may consider spending ‘office hours’ in a chat room or in Second
Life. For instance faculty members teaching the “CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public
Opinion” course at the Harvard School of Law have regular office hours in Second Life. [37]
3.4.3 Meetings with the project supervisor and the company
In the course of the final project in Module 3, students will need to meet, discuss and present
things to one or more people at the company. For this they would need access to video or webconferencing and whiteboard tools. Presentations can also be held inside Second Life. The same
tools can be used to facilitate the meetings with the supervisor.
Right now, with face-to-face meetings, the supervisor is not present at the company meetings;
students provide him with an update later on. In online mode, it will be possible for the
supervisor to witness these meetings first hand and provide students with necessary feedback.
29
http://moodle.org/
29
3.5 Assessment activities
The current MM assessment activities include an examination on theory, case reports submitted
by individuals and groups and an assessment of the project work by the company. The case
assignments are already posted, submitted (and time stamped) online and final reports to
companies can be sent to the companies as email attachments. The theory exam is the only
assessment activity that would need to be furnished in a new way. In addition, it would be
possible to assess student participation in classes and groups in the online mode.
3.5.1 Theory exam in module 1
Right now, the theory examination is conducted in a very traditional manner, requiring students
to appear at the examination hall, produce valid identification and start and finish the
examination within a given amount of time. During the examination students are subjected to
constant monitoring so that they may not consult with each other or use any external resource.
Managing these online will be complicated but not impossible. The following things can be
done to facilitate the examination online:
•
•
•
First, the examination (with the questions and allocated space for answers) should be
delivered on a secure browser. This will keep the content secure as well as prevent task
switching30 on the computer. [38] Questionmark31 is one such browser.
Second, the exam should be made available within a limited time window so that students
can not focus on anything else but the exam during this period.
Third, students should sit in front of a webcam so that they can be authenticated and
monitored.
All this, perhaps, is unnecessary since the assessment objective can probably be achieved with
other, simpler forms of tests that do not need such a high level of monitoring. After all,
monitoring is suitable for recall questions and high recall may not be the biggest priority for this
particular assessment. Anderson cited Baxter, Elder and Glaser who argued that a student’s
competency is measured in his/her ability to provide coherent explanations, generate plans for
problem solution, implement solution strategies, and monitor and adjust their activities. [6, p.38]
It should be possible to assess these competencies without using any recall questions.
A simpler solution would be replacing the closed exam with a take home exam. It is not
uncommon for institutions to use take home exams that can provide a reasonable assessment of
a student’s competency while allowing him/her to use any resource they many have at their
disposal. It would also be very easy to manage these exams in an online format; the questions
can be made available on the course web at a specific time and mechanisms can be put in place
to time stamp the submissions automatically. These options are usually among the typical
features of course webs and learning management systems.
3.5.2 Assessing student participation in class
The success of MM depends, to a large extent, on the active participation of students in the
discussions mediated by teachers. In face-to-face discussions, it is easier for the teachers to
encourage participations; students may feel compelled to volunteer following an awkward pause
or a suggestive glance from the teacher. There is also the motivation to get noticed by the
teacher. Online communication is devoid of these social and personal cues and motivations
where a lot of the discussions take place on blogs or forums.
Redecker cited Williams and Jacobs who found that their graduate students were reluctant to
participate in the study blogs, “either because they considered the additional marks not worth
the effort or they were not sure whether they had anything valuable to contribute” [12, p.79].
30
31
using other applications on the computer
http://www.questionmark.com/
30
Redecker also cited a collaborative wiki experiment in which Mancho observed that “while the
motivation among those participating was high and the quality of contributions good,
participation was low, possibly due to the fact that the activity was not assessed”. [12, p.81]
Again Anderson cited Palloff and Pratt who argued that given the emphasis on the process of
learning in a social context, “participation in the process must be evaluated and appropriately
rewarded”. [39, p.282] Hence, it might be worthwhile to assess student participation in MM.
It will however, be a close to impossible task for teachers if they have to keep a record of every
blog or forum contributions made by each and every students and then grade them accordingly.
In this situation some have suggested the use of self-reflective assessments in which students at
the end of the course compose a “reflection piece” consisting of quotations from their own
postings [39, p.286]. Nevertheless it would still be a good amount of extra work (even with the
help of graduate assistants) for teachers if they had to go through 30 – 60 or even more
reflection pieces at the end of the period.
The best solution would be to leave this task to ‘teaching agents’ or ‘bots’ that can scan chat
logs, forums and blogs, log participation of each student, weed out insignificant entries (e,g. “I
agree” or “ok”) and assign points automatically. Unfortunately, ‘ready made’ teacher agents are
not yet common in the market. They would have to be developed ‘in house’.
3.5.3 Assessing group participation
Concerning the assessment of group participations, Redecker cited de Laat according to whom
“disappointment in the quality, direction or engagement of fellow students’ input and
engagement may lead to decreasing participation” [12, p.80]. If group members are assessed by
their peers, it could motivate them to put more effort into the process.
In online mode of MM, this peer review could be conducted in the form of a web surveys
containing multiple choice questions. This way the process could be completely automated so
that it does not require any work from the teacher or course assistants.
3.6 Administrative support and related services
According to Hughes, smooth administration and logistic support can be “as much a factor in
learner success as the design of learning resources” [40, p.372]. In the previous chapter I have
discussed the administrative functions of the MM course staff which typically include:
• managing registrations and attendance records
• answering students’ queries concerning various administrative issues
• relaying grades and assignment information to students
• announcing changes to schedule
• issuing reminders on upcoming events
In recent times, course staff use a variety of social software such (e.g., as wikis) to perform
these tasks [1]. In MM this is done mostly through the course web, email and face-to-face
interactions.
In addition to the administrative tasks listed above, an online learning system for MM should
support the following features:
• Content repository: This is a database containing all previously conducted lectures,
interfaced with the course web or LMS. Teachers should be able to link or embed the
materials on this database in other locations, for example on blogs. They should also be able
to specify which of these they want to make visible or invisible to students. In addition to
the lecture database, the system needs to support a storage area that provides flexible access
to teachers, course assistants and students, for articles, case studies, journals, presentations
and other learning materials. Finally, teachers and administrators should also be able to post
external links to related web resources, provided as a part of course literature.
31
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Library resources: Students should be able to access library resources from inside the
student portal or course web. For MM this means an interface with the SSE’s electronic
library.
Course plan/syllabus: This should contain a detailed outline of the course specifying
learning objectives, assessment activities, literature list, delivery methods etc.
Course calendar: Students, teachers and course administrators need to have access to a
shared calendar that lists all course related events. The calendar should support flexible
option for administrators to control the amount of access different users will have over this
feature. Students should be allowed to schedule their own activities on the calendar such as
group meetings, presentations at the company, etc and share them with others if they want.
Accouchements, updates and reminders: A prominent space on the course web should be
reserved for general announcements from the teachers or course administrators. The system
should also send automatic updates on published course materials and grades, changes to
schedule, etc. It should also send reminders on upcoming lectures, meetings, assignments
deadlines and examination dates.
Grade and roster management: Teachers and course assistants should be able to record,
process and report exam scores, assignment scores and final grades easily.
Policy documents: Detailed documents outlining policies on grading, plagiarism and so on.
Address book: This should contain contact information of teachers, course assistants and
other students.
Technical support: Students of the online course will run into trouble every now and then
and need to contact the technical support staff. To reduce the pressure on support personnel,
the students should first be directed to relevant support documentation such as detailed user
guides and/or a frequently asked question page.
As have been mentioned before, all these features are to be provided through a user friendly
course web or student portal. The existing MM course web at SSE supports many of the features
and services listed above including course folders for reading materials, syllabus and other
documents, a course calendar listing course activities, announcements and updates and contact
information of teachers. With some enhancements and redesign, it might be able to meet the
needs of an online course. However, proprietary or open-source learning management systems
(LMS) might provide faculty members and course assistant without web development expertise
with a greater degree of ease and flexibility in teaching an online module. Again, recalling
Hughes, flexibility of access and smooth administrative support are important for the learners as
well [40, p.372]. In addition to the features and services listed above, LMSs usually support
flexible options for student profile creation, text chatting, message boards, blog management,
surveys and polling among others.
There are many good proprietary and open-source LMS solutions available in the market. Some
of the notable ones include Blackboard32 , SABA Learning, aTutor33, JoomlaLMS34 and
Moodle. The Moodle open-source system is especially interesting in that it goes head-to-head
with prominent proprietary solutions like Blackboard in terms of supported functionalities,
while costing nothing in license fees. In a fairly comprehensive study comparing Moodle vs
Blackboard Vista, the Learning Management System Evaluation Committee at the University of
North Carolina (USA) made strong recommendation for a “transition to Moodle on both
pedagogical and financial grounds.” According to the report submitted by the committee,
Moodle functions are better than or comparable to Blackboard’s while costing 52% less per year
[41]. Moodle is being used to support online learning at many reputable universities around the
world including Athabasca University of Canada, one of the world’s largest open universities.
32
http://www.blackboard.com/
http://www.atutor.ca/
34
http://www.joomlalms.com/
33
32
3.7 Access through handheld devices
The PC is not the only thing that can facilitate online access; wireless enabled smart phones,
PDAs and Blackberries can also do the job. Thus, it should be possible to delivery a good
portion of the online courseware and functionalities to students using handheld devices.
3.8 Formats and tools used at prominent
universities
The table below lists tools, formats and services provided by five online learning universities.
Among these the first three (The UK Open University, Athabasca University Canada and
University of Phoenix, USA) are among the largest in the world.
