Online Course Materials and Online Educational Tools - Essay Example

? The perception of college teachers about online materials and online educational tools This paper aims to assess the perceptions ofteachers about the effectiveness of the online course content that is available through the University website for students enrolled in regular courses. The research endeavours to evaluate the challenges and barriers perceived by the teachers in managing the online component of their curriculum and the differences they perceive between the online and offline lecture delivery and its effectiveness. Two teachers are interviewed from a University in Jeddah, and their opinion sought on the impact on student learning that the online course content that the University uses to supplement regular classes. The teachers are selected on the basis of convenience sampling from among the acquaintances of the researcher. The interviews are conducted over Skype, and the responses are analysed in a reflective manner. The findings are discussed to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the online course content, and recommendations made for the improvement of the same. Table of Contents 1. Introduction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3 2. Literature Review------------------------------------------------------------------------------4 3. Research Methodology------------------------------------------------------------------------6 4. Research Findings------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 5. Conclusions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 6. List of Appendices Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire-------------------------------------------------------12 7. References--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13 The perception of college teachers about online course materials and online educational tools 1. Introduction There is an increasing trend to employ information and communication’s technology to develop and impart education (MacDonald, 2002). While a large number of universities run online courses that help local and international students to enrol and study for their courses online, there is also a growing trend to supplement the traditional class room lectures with an online mode (Dawley, 2007). Some courses are therefore available through a face to face teacher interaction which is supplemented by online course material and other educational tools. There has been some debate about the effectiveness of the online courses per se or of the supplemental course materials to add to the students’ understanding of the subject (Allen and Seaman, 2006) .Moreover, previous research has also found that teachers’ perceptions about the effectiveness of the online course or course material differs vastly (Dawley, 2007) which may in turn impact on their enthusiasm to adopt their teaching to the new requirements entailed by the online mode of learning. This research therefore aims to assess what teachers in college X at the University of Y, in Jeddah, KSA think about the online course material that the university uses to supplement the classroom teaching. As such, the main research questions are: 1. What do the teachers think are the advantages and disadvantages of the online course material? 2. What are some of the barriers and challenges that teachers face while developing and managing the online content for their courses? 2. Literature Review According to Allen and Seaman (2006), online education is not restricted to the fringe anymore instead the popularity of online education is increasing rapidly (Dawley, 2007). In fact, it has become crucial to the long term plans of any institution to incorporate online courses for both local and international students. As more and more teachers begin to adapt to this method of teaching, it is necessary to understand their perceptions about moving to an online approach. This paper takes at look at the perception college teachers have about online course materials and online educational tools. Many researchers have made the observation that in spite of the high demand of online courses, faculty members are not very keen to shift their mode of teaching to an online medium. Allen and Seaman's research in (2006) revealed that around 26% of the chief academic officers of different institutions felt that there was a 'lack of acceptance' of the online methodology on the part of the college teachers. According to Ward et al (2010), University of Southern Mississippi launched a synchronous online learning program. Ward et al (2000) conducted a research on the student and faculty perception of the program to gauge the level of adoption and the challenges faced. From the results, 72% of the faculty agreed that it was a challenging process to implement the synchronous online learning program because of three main challenges. These were technological challenges, difficulties developing course materials and using the tools, and the challenges related to time management because additional preparation was necessary (Ward et al, 2010). This indicates that there are many reasons because of which teachers are sceptical in openly shifting to the new online approach to teaching (Tallent-Runnel et al, 2006). One of the major concerns of adopting an online approach is pedagogical – whether the process of teaching would be as effective as that of a classroom (MacDonald, 2002). Many teachers are of the opinion that the learning process needs to be supported by face-to-face interaction as well as discussion sessions (Ho and Swan, 2007). These aspects may not always be possible with online learning – especially in an asynchronous approach (MacDonald, 2002). Some teachers have also shown reluctance to moving towards an online teaching approach because it involves a drastic shift from the conventional approach of lecturing. Most teachers are of the opinion that delivering online lectures or teaching online is much more challenging those regular teaching approaches (Meyer, 2002). For them, there is an additional effort involved in developing and teaching the online courses. This also involves learning new technology, developing the lectures and the study materials and delivering it to the students in an effective manner (Salmon, 2000). In addition, lecturers are also of the opinion that designing instruction for online learning is challenging because most of them are not equipped with the pedagogical as well as the technical skills that are needed for the development of online lectures (Easton, 2003). Another reason because of which some teachers are hesitant to adopt online teaching is that the feedback mechanism seems incomplete. In an online module, the teachers are sometimes not able to clarify doubts or demonstrate problems during the course of the lecture (Speck, 2002). Additionally, encouraging a group interaction or giving group assignments also becomes a challenge due to logistical