Table 3.5: Tools, formats and services provided by five online learning universities
LMS
Athabasca
University
Yes
UK Open
University
Yes
University
of Phoenix
Yes
Capella
University
Kaplan
University
Yes
Yes
Asynchronous
lessons
Text, audio, video,
multimedia materials,
demos, self
evaluation tools and
interactive
Simulation
Text, audio and video
materials
Synchronous
lessons
Video
conferencing
(Elluminate)
Library
Video
conferencing/wh
iteboarding
Text, digital media
and learning objects
(e.g., virtual
companies)
Web
whiteboarding
for some courses
(WebDemo) but
predominantly
asynchronous
No
Text, pre-recorded
video
No
Second
Life
Has island
but no
regular
events
Support for students
Yes
Conducts
tutorials
Yes
Has a
massive
learning
island35
Vlog (Video blog)
FM video
conferencing
Online forums
Knowledge mapping
Learning journals
FirstClass
Web
conference/whiteboar
ding
Yes
Yes
Forums
Email
Voice mail and
conferencing (Wimba
Voice)
Discussion Forums
Group Help
Sessions
and virtual
laboratory
exercises
Email, text chat
End note
In this chapter, I have mapped the various teaching tasks and learning objectives identified in
the previous chapter into specific courseware and online learning functions. I have then
considered the various formats and tools that could be adopted to deliver them online. However,
the success and appropriability of particular formats and tools will depend, in the end, on how
well they mesh with specific needs and expectations of MM teachers and students. “It is
ultimately up to tutors and students to decide how tools should be used in class.” [42] The
subsequent chapters of this report will be devoted to address these questions.
35
http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2006/06/jsb_on_social_l.html
33
Chapter 4: Methodology
The goal of this project is to come up with a design for an online delivery channel for the MM
course, which responds to the diverse needs of students and teachers and is consistent with its
underlying teaching tasks and learning objectives. This is to be accomplished through the
fulfillment of a number of project objectives, described in chapter 1. While some of the initial
objectives are achieved by studying the MM course curriculum and existing literature (books,
research papers, articles and other web resources) on online learning, the rest depend on
information obtained from the MM teaching staff, course assistants and students.
The study of relevant literature and the MM curriculum helped us ‘sketch out’ the elements of
the online MM courseware and learning functions by analyzing the various teaching-learning
activities and interactions within the course from a pedagogical perspective. They also helped us
identify the technology tools and formats that are able to facilitate the delivery of this
courseware online. However, the final recommendation for the design will depend on the
specific needs and preferences of MM teachers, course staff and students. Thus, it is important
to know what their needs are, how they work now, how they feel about the available formats
and what their general attitude is towards online learning.
In order to find answers to these questions I interviewed four members of the MM teaching and
course staff and carried out an online study among twenty three MM students.
4.1 Interviews with MM teaching and course staff
Face-to-face interviews were conducted with four members of the MM teaching staff - Robin
Tiegland (instructor, module 1), Per Andersson (course director and case instructor in module
2), Christopher Rosenqvist (course director and project supervisor in module 3) and Erik A O
Engström (Course assistant and web administrator). The general purpose of these interviews
with teachers was to learn about their general attitude and past experiences with online learning,
individual teaching styles and principles, current way of working and thoughts and concerns
regarding particular instruction formats, interactions, assessments and other aspects related to
online delivery. The interview with Erik on the other hand, focused on his tasks related to
course administration and web management.
These interviews were semi-structured in that pre-defined sets of questions (see Appendix A)
were used to guide the process but not restrict it. This way, teachers had the flexibility to go offtopic from time to time, to discuss issues that they considered important. The guiding questions
in different interviews with teachers were similar but not the exact same. This was done to
address the interviewee’s specific roles within the course. The guide used to interview Erik on
the other hand, was completely different.
4.2 Online study with MM students
A study was conducted among twenty three students, who have taken the MM course at some
point, to learn about their needs, preferences, current way of working and general attitude
towards online learning. An online questionnaire containing 35 multiple choice and descriptive
questions was used for this purpose (see Appendix B). To ensure that students understand the
concepts and questions well, detailed explanations and illustrations were included.
A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to analyze the results of this
study. This approach seemed more suitable for our purposes than either of the methods used
separately. For instance, quantitative approach is suitable for answering questions such as “what
34
format of lecture is preferred by most students”. One the other hand, the question of “how
students work on group projects” is better answered following a quantitative approach.
4.3 Method criticism
Despite the best efforts made to conduct the investigations objectively and without prejudice,
several aspects of these can be called into question.
4.3.1 Interviews with teachers
First, the interviews with the teachers and course staff were not documented word for word.
Despite the best efforts made to capture the essence of these sessions objectively, it is possible
that some information got lost in the process. The interpretations of various issues can also be
doubted for the same reason.
Again, an inherent problem of interviews is that there is a chance that the researcher’s presence
during these events and the tone of voice and phraseology used in presenting the questions
might influence some of the responses.
4.3.2 Online study among students
First of all, twenty three is a very modest sample size. However, this seems reasonable
considering that MM supports around 30-35 students in each class.
Second, all of the students participating in the study are residents of Stockholm and are/were
engaged in full-time studies. While their views as MM students is valuable for this work, they
don’t really represent the views of students who would be especially interested in distant
learning programs, e.g., students living in other cities or students who are unable to attend
regular class hours.
Finally, it can be argued that the questionnaire was too large for an online study but the level of
details was necessary for this work.
35
Chapter 5: Findings
Chapter 5: Findings
The chapter includes findings from the interviews with the MM teaching and course staff and
from the online study conducted among MM students. These investigations were conducted
with a view to assess the participants’ individual needs, preferences, current way of working
and general thoughts regarding the online delivery of the course.
5.1 Interviews with teachers
Face-to-face interviews were conducted with three members of the MM teaching staff to learn
about their needs, preferences, thoughts and concerns regarding various aspects related to online
delivery of the MM course. The participants were Robin Tiegland (instructor, module 1), Per
Andersson (course director and case instructor in module 2) and Christopher Rosenqvist (course
director and project supervisor in module 3). The key findings from these interviews are
described below:
5.1.1 General issues
Attitude towards online delivery
All three teachers expressed a favorable attitude towards online delivery of the course. When
asked, Robin exclaimed that she would “love to try it”. She believes that learning can be more
effective in online mode and made reference to studies that prove it. She does not feel that faceto-face interaction is necessary; according to her all the necessary communications can take
place online. Robin welcomes the idea of learning to use new tools in order to teach a course
online and is especially enthusiastic about 3D virtual worlds like Second Life (SL) which she
believes, can make the learning process more “action oriented”.
Christopher, also, was very enthusiastic about the idea of online learning which he thinks, can
help a course achieve greater flexibility (for example, guest lectures can join in from any part of
the world), enhanced quality, reusability and cost efficiency. According to him setting up an
online method of delivery for MM will not be easy and will probably need a lot of hard work
but the benefits gained from it should make the effort well worthwhile.
Per, in his turn, acknowledged that online technologies supplementing the normal mode of
teaching can aid the learning process in MM and should be thought about at some point. He
expressed a special interest in seeing how media technologies can be used to make the normal
text based materials more interactive and engaging. For instance, he mentioned the possibility of
using interactive videos, in which market scenarios are acted out, instead of the normal text
based case studies in module 2. He however, expressed some personal reservations towards the
idea in that he described himself as a person who is not an early adaptor of technology and was
worried about the implications of change. He was also concerned about the time and effort that
would have to go into the planning and implementation process to make the shift.
Past experience with online learning and use of tools
Among the three MM teaching staff interviewed in this study, Robin is the only one who has
past experience with online learning, both as a teacher and a student. She taught two online
courses on strategy for working professionals in the late 90’s. She also took an online course in
a PhD program once. She regularly uses social media applications such as YouTube and
SlideShare in her classes. She also has experience with blogs and webconferencing tools.
During the last period, she has successfully conducted a presentation seminar in SL.
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Chapter 5: Findings
Neither Christopher, nor Per has firsthand experience with online learning in that they have
never taken or taught online courses themselves. Christopher however, is familiar with
examples of online classes such as video recorded inspirational lectures and automated tutorials
made by CrossKnowledge36. Neither of them uses social media in teaching classes. Nor do they
have any experience with specialized web-based learning tools such as web-conferencing. They
however, frequently use email and other functionalities provided by the course-web.
Core values in teaching
According to Robin, the one thing that should remain intact in the online mode is the set of
learning objectives of the module. As long as that remains uncompromised, all else can change.
She feels that learning should be interactive and collaborative. Accordingly, she tries to be
“more of process leader than a teacher” in a classroom where students don’t just sit back and
stare at a ‘talking head’ but actively participate in the learning process.
According to Per, the important thing in teaching this course is to make sure that student learn
the theoretical models and concepts well in module 1 and adopt analytical thinking to use those
models to solve the problems presented in subsequent modules, especially in the real world
situation in module 3. This is inline with learning objectives of the course. In addition, he
mentioned that a well designed course should cater to the diverse talents and learning styles of
students by supporting different forms of learning contents and activities. According to him
students learn in different ways. Some learn from text and while others from interactive tasks.
Some are good at writing while others might be good at analyzing information. Some might be
analytical while other more creative. It is important to address all these diverse needs and skiils.
Christopher, in his turn, stressed on the active, hands-on, practical and fast paced nature of the
course. It is not enough for students to attend classes and read about things in books, they must
also have a clear idea about the real world, - “what it looks like, who the players are and what
drives the changes in it”. Accordingly, the cases taught in this course need to be regularly
refreshed to stay tuned with the ‘hot topics’ in the market. Again, students must learn the
theories and concepts taught in the class and then apply them to solve real life problems. He
feels that it is important for the course to foster creativity and collaboration among students to
achieve these objectives.
5.1.2 Teaching-learning activities and interactions
Lecture format
When asked about the lectures in module 1, Robin mentioned that the content of the lecture
slides are fairly static; the theory and concepts presented in the lectures don’t change much over
time and as such, they are hardly ever updated. Only the assignments are periodically refreshed.
However, the delivery of lectures is dynamic; students are involved in the process through
discussions and exercises. She disliked the idea of offering these lectures in pre-recorded
formats in general, be it in text, audio, video or multimedia. She feels that without the
interactivity, students might as well go and learn from the abundant resources on the web. She is
familiar with web-conferencing and finds it uninteresting. Her method of choice for holding
online classes would be in Second Life where students can join using free avatars, watch and
give presentations and talk to the whole class or just with the person(s) sitting next to them.
Per, in his turn, rejected the idea of using text and graphics based lectures. He feels that they
will not motivating enough for the students. Audio lectures on the other hand are completely out
of the question. He liked the pre-recorded multimedia format but felt that they may not be
interactive enough for the case seminars in module 2. In his opinion they would be very suitable
for guest lectures (he specially liked the reusability factor) and may also work for the theoretical
discourse in module 1. Per found the idea of conducting case seminars in a Second Life a bit too
complex and a little ‘scary’. He felt more at ease with video/web-conferencing. Finally, he
36
http://www.crossknowledge.net/
37
Chapter 5: Findings
suggested that a combination of methods should be tried in delivering instructions to cater to the
diverse needs of students and to find out what works best.
Christopher also liked the multimedia format with its distinct panes for video, data and
communications. Like Per, he felt that they could be suitable for presenting theoretical concepts
and models in module 1. He added that the optimum method of delivery would employ a
combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods in which some lectures are conducted
live, while the others are offered as pre-recorded materials. He insisted that the lectures should
have good audio and video quality and the program interfaces should be neat and polished,
reflecting the high standards of SSE.
Synchronous/asynchronous interactions
Robin is comfortable with the idea of moderating asynchronous discussions in module 1 across
blogs and message boards. She suggested that this kind of communication is better in some
cases as it allows students to think for a while before putting in a comment. She is not worried
that they would take up too much of her time.
On the other hand, Per was a little unsure about the effectiveness of asynchronous
communications in supporting case discussions. He expressed that real time synchronous
communications might be necessary for this particular activity. However, he added that some
students may appreciate the flexibility so it could be interesting to try them for some cases and
see how the discussions ‘spread over time’ work out. He wondered if it would take up too much
of the teachers’ time to mediate these discussions.
According to Robin, students in module 1 can make self-explanatory presentations with audio
and upload them on the web for the whole class. In fact, the students from the fall term, 2010
were asked to do this and were able to manage the task quite well. In her opinion the quality of
these presentations were just as good as real presentations.
Again, Per expressed that it would be interesting to see how students can enhance their
presentations with the help of new media. According to him, students should be provided with
the tools that will boost their creativity and ability to create good quality learning contents
themselves.
Group work
When showed screenshots of web-conferencing/whiteboarding tools and told about the features
they support, Christopher thought they would be suitable for facilitating student group activities.
He emphasized the need for voice communication during these events.
Robin on the other hand, expressed that there is no need to provide students with a specific
package of tools. In her opinion, it should be left up to them to decide. According to her today’s
students are very creative and resourceful when it comes to finding the right tool for them; the
web offers a wide assortment of free tools and different students use them differently.
Assessment activities
According to Christopher, the purpose of an assessment is to evaluate a student’s grasp on
theory, his/her ability to figure out a problem situation and come up with viable solutions and
finally, his/her capability of making decisions and ability to articulate the rationale behind it. As
long as those abilities are being measured properly, the format of the assessment can be
anything.
Robin liked the idea of replacing the existing ‘closed’ exam on theory with a take home exam.
In fact, she suggested that closed exams are not the best method of evaluation for this module.
In her opinion students should be allowed to use every resource they are able to use, even other
people if necessary, to come up with good solutions to the problems.
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Chapter 5: Findings
According to Robin, it is not necessary to assign grades for class participation. In her opinion
truly motivated students will do this voluntarily. Per concurred with her in that he mentioned he
wants the process to stay voluntary.
Business project
According to Christopher, the business project is one of the most interesting aspects of the
course and should not have to lose any of its edges in online mode. It is important that all online
learners are able to effectively communicate and interact with the companies. When presented
with a scenario in which some members within groups are assigned the responsibility to meet
with the companies face-to-face and then communicate the findings to their colleagues online,
he rejected the idea. He insisted that all group members should have an equal opportunity to
participate in these interactions either face-to-face, or online.
Christopher also emphasized the need for one-on-one group coaching sessions for the successful
completion of these projects. This aspect was stressed by Per as well. Accordingly, online tools
should adequately address all aspects of these interactions.
5.1.3 Additional concerns
Class size
According to Per the class size shouldn’t be too large, even in online mode, because it is
important to provide students with one on one coaching in module 3. If there are too many
groups it would be difficult for Christopher to provide them all with the necessary levels of
attention.
Christopher, in his turn, concurred with this opinion. According to him, the class size should be
around 60. Otherwise it will be difficult to maintain the quality of coaching provided to student
groups.
Robin also felt that the load will be manageable with 60 students in the class. She mentioned
that it might be possible to support event larger audiences but in that case she would need to
enlist help from graduate assistants to grade papers.
On learning management systems
During the interview, Christopher was shown a screenshot of the Moodle LMS and told about
the general functionalities such systems include. Christopher liked the interface and the flexible
option they provide. He though it could be a good tool for supporting an online course.
Again in Robin’s opinion, robust, costly e-learning solutions are not really necessary in
implementing an efficient online delivery system for the MM course. Instead, this should be
done using a variety of simple and cost effective tools that are freely available on the web.
5.2 Interview with the teaching assistant
Erik A O Engström is a student at SSE who has several years of experience working as the
course assistant for MM. He is also one of the administrators of the MM course web. In his
interview, he talked about his wide range of tasks and responsibilities related to the planning,
coordination, management and administration of the course. In addition, focus was put on
specific issues such as interactions with students, the existing online systems and current way of
working. The findings are described below:
5.2.1 Tasks and responsibilities
Erik’s responsibilities in MM go far beyond the completion of various administrative tasks in
that he is actively involved in the planning, coordination and overall management of the last two
modules (module 2 and 3) of the course. For instance, he assists teachers in finalizing the course
syllabus by finding books, case studies and other literature that could be relevant for the course.
39
Chapter 5: Findings
Again, he helps teachers in finding suitable guest lecturers for these modules by researching the
backgrounds of industry experts and gurus. He is also responsible for initiating and maintaining
contacts with these guest lecturers. Finally, Erik helps find suitable business projects for student
groups in module 3 by approaching various companies.
In addition to the above, Erik has his regular administrative duties which include scheduling
lectures, seminars and other course related activities, booking classrooms and providing
necessary logistic support, compiling the course compendium, responding to students’
questions, collecting assignments and relaying marks, announcing cancellations and updates on
events and administrating the course web.
5.2.2 Interactions with students
Erik believes that students are entitled to timely information and feedback or else the morals go
down. Accordingly, he tries to make himself available to students as much as possible and be
prompt with notifications and responses. For example he considers it a priority to respond to all
student emails within the day. Again when a class is cancelled, he sends text messages via cell
phone to all students in addition to posting the notification on the student web, Facebook group
and email.
Erik also feels that students should feel comfortable to approach him with questions. For this he
tries to build a personal relationship with students by being present in the lectures, seminars and
other course related events. According to Erik, this sort of personal interaction is beneficial for
the course in that this makes it possible to gain direct feedback from the students.
Student queries are typically about –
• deadlines and changes in the schedule
• request for guest lecture slides
• policies regarding late submission
• grievances over received grades and request for reevaluation
In addition to the above, external students (i.e., international students or students coming from
other universities) sometimes ask for access cards and signed transcripts. He is also responsible
for making hard copies of the compendiums available to students. He feels that the process
would be more efficient if students could buy digital copies of these materials online.
In many cases, the same questions have to be answered repeatedly. When asked, Erik mentioned
that he considered putting these frequently asked questions into a document and upload it on the
web but never got around to doing it.
According to Erik, interacting with students does not put a lot of pressure on him. Even during
busy times he never has more than 10-15 emails from students. However, sending out
notifications takes a “few too many clicks” at times.
5.2.3 Existing system
A bulk of the administrative tasks including scheduling, assigning teachers, room booking,
posting announcements, adding/removing folders, assignment collection, grade reporting and
course evaluation is done though the SSE student web and several other related systems (e.g.,
Neverlost, TAS and SurveyManager), all interfacing the central SSE database.
According to Erik, even though quite old the current SSE system is quite capable of handling
the existing mode of teaching. On the other hand the system doesn’t allow–
• people other than web administrators to set up assignment submission boxes or to download
assignments; web administrators download the assignments and send them to teachers via
email.
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Chapter 5: Findings
•
•
•
teacher or even web administrators aren’t allowed to add/remove specific features on the
course web or create additional web pages or lists on the course web. Additional documents
are usually uploaded in a folder in pdf, or doc format while lists and databases (.e.g., grade
sheet) are usually uploaded as Excel spreadsheets.
teachers to just go ahead and make changes to schedules and deadlines on their own. Again
they are completely dependant on the web administrator.
embedding video materials. It however, allows external links to be posted.
Erik mentioned the more recent Ping Pong37 system used at SSES38 has a more “hip” design and
provides better support for community learning. In comparison, the SSE course web doesn’t
really support much interaction among students (other than email). Erik pointed out that one
reason this hasn’t been necessary up till now could be because of the SASSE site39, - the web
page for the Student Association at SSE, which was the popular social networking site among
SSE students (until Facebook came along). This allowed students to communicate with each
other, share work, and also connect with employers. He however, added that the student
association site and the course web are two very different things and have very different set of
purposes. The course web shouldn’t have to rely on it for the purpose of instruction delivery.
When shown some interfaces of the Moodle LMS, Erik mentioned that the flexible options
(e.g., database creation, flexible interface, interactive features, etc) would be useful. He thought
that SSE course webs should head in that direction at some point. He however, pointed out that
the transition is not going to be easy, both in terms of technical implementation as well as staff
training.
5.2.4 Business project
One of Erik’s key responsibilities is to find business projects, relevant for the course, for student
groups. In order to do this, he has to approach companies and find out if they are interested in
such projects. According to Erik, companies are more interested in accommodating students
working on thesis projects rather than class projects (i.e., the live case in module 3). This is
because they have to invest a certain amount of time and resources to communicate with these
students and the outcome is considerably better when the project scope is broader. “The
financial crisis makes the situation a little more difficult”, - he added. Then there are times when
the companies are interested but the projects they offer are not really suitable for this course.
Despite all this, it is still not too difficult to find these projects for MM. In Erik’s experience, he
can generally find one suitable project in every three companies he approaches.