constrains (Ling, 2007). However, as the times are changing and more and more universities are adopting online teaching, college teachers also understand the advantages of this approach. The teachers who participated in the research related to the implementation of synchronous learning systems in the University of Mississippi acknowledged the fact that a synchronous approach ensured that there was a wholesome interaction between the teachers and the students (Ward et al, 2010; Ho and Swan, 2007). Also, if the course instructions have been designed well, then there would not be any glaring gaps in the process of teaching and learning (Hirumi, 2002; Shea, Sau and Pickett, 2006; Simonson et al, 2009). Many teachers are also discovering some other advantages of online teaching such as the use of chat, online polls, email interaction and so on which can prove to be useful teaching aids (Picciano, 2002). If used effectively, online tools can provide greater level of flexibility and convenience to both teachers and students (Easton, 2003). Also, the lecturers get the unique opportunity to share their knowledge with students across the globe (Mazzolini and Maddison, 2005). Having a student body that spreads across the geographical boundaries can help in the session or module being much more effective because students can share perspectives and opinions (Speck, 2002). There is no doubt that technology will have a major role to play in the future of education. Therefore, it is important for the higher education teachers to adapt to the new teaching method by leveraging the several advantages that it offers (Morss, 1999; Shi & Morrow, 2006). The first step towards it is to move beyond certain fixed ideas such as - inability to respond or give feedback and difficulty in organizing group assignments (Nachmias, 2002). In addition, it has also become important for them to learn about instruction designing and using technology related teaching tools so that classes are effective (Palloff and Pratt, 2001). 3. Research Methodology The research takes a phenomenological approach that allows the researcher to obtain the perceptions and opinions of the research participants (Cho and Trent, 2006). Such a research is essential when the participants are experts on the subject or when the aim of the research is to obtain the participants’ points of view on the given problem under study (Fisher, 2004). In the current context, the aim of the research is to understand the perceptions of the teachers about the online courses and hence, it is important that the teachers’ opinions and understandings of the issue be included. The research also uses qualitative methods of data collection and employs direct personal interviews. Qualitative methods are best suited with a phenomenological research approach as these allow for the collection of rich and contextual information. While qualitative methods may be more time -consuming than quantitative methods (Creswell, 2007), these are preferred as detailed and comprehensive understanding of the situation is needed. The interview method is one of the most reliable qualitative method of data collection and it helps the researcher in collecting large amount of in depth information from the participants (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). The sample used in the research is selected in a non-random manner. The researcher selected two teachers who teach in social science departments in Jeddah and scheduled Skype interviews based on their time and consent. The researcher selected the teachers from among those who were known to him and how agreed to participate in the research. As such the sampling employed a convenience sampling method. A non-random sampling is deemed to yield a sample that is truly reflective of the population under consideration, as each item in the sample has an equal chance of inclusion (Bell and Opie, 2002). On the other hand, a non-random sampling may lead to a sample that is biased (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). For example, by selecting teachers only known to the researcher an inherent bias can be introduced in the research as both the teachers may be known by the researcher to have similar attitudes towards the online courses. However, in order to reduce the bias, the researcher took care that the selected teachers, though known to him, were not known to have expressed any particular opinion about online courses earlier. A sample size of two is small but as the research involves using interview methods and collecting exhaustive inputs from the two teachers, any disadvantage associated with small sample size are minimized (Fisher, 2004). The interviews are conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire that contains open-ended questions. The questions included in the questionnaire relate to the research questions and are also grounded in the literature review. While no statistical testing of the developed questionnaire is done for proving its validity and reliability, it is presumed that the questionnaire is credible as it is based in the detailed review of literature that is conducted on the topic. Data analysis is conducted using reflection method where the researcher studied the findings and then highlighted the themes in the responses and also answered the overall research question (Fisher, 2004). The research is guided by ethics and it uses informed consent from the participants (Creswell, 2007) and ensures that their responses are to be kept 4. Findings and Analysis The teachers were interviewed over Skype and the following themes were developed from their responses. Benefits and Drawbacks of Online Content and Face to Face Lectures The teachers were of the opinion that face to face lectures were more useful as they provided a chance of direct interaction between the teacher and the students. The students can clear their doubts and the teachers can also gauge the understanding of the students’ first-hand, and change the content or add practical examples impromptu that can help students in understanding the subject better. Face to face teaching has also been found beneficial by MacDonald (2002) and Tallent-Runnel et al (2006) as it facilitates teacher-student direct interaction. With online content, the teachers stated that though it provided the advantage of comfort and access from anywhere, it was less interactive and the guidance and direction of a real teacher was missing. This was also found in the research undertaken by Speck (2002) that listed teachers’ hesitation to adopt online teaching due to the lack of feedback and interaction with students. Contribution of Online Content for Students’ Understanding of the Subject Online material was found to contribute less to the average students’ understanding of the subject. The teachers stated that an average student does not have the self-discipline or the motivation or the intellect to engage with the online content and