In the last period, a total of 11 projects were found at 9 different companies. Erik believes that it
would be possible to double this number if needed. Instead, the main concern would be
providing one-on-one coaching.
Erik also expressed that some of these projects can be hard to accomplish online. In this, he
specified situations in which students work at company offices and interact with them closely
for many days to finish their work. He also mentioned that most of these projects would be
unsuitable for students who are completely unaccustomed to Swedish culture. In this, he feels
that the course, even in distant learning mode, can only be offered to students enrolled in a
Swedish university.
37
http://www.pingpong.se/
Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship
39
http://www.hhss.se/
38
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Chapter 5: Findings
5.3 Students’ views
23 students of MM responded to the online questionnaire containing 35 questions. The purpose
of this study was to learn about students’ needs, existing way of working, use of information
technology tools, preference towards the presented options and general attitude towards online
learning.
5.3.1 General questions
Participants were aged between 23 – 32 years with the average being 26.
The majority of the participants (16) were from the class of 2009 while 5 of them were from
2010. The other two participants took the course in 2006 and 2008.
91% (20) of the participants reported above average levels of satisfaction with the course.
Among them, 65% (15) expressed satisfaction while the other 26% (6) expressed extreme
satisfaction. The remaining 2 reported average satisfaction.
The majority (78%, 17) of the students never took an online course. Among the rest who did
take such a course, three mentioned taking online math, web development and elementary
Swedish language courses. One third of them (2) reported that the online courses were better
than normal courses. Another third reported that they were effective but boring. Among the
remaining, one reported total disappointment while the other one said s/he did not care since it
was the only available option.
When asked if they would want to take the MM course online, the majority (83%, 19) said no.
Students who ventured an explanation for this either said that they value the face-to-face, human
interactions in the class and on campus, or that they were not convinced that online technologies
are capable enough to facilitate meaningful discussions. A few mentioned that didn’t want the
change. The remaining 4 students thought online delivery could give them a more flexible, time
efficient option.
5.3.2 Class lectures
Preferred mode
Preferred mode of lecture
Face-to-face
8
11
Asynchronous online
lecture
Synchronous online
lecture
Mixed mode
1
2
Figure 5.1: Lecture delivery preferred by students
When asked how they would like to attend classes, 50% of the students wanted to attend some
or all of the classes online. Among these, 37% (8) said they would like to go for a mixed mode
that allows them to attend some lectures from home, follow up on blogs and also sit in actual
classes. The remaining (13%) wanted to attend all classes online in synchronous and
asynchronous mode. The other 50% said they prefer to do it in the traditional way. (see figure
5.1)
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Chapter 5: Findings
Choice of format
When asked which formats are absolutely unsuitable for online lectures, three students stated
that they didn’t like any of them. Among the rest, most of the students voted against pure audio
(36%, 14) and pure text and graphics based lectures (28%, 11). Virtual worlds and video
recorded lectures received 4 and 3 objections respectively. Interestingly, audio enabled data
lectures received just 1 objection. The formats that didn’t receive any objection are pre-recorded
multimedia lectures and web-conference. (See figure 5.2)
Formats disapproved by students
Virtual worlds
Web-conference
Video recording
Multimedia
Slides with audio
Audio only
Text and graphics
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Figure 5.2: Formats disliked by students
When asked to rank lecture format suitable for module 1, the majority (36%) listed pre-recorded
multimedia lectures as their first option. The second most preferred formats are virtual
classrooms and audio embedded lectures, each of which got 23% votes. Pure audio and text
formats were again voted as the most unsuitable. (See figure 5.3)
Figure 5.3: Preferred format for module 1 lectures
For case seminars in module 2, majority (32%) listed web conferencing as their first preference.
The second most preferred are multimedia lectures and virtual classrooms, both of which
received 23% votes. These two also received 27% and 23% votes respectively as a second
choice. (figure 5.4)
Figure 5.4: Preferred format for module 2 lectures
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Chapter 5: Findings
32% of the participants listed pre-recorded multimedia as their first preference for guest
lectures. The other preferred formats were virtual classrooms (27%) and web conferencing
(23%). (See figure 5.5)
Figure 5.5: Preferred format for guest lectures
Mobile access
45% (10) students expressed that mobile access to lectures would be nice but not really
necessary. Another 27% (6) students thought it was absolutely unnecessary. The remaining 27%
considered it would be a nice option to have.
5.3.3 Interactions in the classroom
Preferred mode
Overall, 69% (15) thought that it is possible to have classroom discussions over the internet
while 27% (6) students maintained that face-to-face communication was necessary.
23% (5) students thought it was possible to conduct classroom discussions over asynchronous
online media (e.g. blogs, forums) while only 5% (1) opted for synchronous communications.
The majority (41%, 9) however, wanted to use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous
methods.
Possible mode of interaction
23%
27%
Asynchronous online
Synchronous online
5%
Combination of synchronous
and asynchronous methods
Face-to-face
41%
Figure 5.6: possible mode of interactions
Frequency of participation
90% (19) of the students mentioned they
participate in class discussion. Among
these 52% (11) do it occasionally while
the other 38% (8) do it after every class.
The remaining 10% hardly ever do it.
Figure 5.7: frequency of participation
Necessity of face-to-face meetings with the teacher
70% (16) students stated that face-to-face interaction with the teacher was absolutely necessary
at times. Among the ones who ventured an explanation, most of them described situations that
need detailed explanations and discussions that are not easy to do in writing. Other reasons
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Chapter 5: Findings
include the need for explanations supported by graphs and questions needing immediate
response. 26% (6) students mentioned that face-to-face interaction with teachers is not
necessary.
5.3.4 Interactions outside the classroom
The majority of the students (41%) reported that they talk to teachers outside the classroom
once or twice during the course. Another 32% said they do it 3-4 times. Among the rest, 23%
have never done it and 5% (1) do it after every class.
5.3.5 Group work
Currently used collaboration tools
Google Docs (37%, 17), IM (33%, 15) and internet conference calls (20%, 9) are the most used
tools. In addition, some students reported that they use web-conferencing/whiteboarding tools
(3), virtual worlds (2) and Google Wave (1) for collaborative work.
Tools used for group work
Virtual worlds
Web-conferencing/whiteboarding
Conference calls
IM
Google Docs
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Figure 5.8: Tools used for group work
Current way of working on group assignments
According to 91% of the participants, groups discuss things in person and then work on
different parts individually in their own time, while coordinating activities online. Among the
remaining, one mentioned that s/he does all the work online while the other said that s/he
prefers to do all the work face-to-face, in the presence of all the group members.
Method of working in groups
1
1
Discus s in pers on,
do the rest online
All the work done
face-to-face
All online
20
Figure 5.8: Current way of working in groups
Level of confidence in doing group work without meeting face-to-face
When asked if group work could be accomplished without meeting face-to-face, 43% (10) of
the students said it would be possible if they had the proper tools. Another 17% (4) students
were absolutely confident that it was possible while 30% (7) students considered it absolutely
impossible. (See figure 5.9)
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Chapter 5: Findings
Figure 5.9: Confidence in doing group work without meeting in person
When asked what type of tools they would like to use to complete group assignments online,
students mentioned internet conference and teleconference tools, Google docs, IM, email and
file sharing services.
5.3.6 Student presentations
52% (12) of the students never made self-explanatory presentations with audio while 43% (10)
have done it before.
When asked how easy/hard it is to make self explanatory presentations 27% (6) commented that
it is not difficult at all. 41% (9) stated that it is slightly more difficult than normal presentations
but manageable. The remaining 32% (7) thought it is very difficult. (It is interesting to note that
among the 7 who thought it was difficult to make self-explanatory presentations, 5 never made
them.)
Making self-explanatory presentation
6
7
Not difficult
Manageable
Very difficult
9
Figure 5.9: Perceived difficulty in making self-explanatory presentations
Majority (54%, 14) of the students use PowerPoint to make presentations. 30% (8) mentioned
they use video editing tools like Windows Movie Maker. Some have reported using Flash (11%,
3) and web-conferencing tools (7%, 2) to make self-explanatory presentations. A few students
also use Prezi Maps and Keynote.
Existing process
Majority of the students (55%, 12) interacted with the company through a series of face-to-face
meetings. A few others (27%, 6) supplemented their online meetings with online
correspondence, via email. In most cases these meetings involved discussions, Q&A, feedback
and presentations. But, 14% (3) students reported that they had spent many days closely
working at the company.
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Chapter 5: Findings
3
Face-to-f ace meetings
6
12
Face-to-f ace meetings and
online correspondence
Working at the company
Figure 5.10: Interaction with the company
Most students met with the company 3-4 times while 4 (17%) of them reported meeting 8 or
more times.
The meetings took between 30-90 minutes. According to 48% of the respondents, these
meetings generally took between 45-60 minutes. 19% of the students stated they took longer
than that (60-90 minutes) while 29% said they took 30-45 minutes.
Most of the students (78%, 17) reported that most of the time, all group members participated in
these meetings.
Online communications
Majority (83%, 19) of the students never had
online meetings with the company. 13% (3)
reported they have had online meetings with the
company. (See figure 5.11) Among them two
reported using conference calls and one used
web conferencing.
88% of the students reported
correspondence with the company.
Online meeting with the company
3
No
email
Yes
When asked what tool they would like to use if
face-to-face interaction was impossible, 3
(14%) said they would use group chat, 5 (23%)
wanted to use conference calls and 4 (18%)
mentioned web conference. However, the Figure 5.11: Online meeting with the company
majority (8, 36%) stated that they would use a
combination of all these.
19
Only 2 (9%) commented that
it would be impossible to do
without
face-to-face
interactions. (See figure 5.12)
It should be noted that one of
these people had to work
closely at the company for
many days.
How to meet online?
2
3
Group chat
Conference calls
5
8
Web-conference
Combo
Not possible
4
Figure 5.12: How to meet online?
47
Chapter 5: Findings
5.4 Finding summary
The key findings in the interviews with MM teaching staff have been summarized in table 5.1:
Table 5.1: Key findings in from the interviews with teachers
Topics
Findings
General attitude towards online
learning
Favorable
Experience with online learning and
use of tools
Only Robin
Core values in teaching
MM learning objectives, interactivity, collaboration, attention
to diversity and ‘hands-on’ practical work
Preferred lecture format
Use a combination of synchronous/asynchronous formats
Module 1
Second Life (Robin), pre-recorded multimedia (Christopher,
Per)
Module 2
Web-conferencing
Guest lectures
Pre-recorded multimedia
Presentations in module 1
Group work
Self-explanatory audio embedded presentations work
Web-conferencing tools could be useful (Christopher)
Choice of tools should be left up to students (Robin)
Employ a
methods
Assessments
Possible to have take home exams in module 1 (Robin); the
format can be anything as long as learning outcomes are
being measure (Christopher). No need to assess class or
group participations. (Robin, Per)
One-on-on group coaching is very important.
All members should have equal opportunity to participate
Business project
Class size
Other concerns and suggestions
combination
of
synchronous/asynchronous
Shouldn’t exceed 60
LMS could be useful (Christopher)
No need to go for robust solutions (Robin)
Use a combination of diverse approaches (Per)
Table 5.2 summarizes the findings from the interview with Erik (course assistant):
Table 5.2: Key findings in the interview with the course assistant
Topics
Findings
Administrative tasks
Scheduling and announcing events, booking classrooms
and providing logistic support, responding to students’
questions, recording and reporting grades, collecting
assignments and relaying marks, announcing cancellations
and updates on events, providing students with hard copies
of documents, conducting course evaluation
Communicating with students
Though the course web, email, Facebook group, phone
calls, text messages and face-to-face.
Cultivating personal relationships are important
48
Chapter 5: Findings
Topics
Findings
The existing course web
Is adequate for the existing mode of delivery
Not as flexible as newer systems
Business project
Not too hard to find business projects
One-on-on group coaching is very important.
Some groups work at company offices
Some familiarity with Swedish culture is needed
The table below summarizes the key findings from the online study conducted among students:
Table 5.3: Findings from the online study among MM students
Topics
Findings
General
Average age
26
Satisfaction with the existing course
High (91%)
Past experience with online learning
None for most students (78%)
Attitude towards online learning
Take the course online?
83% don’t want to; prefers face-to-face, personal
contacts. 50% want to take some of the classes online.
Lecture format
Least preferred
Pure text/graphic and audio
Most preferred
Pre-recoded multimedia, web-conference
Preferred for module 1
Pre-recorded multimedia (36%), 3D virtual classroom
(23%), audio embedded presentations (23%)
Preferred for module 2
Web-conference (32%), 3D virtual world (23%), prerecorded multimedia (23%)
Preferred for guest lectures
Pre-recorded multimedia (32%), 3D virtual classroom
(27%), web-conference (23%)
Mobile access to lectures
Not necessary (73%)
Making self-explanatory presentations
Experience
52% never done it; 43% have
How difficult is it?
Manageable (68%)
Classroom interactions
Possible online?
69%
thinks
it
can
be
synchronous/asynchronous methods
Participation
90% participates
Meeting outside class
Approach teachers with questions
78% do it occasionally
49
done
using
Chapter 5: Findings
Topics
Findings
Necessity of face-to-face meetings
When things need detailed explanations (70%) that is
hard to do though written correspondence
Group work
Common practice
Discuss things in person and do the rest online (91%)
Tools used
Google Docs, SlideShare, IM, Skype
Possible to do online?
60% think it is
Need for proper tools
43% stated they would need proper tools such as
web/tele conference, Google docs, IM, email and file
sharing services
Business project
Common practice
83% interact with the companies through a series of
(3-8) meetings, sometimes supplemented with email
correspondence.
Online correspondence
Via email (88%)
Possible online?
91% think it is possible to conduct meetings using
group chat, web and teleconferencing
Other practices
14% go to work at the company offices
End note
In this chapter I have presented the findings from my investigations. In the next and final
chapter of the report, I will analyze these findings to arrive at specific conclusions and
recommendations for MM.
50
Chapter 6: Discussions and conclusions
Chapter 6: Discussions and
conclusions
In this chapter, I will first analyze the findings from my investigations to arrive at specific
recommendations regarding various aspects related to online delivery for MM. Next, I will
summarize the recommendations to provide an outline of the online delivery channel for MM.
Finally, I will propose an implementation strategy to facilitate a smooth transition.
6.1 Discussions and recommendations
6.1.1 General attitude towards online delivery
The general attitude of the MM teaching staff toward online learning is positive. While there are
some concerns over the effort and hard work it may require to implement such a system, the
general feeling is that the pay-off would be worthwhile.
Students on the other hand, showed less enthusiasm towards online learning. 83% of the
students didn’t want to take the course online. One of the primary reasons for this is because
they value the personal, humane elements in interactions and campus experience. This is quite
natural considering the fact that these are mostly young individuals (average age 26) engaged in
full time studies. Again, 70% students emphasized that face-to-face interactions with teachers
are absolutely necessary at times. However, 50% of the students mentioned that they wanted to
have the option to take some or all of the classes online.
Again, majority of the students feel that it is possible to carry out various course activities such
as discussions, group work and business meetings without meeting face-to-face. 75% of the
students thought it was possible to conduct classroom discussions over synchronous and
asynchronous online media and 70% students commented that it is possible to work on group
projects without meeting in person. Finally, only 2 students (9%) felt that it would be
impossible to complete the business project without meeting face-to-face.
6.1.2 Mode of delivery
Recalling the U.S. Department of Education study cited in the introductory chapters, students
taking all or part of their class online perform better, on an average, than those taking the same
courses in traditional face-to-face mode. [2] In the previous section I have discussed how
majority (83%) of the MM students prefer traditional, on campus environment and did not want
to take the course online. We have also seen that 50% of these students would appreciate the
option to attend some of these classes online. In this context, a blended mode of delivery would
be optimum in that it would allow students to have the on campus experience while providing
the flexibility to take some of the classes online.
However, the blended mode will not increase the accessibility of the course substantially in that
it won’t be available to students residing outside Stockholm. (Incidentally, the students
participating in this study are all residents of Stockholm and their choices are not a good
reflection of students who might be interested in taking the course online.) In this sense, MM
would be grossly underutilizing the potentials of the web by only adopting a blended mode of
delivery. Moreover, we should consider that some (17%) students did want to take the whole
course online.
51
One important thing to note here is that having a completely online/distant learning channel
doesn’t imply that the course can be open to students from anywhere in the world. As Erik had
pointed out, students need some amount of familiarity with the Swedish education system and
working culture in order to interact with Swedish companies to complete their final project
work.
Blended Mode
Online Mode
Figure 6.1: Proposed mode of delivery
Considering the above, I recommend a dual mode of delivery in which on campus learning will
runs concurrently with a completely online channel and share some common activities and
events. This way, parts of the learning activities in the on-campus mode will take place online,
providing students with the affordances and benefits of blended learning (see figure 6.1). The
concept is elaborated further in subsequent sections.
6.1.3 Core values in teaching that must not be compromised
All of the teachers emphasized the importance of the existing MM learning objectives. They
also stressed on interactivity, collaboration, attention to diversity and ‘hands-on’ project work.
All of these issues were taken into consideration during the analysis of MM teaching tasks and
objectives, done with the help of various learning theories (in chapter 2), and were subsequently
translated into the elements of the online MM courseware and learning functions (in chapter 3).
6.1.4 Class size
According to Christopher the class size shouldn’t exceed 60. Robin also thought this would be a
manageable load, even with the added responsibilities of moderating online discussions. More
students could be supported at a marginal cost if this was just a classroom based course. For
instance, Robin mentioned that she might be able to handle larger classes with the help of
grading assistants. The same can probably be said about grading additional papers in module 2.
However, as Per and Erik had pointed out, this will not be possible in module 3 during which
MM has to provide student groups with one-on-one ‘live’ coaching. This can only be done
properly when there are a limited number of students.
Again, since a dual mode of delivery has been proposed, teachers will have to oversee the
online discussions on top of their regular tasks. Keeping this in mind, it is recommended that
initially, the class size should be kept less than 60 (around 45 - 50), combining students in both
modes.
6.1.5 Lecture format
Theory lectures in module 1
During the interview, both Per and Christopher had commented that pre-recorded multimedia
format could be suitable for presenting the theoretical concepts in module 1. This format was
also listed as the first preference by the majority of the students. However, Robin is against the
52
idea of delivering her lectures in non-interactive, pre-recorded formats. Her concern is quite
justified as active student involvement in interactive discourses, exercises and breakout sessions
is an integral part of her lectures. She opted for using Second Life (SL) which can adequately
support all these activities. Incidentally, this was the second most preferred format among the
students for this module. This however doesn’t solve the following problems:
• She would still have to repeat the same theoretical discourse over and over again in each
class; this isn’t really freeing up any of her time.
• All of the activities are taking place synchronously; it is not providing online learners with a
significant amount of flexibility.
• In dual mode, she would have to hold the same classes twice, - once in SL and once face-toface. They can not be done at the same time. This will be hard and time consuming, not to
mention inefficient.
In this situation, a viable solution could be found in Christopher’s input in which he suggested
that an optimum method of delivery would employ a combination of synchronous and
asynchronous methods; while some lectures are conducted live, others can be offered in a prerecorded form.
Again recalling the discussions in chapter 3, pre-recorded forms don’t have to be noninteractive; interactivity can be added to these forms by supplementing them with synchronous
and asynchronous channels of communications such as blogs, message boards, audio/video
conferencing, etc. Incidentally, Robin’s attitude towards asynchronous online interaction is
positive in that she mentioned that they are actually better in some cases as they give students a
little time to think before venturing a comment.
Considering all the above, I propose the following:
• The lectures can be broken down into multiple segments, each of which will represent a
specific classroom activity (e.g., presentation of theory, interactive discourse, breakout
sessions, etc.). The different segments can then be supported using a combination of
synchronous and asynchronous methods.