develop an understanding on his or her own. So, contribution to understanding is perhaps less, as indicated by MacDonald (2002), Meyer (2002); nevertheless, online material is accessible easily anywhere and the students can repeatedly go over the sessions and even post their doubts or questions, which are visible to other students (Wanstreet, 2006). This way, the scope of engaging with the content and generating debate and interaction with the course material is large for online. This was also observed from the literature review that online content provided greater flexibility and convenience (Easton, 2003; Shi & Morrow, 2006). Online Vs Face to Face Lecture in Imparting Better Understanding of the Subject For majority of students, attending classroom lectures is necessary as they get to learn in an environment that is disciplined and controlled, unlike online content that they are free to access or not (MacDonald, 2002). In the current case, the teachers were teaching the regular class and also managing the online synchronous course, they were able to compare the two well. According to one of the teachers, students tend to take less interest in online supplemental material – that includes exercises and interesting activities that can enhance their understanding of the subject. It was therefore seen that the reason for lack of contribution of the online content to students’ learning was largely attributed to personality factors, rather than to the content or the technology of the online material. This is in conformance to the findings from several research that indicate that face to face teaching facilitates better motivation as it helps in control of the teaching process (MacDonald, 2002; Meyer, 2002; Salmon, 2000; Simonson et al, 2009). Role of Online Course Design and Format in Facilitating Learning The teachers had provided the content for the course material that’s used online, but they had not been involved in the choice of format or design of the portal. According to one of the teachers, the design of the site lacks easy navigation as it also has some redundant links that lead nowhere In addition, the format, and the display of the content could be improved to make the content more live and engaging (Shea, Sau and Pickett, 2006). The teachers thought that adding more interconnected links between different parts of the course and using a glossary of terms or concepts can also add to the utility of the content. This is an important finding and it conforms to the findings of other researchers who have postulated that course design, delivery schedule and navigational freedom and guidance of the online material is of substantial importance in facilitating learning (Picciano, 2002; Palloff and Pratt, 2001; Hirumi, 2002; Ward et al, 2010). Student Involvement with Online Course and Face to Face Lectures As mentioned earlier, the teachers were of the opinion that while the online mode provided benefits of time that can be spend with the content as the students can access it repeatedly at their convenience, there was a lack of motivation and self-discipline that defeated this benefit This has also been reported by Morss (1999) and other scholars. On the other hand with face to face lectures, the students felt more accountable and the teachers were able to personally take an interest and follow up on the students’ progress (Nachmias, 2002; Mazzolini and Maddison, 2005). Utility of Interconnectivity of the Online Content The online content as used by the University where the research was done was stated to have the scope of improvement in terms of formatting, designing and embedding hyperlinks and referencing better. It can be made more flexible which can add to students’ ease of browsing and learning the content (Easton, 2003) and it can be made more interactive so that teachers and students can post and chat online and discuss the content well (Speck, 2002). 5. Conclusions and Recommendations Summary of findings The research was conducted successfully, and both the research questions were answered. It was found that the teachers perceived that online course content while providing the students with adequate tools and content to familiarize themselves well with the content, could not be useful unless the students were motivated. The face to face lectures provided a better setting for interactive and feedback linked teaching. The teachers stated that the online course design and format can be improved to facilitate better navigation, more interaction and better learning. Recommendations The teachers were of the opinion that online courses cannot be used as stand-alone modes of delivery, simply because they cannot keep the students motivated or self0disciplined enough to work through the content material on their own. In case, where the online course is the only option – as in the case of distance learning, the students may be motivated to rigorously follow up the course only if they think it is directly linked with their career advancement or job prospects. This, is the case when the course is an executive course or which gives a certification that brings direct career benefits to the students. In case of regular degree courses, such an enthusiasm and motivation seems to be lacking on the part of the students. So, the teachers wanted that ideally the online course should be synchronized with the face to face lectures so that the students can revise the subject and do activities related to it online. In case of complete online course, the teachers suggested that follow up or intermediary chat sessions between teachers and students should be included so that the teachers can take stock of the students’ learning and the students can benefit from teacher interaction. Appendix A: Interview Name Designation Q1: What are the benefits and drawback of each mode of curriculum delivery? Q2: How does online course material contribute to students' understanding of the subject? Q3: Do you think that online courses can provide better understanding of the subject when compared to face to face lectures? Please give some example(s). Q4: What is the role of an online course design and format for students' learning Q5: Would you please compare face-to-face and online student involvement in any way you chose? Please give examples. Q6: Do you think that online material is easy to navigated as reference links and hyperlinks facilitate students’ to clear their doubts and explore concepts better? Q7: Would you like to make any recommendations for improving the online courses available at your university? Please provide the rationale behind your recommendations. References Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2006). Making the grade: Online education in the United States, Needham, Mass.: Sloan-C Bell, A. and Opie, P. 2002. Learning from Research – Getting more from your data. UK: Open University Press. Bryant, A and Charmaz, K. 2007. 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