• The static, theoretical elements of the lectures can be offered as pre-recorded multimedia
materials to students in both blended and online learning modes. This way the teacher
wouldn’t have to repeat the same one-way speeches in each class. This would also improve
students’ time on task as they will be viewing them on their own time.
• Next, the interactivity of the pre-recorded materials should be enhanced by supplementing
them with subsequent online discussions. For this purpose, the teacher can include a couple
of discussion questions with the material to start the online discussions. From a usability
perspective, I feel that it is best if the multimedia content and discussions boards are located
in the same place (i.e., the same web page). For example, video materials can be posted on a
blog page, which provides the option to post comments or on an LMS topic space where
discussion forums can be added.
• Finally, the more interactive activity of the instructions can take place face-to-face (in
blended mode) and in blogs, forums and sessions in SL (in online mode). To help with
concurrent delivery, I recommend that the SL sessions should be common to students in
both modes. The process has been explained more clearly in table 6.2.
Case seminars in module 2
For case seminars in module 2, majority (32%) of the students listed web conferencing as their
first preference. The second most preferred formats are multimedia lectures and virtual
classrooms.
Again Per liked the pre-recorded multimedia format but felt that they can not support the
interactivity needed in the case seminars. They could however, work perfectly for the straight
forward, one way introductory lecture in this module. For the case seminars, Per chose
synchronous web-conferencing which he liked better than the other synchronous option, lecture halls in SL.
53
Considering this, the choice of format for case seminars in module 2 is obvious – webconferencing. However, we have to take the dual mode of delivery into consideration. It
wouldn’t be efficient if the teachers have to conduct the same lectures twice for the two modes
of learning. Keeping this in mind, I recommend the following:
•
•
•
Pre-recoded multimedia should be used only for the case introduction. The subsequent
Q&A can take place over blogs or forums.
Among the four case seminars, two or three should take place in face-to-face mode. At the
same time, these 3 seminars need to be synchronously webcasted online, using webconferencing tools. The video feed of this webcast should give the online learners a clear
view of the blackboard, because students are sometimes asked to come to the stage and use
it. Online students don’t have to be passive onlookers in these events; they can participate in
the discussions using the voice options provided by the web-conference tool. Also, the
teachers can ask them to take the stage simply by putting the whiteboard tool on the
projection screen. This way, online students, in essence, will be sitting in on the face-to-face
classes.
One or two of the case seminars can take place exclusively online, where students from both
modes will participate in web-conferences. I suggest this to establish a level ground
between the two modes. A more practical reason is that these sessions might be more
suitable for online learners for making presentations in that a microphone wouldn’t have to
be passed around among the audience to facilitate communications between face-to-face
and online learners.
Guest lectures
According to Per, pre-recorded multimedia lectures would be a good, reusable format for guest
lectures. Incidentally, the majority of the students also listed this format as their first preference
for this event. The other formats preferred by students for this purpose were virtual classrooms
and web conferencing. These could be used if the guest lecturer prefers to speak to a live
audience. As these sessions can be recorded, they would be available for future use.
Mobile access
73% of the students didn’t think it was necessary to have mobile access to online lectures.
Considering that there are other more pressing concerns, I concluded that this feature is not a
high priority, at least for an initial implementation.
6.1.6 Student presentations in module 1
In her interview Robin mentioned that instead of presenting face-to-face, students uploaded
audio embedded, self-explanatory presentations online. According to her, they were just as good
as face-to-face presentations and students were able to handle the task quite well. This is
consistent with the views of 68% of the students who mentioned that they didn’t consider
making self-explanatory presentation to be a very difficult task. Among the remaining 32% (7)
who thought it is was very difficult to make them, 5 never really tried it.
Considering this, I recommend audio-embedded presentations to be used in both modes. One
concern in this situation could be that students in face-to-face mode might feel that they aren’t
getting to develop their real-life presentation skills. For this, teachers might want to hold some
of these presentations during face-to-face sessions. In these occasions, these presentations
should be recorded and uploaded on the course portal for the benefit of online learners.
6.1.7 New forms of content
In chapter 3 I have discussed how using learning objects can help enhance a students’ learning
experience by catering to their diverse needs and talents. During the interview, Per had also
stressed on using new and varied forms of content to support the diverse learning styles of
students. MM could experiment by replacing one or two of the case studies with the following:
54
•
•
In his interview, Per had mentioned using role-playing scenarios where actors recreate
business situations on a movie. Creating this kind of movie sequence could take a lot of
effort, time and money. However, the same effect can be achieved with ‘machinimas’
(discussed in chapter 3) made in SL which would cost almost nothing.
In chapter 3 I have discussed how University of Phoenix uses virtual organizations to teach
students how to take business decisions in real world. MM could try something similar by
staging role playing scenarios in a virtual company. In these exercises, students can play the
role of an executive in a virtual company who has to solve a problem based on the
information available on web pages, masquerading as the virtual company’s intra/extranets,
document storage and email accounts.
6.1.8 Social presence
In chapter 3, I have discussed how social and personal elements of study matters to students.
This is consistent with my findings which show that students value face-to-face, human
interactions in on campus learning. This, it is important to address students’ need for social
presence on the online mode. In addition, social presence is not just about students, it also
concerns teachers and course assistants with whom students will interact. Recalling Erik, there
is a need for personal touch in the interactions with students.
In my previous discussions I had proposed the use of social profiles, Facebook groups and
personal blogs. I had also proposed ‘ice-breaking’ sessions in Second Life. These, along with
the synchronous web-seminars proposed for module 2 will provide online learners with a more
authentic experience. In addition, I recommend the following:
• Teachers and course assistants should also have their personal profiles and blogs
• All pre-recorded multimedia should show a moving image of the teacher
• The student portal should link to the SSE Student Association site (SASSE)
6.1.9 Teacher-student interactions outside the class
78% of the students mentioned they do this occasionally (the majority as often as 3-4 times
during the course). Note that these interactions do not include meetings with the project
supervisor.
In chapter 3, I have discussed how this kind of teacher-student interactions can be supported
with FAQs, blogs and email correspondence. However, these text based methods can solve the
problem only partially. In my findings we have seen that majority (70%) of the students feel that
face-to-face communications with teachers is necessary when things need detailed explanations
and discussions; things that are not easy to do by typing out words. This problem can be helped
with voice communication and in some cases, visual aids.
In chapter 3, I had considered the possibility of teachers attending office hours in SL to
communicate with students. I have discussed how one course at the Harvard School of Law
does this [37]. On the other hand I have come across contrary opinions of Alan A. Lew and Dr.
Andrew Hudson-Smith who consider SL to be a major challenge for many teachers and students
[36]. As far as MM is concerned, I feel that spending office hours in Skype would be a much
better option for teachers because:
•
•
•
Not all teachers are comfortable in SL. In my investigations, I have found that Per isn’t as
excited about SL as Robin is.
Logging onto Skype is much easier and simpler than joining a meeting in SL.
Functionalities supported by Skype such as voice calls, conference calls, video calls and
document and screen sharing would be sufficient for these meetings.
55
6.1.10 Group work
According to 91% of the students, groups discuss things in person and then coordinate the rest
of the activities online, using a range of collaboration and communication tools including
Google Docs, SlideShare, IM and Skype. So, the only difficult part is conducting the discussion
meetings online. In the online mode, students can use web-conference/whiteboarding tools to
conduct these meetings. (In previous chapters I have considered the possibility of using
collaboration tools provided by virtual worlds but none of the MM students expressed their
interest in them.)
When asked if group work could be accomplished without meeting face-to-face, 60% of the
students considered it possible with the help of web/teleconference, Google Docs, IM, email
and file sharing services. Among these 17% were absolutely confident while 43% mentioned
that they would need to have the proper tools first.
According to Robin, the choice of tools should be left up to the students; students are
resourceful when it comes to finding tools and different students use them differently. This is
consistent with the literature I discussed on the subject in chapter 3. She also suggested that
there might not be any need to provide students with any special tools to work with as they are
capable enough to ‘figure it out’ themselves.
However, we need to consider that sophisticated tools such as video/web conferencing and
whiteboarding are not as commonly available as is text chat or Google Docs. In chapter 3, we
have also seen that prominent online learning universities such as the UK Open University,
Athabasca University and the University of Phoenix provide their students with various types of
conferencing tools to facilitate collaborative work. Also, the majority (43%) of the MM students
did mention the need for proper tools. In this situation the question arises if MM needs to
provide these collaboration tools for its students.
While it would surely be helpful for students if MM provided these tools, it is not really
necessary as there are a lot of the web-conferencing tools in the market that provide free
versions that support a limited number of participants. (For example, DimDim is free for up to
20 participants.) MM students can use these free tools for their group discussions. On Its part,
MM should just give them a nudge towards the right direction by recommending these tools.
6.1.11 Assessment
For the theory exam in module 1, Robin liked the idea of using a take home exam better than
the existing ‘closed’ exam. In her opinion students should be allowed to use every resource they
can manage to use, even other people if necessary. Again Christopher commented that the
format of assessments could be anything as long as they properly evaluate students’
understanding of theoretical concepts, their ability to figure out how the market works and their
capability to come up with solutions and make judgment calls. Accordingly, I recommend that a
take home exam should replace the closed exam in module 1.
In chapter 3 I discussed the usefulness of assessing student participation in class and in groups.
However, Robin and Per both felt that participation should be voluntary in MM. We have also
seen that 90% of the students in MM participate in class discussions even though there are no
points assigned for this activity. Thus, I conclude that assessing participation in class and group
work is not necessary for MM.
According to Christopher, the business project work is one of the most interesting aspects of the
course and should not have to lose any of its edges. Accordingly, the online mode needs to
provide adequate support for all types of communications and interactions related to the project
work.
56
Christopher also emphasized on the equal opportunity for all members to participate in the
meetings with the company, be it face-to-face or online. This is consistent with reports of 78%,
(17) students who stated that all group members are present in these meetings most of the time.
Accordingly, I conclude that members in a business project group should all be following the
same mode of learning; online groups should consist of only online learners while the face-toface groups should only include on-campus learners.
Right now, majority (83%) of the students interact with the companies through a series of faceto-face meetings, which is sometimes supplemented by online correspondence. The events in
these meetings generally include discussions, update on work, feedback and presentations.
When asked, 91% of the students commented that it was possible to conduct these meetings
using a combination of online tools including group chat, web and teleconferencing.
However, there are a few students (14%) who worked closely at these companies to complete
their work. As Erik had pointed out, it would not be possible to support these interactions online
and should remain exclusive to students following the course in ‘on-campus’ mode.
6.1.13 Providing administrative support and related services
In the interview with Erik, I gathered that his administrative tasks and activities (aside from his
involvement in the selection of course literature and communications with guest lectures and
company contacts) usually include scheduling and announcing lectures, seminars and other
course related activities, booking classrooms and providing necessary logistic support,
responding to students’ questions, recording and reporting grades, collecting assignments and
relaying marks, announcing cancellations and updates on events, providing students with access
cards and hard copies of transcripts and course compendium and conducting course evaluation.
The table below shows how these tasks are performed:
Table 6.1: Administrative tasks and activities
Tasks
Methods
Scheduling and announcing events
Using the course web, email
Booking classrooms
Neverlost
Responding to students’ questions
Face-to-face, email, phone calls
Collecting assignments
Via course web
Relaying marks
Via files uploaded on the course web or email
Announcing cancellations and updates
Via course web, email, text messages, Facebook
Providing students with hard copies of Face-to-face
documents
Grade reporting
Tas
Course evaluation
SurveyManager
As we can see, many of these tasks involve interactions with students. We can also see that all
most all these interactions can take place online. The one situation that requires face-to-face
interaction with students is not a real concern for online learners in that they are not likely to
need access cards or hard copies of transcripts and as Erik had pointed out, digital copies of the
compendium can be sold to them online. If the need arises, hard copies of documents can also
be sent over postal mail.
During the interview, Erik had mentioned that interacting with students doesn’t take up too
much of his time. The load can be further reduced by directing students to a FAQ page or
57
encouraging them to ask questions on open forums so that the same questions don’t have to be
answered over and over again.
Erik had also pointed out that some level of personal interaction is beneficial for the course
because this makes it possible to gain direct feedback from the students. In the online mode,
course assistants can provide this personal touch by being available on Skype and on the phone,
during office hours.
In addition to the above, learners need to have flexible access to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Content repository
External resources
Library resources
Course calendar
Policy documents
Address book
Technical support
In chapter 3, I have discussed how all these features and services, along with the rest of the
content and functionalities of the online courseware, should be provided though a flexible and
easy to use web portal. While the SSE course web serve the needs of the course now, it is
somewhat rigid, inflexible and in some cases, downright inefficient. For example teachers are
not able to create assignment boxes or download assignments themselves, they have to rely on
people with web administration privileges to do that. Again, the interface doesn’t provide
teacher or even web administrators the flexibility to add/remove features or to create additional
web pages or lists when they are needed. Finally, as Erik had pointed out, the SSE course web
doesn’t provide support for community building and maintenance. To put it in a nutshell, the
SSE course web is more of a storage area for information and services than it is an interactive
learning platform. Proprietary or opensource learning management systems will be a better
choice in this respect.
Recalling the earlier discussions, it might be possible to accommodate additional features to the
SSE course web to support the online mode of delivery. However, it would not be easy to match
the flexible options LMS interfaces provide for teachers, students and administrators in
managing the various tasks and activities within the course.
When shown screenshots (see figure 6.2 below) of the Moodle LMS and told about its
functionalities, Christopher commented that they would be suitable for online delivery of MM.
This opinion was shared by Erik who expressed that the SSE course web should move towards
that direction at some point.
Considering all the above, it is recommended that MM adopt an LMS for online delivery. In
choosing specific products, I recommend the open source Moodle which provides all necessary
functionalities while costing nothing in license fees.
6.1.14 Teachers need for support and training
Both Christopher and Per had mentioned that they have never used specialized online tools to
teach classes. They also do not make much use of social media. Naturally, they would have to
be provided with necessary support and training in the usage of these tools (e.g. webconferencing, blogs, LMS).
58
6.2 Recommendation summary
Table 6.2 illustrates how the MM courseware and learning functions will be delivered in dual
mode, by summarizing the conclusions and recommendations made in this chapter.
Table 6.2: Delivery of MM courseware in dual mode
Activities and Services
On Campus
Off Campus
Presentation of concepts and
frameworks
Offer as pre-recorded multimedia
Q&A and open discussions
Post a few questions to help start the disc on forum/blog
Interactive discussions,
exercises and break out
sessions
Short (45-60 minutes) face-toface interactive sessions
Conducted asynchronously in
blogs or forums
One or two meetings in Second Life
Student presentations (module 1)
Presentations by student groups
Face-to-face or self explanatory Self explanatory presentations
(audio embedded) presentations
Q&A with opposition group
Face-to-face
blog/forum
Questions from the audience
or
on
course
On course blog/forum
Teacher’s comments
Case introduction (module 2)
Introductory lecture
Offer as pre-recorded multimedia
Q&A
On course blog/forum
Case seminars
Interactive discourse moderated
by the teacher.
Face-to-face (for 2 or 3 cases)
and via web-conferencing
(for 1 or 2 cases)
Real-time webcasting of faceto-face sessions using webconferencing (for 2 or 3 cases) /
1 or 2 case exclusively through
web-conferencing
Presentation by student groups
During
exclusive
conferencing sessions
web-
Occasionally ‘on the spot’
presentations
Using interactive whiteboards
Guest lectures
Traditional, one way lecture
Face-to-face,
pre-recoded
multimedia or Second Life
Pre-recorded multimedia or SL
lectures
Q&A sessions at intervals
On spot or on blog/forum
Student-teacher correspondence
As usual
Email, forum, office hours in
Skype
Social interactions
As usual
Social profiles, personal blogs,
mingling in SL, link to SASSE
and Facebook group.
Outside class interactions
59
Activities and Services
On Campus
Off Campus
Group meetings
As usual
Over IM, teleconferencing or
web conference
Reports and presentations
Using Google wave, Google Docs, SlideShare
Group work
Assessment activities
Literature exam
Take home exam
Written reports
As usual
Business project
Meetings with the company
As usual
IM, tele/web conference
Meetings with the supervisor
As usual
teleconference, web conference
Presenting at the company
As usual
web conference
New forms of content
Role-playing scenarios
Avatars acting out cases in SL
Virtual companies
Taking business decisions based on information in virtual
intra/extranets, file cabinets and email accounts
Administrative support
Scheduling
Grade reporting
LMS (interfacing other systems / the central SSE database)
Course evaluation
Booking classrooms
Announcements and updates
LMS
(notice,
email), SMS
Responding
questions
Face-to-face meetings
to
students’
Collecting assignments
automated
LMS (notice board, automated
email)
LMS (text chat, FAQs, forums), email, phone, Skype
LMS
Relaying marks
Providing students with hard
copies of documents
Face-to-face
Digital copies, fax or postal
mail
Related services
Content repository
External resources
Library resources
LMS
Course calendar
Policy documents
Address book
Technical support
60
In this design, attention has been given to reduce complications and redundancy of operations at
each step. Activities in different modes have been merged together wherever possible. This has
been done to provide the teachers with one set of tasks, instead of two.
In proposing this design, I tried to incorporate a combination of synchronous and asynchronous
methods to ensure optimum results. The use of pre-recorded, reusable materials and learning
objects has been suggested as long as they don’t compromise MM’s learning objectives. On the
other hand synchronous communication has been emphasized in situations where real time
communication is absolutely necessary.
Finally, I tried to keep the technical and resource requirements to a minimum. In the end MM
was asked to adopt only two new technology tools – LMS and web-conferencing.
Figure 6.2: A mockup of the MM course page on Moodle
First, LMSs such as Moodle (see figure 6.2) create an effective learning environment for
learners and teachers by aggregating all content, resources, features and services in one place. In
addition to providing support for all administrative and related services, they include options for
Figure 6.3: Flexible interface of the Moodle LMS
61
student profile creation, text chatting, message boards and blog management – options which
help create and sustain learning communities.
Also, the interfaces of these systems afford a certain amount of flexibility for students, teachers
and administrators that could be valuable for an online learning program (see figure 6.3). For
instance, using an LMS, teachers can easily start a new topic by posting text, video/multimedia
contents and starting a new discussion forum, all within a few clicks.
Second, web-conference tools such as DimDim Pro (see figure 6.4), can facilitate synchronous
lectures, discussion meetings and presentations. They will also be used to create pre-recoded
lectures and to facilitate group and company meetings. For this purpose, I propose the
opensource DimDim Pro because it provides all the necessary functions at a much cheaper cost
($25 - $75 per month).
Figure 6.4: Options provided by web-conferencing tools
As for 3D virtual classrooms, MM doesn’t need to worry about that as SSE already has an
island in Second Life.
62
6.3 Implementation
Implementing the proposed design of dual channels is going to take some work. Plans will be
made and decisions taken, cross functional teams consisting of teachers, administrators and IT
personnel will be set up; the technology tools will be put in place, content will be prepared and
finally, teachers and course staff will be trained. All at once these can appear to be too big a
challenge to take on for just one course. Again, setting everything up might take up too much
time before MM can actually get ready for a roll out. For all we know, this design will cease to
be relevant at that point and MM will have to start from scratch again.
Considering the above, I propose a phased implementation in which the course delivery will
transition from face-to-face mode to blended mode and then from blended mode to completely
online/distant mode. These phases will be as follows:
Phase 1: On your mark
The objective of this phase is to initiate teachers and students with the idea of online learning
and in the process, take a major step towards blended mode of delivery. The steps to be taken
are simple but significant. These would include:
Preparation
•
•
•
•
Acquire a web-conference tool
Use the tool to create pre-recorded multimedia materials for module 1 and the case
introduction in module 2
Start two course blogs (free from Blogger40 or WordPress41) for module 1 and module 2
If possible, create a role playing scenario using avatar actors to be used as a case
Module 1
•
•
•
•
Run the module 1 lectures as described in the second column on table 6.2 (with the help of
pre-recorded materials, asynchronous discuss on blog and subsequent face-to-face sessions)
Conduct a few sessions in Second Life.
Require some of the student presentations to be self-explanatory. Students should post these
on SlideShare and also embed them on the course blog, where subsequent discussions can
follow.
Replace the closed exam with a take home exam.
Module 2
•
•
Conduct at least 1 case seminar as a web-conference with students joining from home.
Record all guest lectures using the web-conferencing tool for future use. (An easy way to do
this is by asking the guest lectures to run the slides using the web-conference tool.)
Module 3
•
•
|
Record all guest lectures
Conduct a few coaching sessions online
Other
•
•
40
41
Recommend (not require) free web-conferencing tools for group work
Get feedback from teacher and students at the end of the period
https://www.blogger.com/
http://wordpress.org/
63
The activities listed above will not need a lot of planning or resources. In comparison the
outcomes will be substantial in that:
•
•
•
•
A good amount of reusable content will be created
Teachers will get used to the idea of using web-conferencing and blogging
As a good portion of the classroom delivery will be augmented with online methods, the
course will be well on its way towards to blended learning.
The feedback will provide a better understanding of the situation. It will be possible to
figure out what works, and what doesn’t work. Adjustments can then be made accordingly.
Phase 2: Get set
The major task in this phase is the implementation of the LMS and as such, will be considerably
more difficult than the previous phase. It will also need the most investment in terms of time,
effort and money.
First of all the technical implementation is going to present some challenge for the SSE IT
department. The system will have to be integrated with the central database and other
administrative systems of SSE. Also the new system will take a little getting used to; some
amount of resistance from the course staff and SSE administrators is to be expected. However,
SSE has to consider upgrading to a newer, more flexible system at some point and
implementing this system for MM will provide it with an opportunity to try it out in a small
scale. If the outcomes are favorable, the same process can be replicated for an institution wide
implementation in the future.
Once the system has been set up MM teaching and course staff would have to be trained in its
use. In addition, support resources will have to be compiled for the students. (A point to note
here is that SSE will not need to compile detailed user guides; they usually come with the
system being deployed.)
Other activities during this phase will include:
•
•
•
•
•
External blogs are no longer needed; teachers should start posting content and discussions
within the LMS.
At least two face-to-face case seminars should be ‘webcasted’ live, using web-conferencing.
Some of the students should be asked to participate in these seminars from home to see how
these work out in the dual mode in phase 3.
Teachers and course assistant will start maintaining office hours in Skype.
A few virtual organizations (equipped with dummy company intra/extranets, email accounts
and file repositories) can be set up to replace some of the case studies.
As before, feedback will be collected from students, teachers and course assistants.
Phase 3: All systems go
With the LMS all set up in phase 2, MM can proceed to full-fledged online delivery in online
mode. The activities will run concurrently with the on-campus mode, as described in table 6.2.
Feedback collection should continue as before to evaluate the performance of the system. Based
on these, the system can be continuously improved to better suite the needs of everyone
involved in the teaching process. In addition, performances of students in different modes
should be compared to measure effectiveness of methods.
64
6.4 Conclusion
In this work I tried to come up with an optimum design for an online delivery channel for the
MM course, which responds to the diverse needs of students and teachers and is consistent with
its underlying teaching tasks and learning objectives. In the process I considered various
learning theories, examples of prominent online institutions and the specific needs of the MM
curriculum, teachers and students. I have come to the conclusion that a dual mode of delivery,
consisting of a blended learning (on-campus) and a distant learning (off campus) channels
would be the optimum solution. In the blended learning mode, traditional learning will be
enhanced with the help of ICT. The online mode on the other hand will meet the needs of those
who require a more flexible access. Again, running both channels concurrently will provide
MM with the opportunity to compare performance and make necessary adjustments as needed.
Implementing the system, will of course, not be easy. In this work, I have proposed a threephased implementation scheme to facilitate a smooth transition from face-to-face to blended,
and then from blended to completely online mode. I believe that this scheme will minimize risks
while providing adequate opportunities for continuous evaluation and improvement. But as Per
and Christopher had pointed out, it will still require a lot of time, effort and resources. A major
part of this will be concerned with the implementation of a new learning management system at
SSE; further work will have to be done to address the financial and technical aspects related to
this issue. Again continuous performance evaluation and adjustments will be necessary to
ensure the delivery of expected outcomes. However, weighing against the benefits to be gained,
the attempt should be well worth the trouble.
65
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68
Appendix A: Interview guides
Questions for Robin Tiegland (instructor, module 1)
1. What is important to you in teaching this module?
(For example, getting the ideas across, engaging
students in meaningful, fluid discussions, interactivity
and so on)
2. How do you feel about teaching the module online?
(You consider it exciting/ interesting to try/ very hard
to accomplish/ not worth the trouble…)
3. What are the core values/key features of the existing
mode that must not be compromised in the digital
mode?
4. Have you taught any online course before? If yes,
how was the experience?
5. Have you ever taken (as a student) any online
course?
6. What online tools do you use/used in teaching?
7. How comfortable are you with the idea of learning to
use new tools and using them to deliver lectures online?
8. Is it true that the theoretical lectures taught in module
1 are pretty much stable and needs little or no change?
69
9. How frequently do you make changes to your
lectures? How much time does it take?
10. What do you think about each of the lecture tools
mentioned below? (That is, which ones can actually
work for you?)
a. Text and graphics based
b. Text with audio
c. Video recordings
d. Multimedia lectures showing presentation slides,
video and other materials
e. Web conferencing
f. Virtual worlds
11. Which one of the above options is most suitable to
your needs?
12. Which one of the above options is most suitable to
your needs?
13. Do you think face-to-face/real time interaction is a
must to retain integrity of the course?
a) Communication can be synchronous over IM,
VoIP and conference call technologies or
asynchronous over forums or blogs. How do
you feel about these two types of
communications?
15. How often are you approached by students after
class hours with questions? (This doesn’t include the
conversations right after class or during recess.)
16. How do you feel about the additional task of
moderating these discussions online?
17. Student presentations can be pre-recorded or given
in real time. Which one do you consider to be the better
option?
70
18. There is one presentation/week. Do you think
students will have a hard time putting together selfexplanatory presentations for these?
19. Do you think a home exam can replace the exam
you give now?
20. If the class size is doubles, will you be able to cope
with the load? How big can a class be?
21. Do you think a it is important to assess student
participation?
22. Is there anything you would like to add?
Questions for Per Andersson
1. What is important to you in teaching this module?
What are the core values/key features of the existing
mode that must not be compromised in the digital
mode?
2. How do you feel about teaching the module online?
(You consider it exciting/ interesting to try/ very hard
to accomplish/ not worth the trouble…)
3. Have you taught/taken any online course before? If
yes, how was the experience?
5. How are the case seminars different from module 1
lectures?
71
6. What do you think about each of the lecture tools
mentioned below?
b) Text and graphics based
c) Text with audio
d) Video recordings
e) Multimedia lectures showing presentation
slides, video and other materials
f) Web conferencing
g) Virtual worlds
7. While part of the module 2 lectures can be offered
as pre-recorded materials? (if any)
8. Which one of the above options is most suitable for
case seminars?
9. Which of the options will be the most suitable for
guest lectures?
11. Communication can be synchronous over IM, VoIP
and conference call technologies or asynchronous
over forums or blogs. How do you feel about these
two types of communications? Which one would
you prefer?
12. Would it make sense if the more stable/theoretical
lectures are offered as pre-recorded modules while
the parts that require more interaction, such as the
presentation seminars, are left to web conferences?
13. How would you feel about the additional task of
14. Student presentations can be pre-recorded or given
in real time. Which one do you consider to be the better
option?
72
15. Do you think a home exam can replace the closed
exam in module 1?
16. Do you think a it is important to assess student
participation?
17. If the class size is doubles, will you be able to cope
with the load? How big can a class be?
Questions for Christopher Rosenqvist
1. What are the objectives that the course must fulfill?
What are the values that must not be compromised?
2. How do you feel about moving towards online
learning?
3. Have you taught any online course before? If yes,
how was the experience?
4. Have you ever taken (as a student) any online
course?
8. Lectures can be pre-recorded or live. How do you
feel about each of these options?
9. What do you think about each of the lecture formats
mentioned below?
• Text and graphics based
• Text with audio
• Video recordings
• Multimedia lectures showing presentation slides,
73
•
•
Video and other materials
Web conferencing
Virtual worlds
11. Communication can be synchronous over IM, VoIP
and conference call technologies or asynchronous
over forums or blogs. How do you feel about these
two types of communications?
12. How do you feel about the additional task of
13. Are you familiar with web-conferencing tools?
14. How do you feel about students using webconferencing tools for collaborative work?
15. Do you think there could be new types of
assessment activities replacing the existing ones?
16. What is important for the business project?
17. Will it be possible to have business project groups
in which some of the members are assigned the task to
meet with the company face to face and reports back to
their group mates online? Would this be an efficient
way to support the business project online?
18. If it’s possible to reduce the work load using online
tools, would you consider supporting a larger audience?
19. How do you feel about implementing an LMS for
MM? Do you think it would be helpful in teaching?
74
Questions for Erik A O Engström
1. What are your administrative duties for the course?
2. What are the additional tasks?
3. What sort of interactions do you have with students?
4. What type of questions do you encounter the most?
5. Are there too many questions? How many emails do
you get every day?
9. Have you thought about using a FAQ page to answer
questions?
10. What are the tools you use to perform the
administrative functions?
11. What are the current problems with the existing
systems?
12. How flexible is the SSE course web?
13. What do you think about the functions provided by
learning management systems?
14, Is face-to-face interactions with students absolutely
necessary for some of the tasks? Which ones?
15, Is face-to-face interactions with students absolutely
necessary for some of the tasks? Which ones?
16. How hard is it to find business projects?
75
Appendix B: Online questionnaire for students
Appendix B: Online
questionnaire for students
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
TRITA-CSC-E 2010:082
ISRN-KTH/CSC/E--10/082--SE
ISSN-1653-5715
www.kth.se

E-Learning 2.0: Online Delivery of the Media Management Course

Transcription

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