Parallel Universes: Student and Teacher Expectations and Interactions
Abstract
This paper is based on the author’s critical reflections as a University teacher of taking a long established and highly successful on campus (face-to-face) course for the first time into the online environment as a completely online course. The on campus course was run at the same time as the online course. It is argued, that the success and effectiveness of online courses, depend to a large degree on bringing together the ‘two parallel universes’ outlined in this paper: (i) of different expectations about course delivery, teaching, assessment, feedback and interactions that exist between teachers and students in the online environment; and (ii) the different pedagogical dimensions and requirements of a face-to-face university course in contrast to an online course. We need to better understand these parallel universes in order to design engaging, interactive and effective online courses. Comparisons between the online and on campus courses (based on student evaluations and feedback) are drawn to provide valuable lessons and strategies for higher education teachers moving into the online learning and teaching environment.
Downloads
References
Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. (2013). Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States. Retrieved February 2013 from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/changing_course_2012.
Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2011). Going the distance: Online education in the United States, 2011.Babson Park, MA: Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group, retrieved November 2012 from
http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/goingthedistance.pdf.
Anderson, T. & Dron, J. (2011). Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(3): 80-97.
Bach, S., Haynes, P. & Smith, J.L. (2007). Online Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.
Bennett, S. & Lockyer, L. (2004). Becoming an Online Teacher: Adapting to a Changed Environment for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Educational Media International, 41(3): 231-248.
Bernard, R. M., Abrami, P. C., Lou, U., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., Wallet, P.A., Fiset, M. & Huang, B. (2004). How does distance education compare with classroom instruction? A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Review of Educational Research, 74(3): 379-439.
Boettcher, J. (2011). Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online, retrieved September 2012 from http://www.designingforlearning.info/services/writing/ecoach/tenbest.html.
Burns, B.A. (2013). Students' Perceptions of Online Courses in a Graduate Adolescence Education Program. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 9(1): 13-25.
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. AAHE Bulletin, 3-7, retrieved September 2012 from http://www.lonestar.edu/multimedia/SevenPrinciples.pdf.
Creasman, P.A. (2012). Considerations in Online Course Design, IDEA paper 52, retrieved January 2013 from http://www.theideacenter.org/sites/default/files/idea_paper_52.pdf.
Deakin University (n.d.) Foundations of Online Teaching, retrieved Febuary 2013 from http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/assets/resources/pd/tl-modules/online/f-online-teach.pdf.
Duarte, F.P. (2013). Conceptions of Good Teaching by Good Teachers: Case Studies from an Australian University. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice 10(1): 1-15, retrieved September 2013from http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol10/iss1/5.
Faculty Focus (n.d.). 10 Principles of Effective Online Teaching: Best Practices in Distance Education. Special Report, retrieved December 2012 from http://www.facultyfocus.com/free-reports/principles-of-effective-online-teaching-best-practices-in-distance-education.
Fletcher, G., Dowsett, G.W. & Austin, L. (2012). Actively promoting student engagement within an online environment: Developing and implementing a signature subject on ‘Contemporary Issues in Sex and Sexuality. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(3), Article 5: 1-12.
Green, N.C., Edwards, H., Wolodko, B., Stewart, C., Brooks, M., & Littledyke, R. (2010).
Reconceptualising higher education pedagogy in online learning. Distance Education,
(3): 257–273.
Hannon, J. (2009). Disorienting spaces: engaging the multiple “student†in online learning. Ascilite 2009, Auckland, Proceedings Ascilite Auckland 2009, pp. 423-433.
Hanover Research Council (HRC) (2009). Best Practices in Online Teaching Strategies, retrieved January 2013 from http://www.uwec.edu/AcadAff/resources/edtech/upload/Best-Practices-in-Online-Teaching-Strategies-Membership.pdf.
Herman, T., & Banister, S. (2007). Face-to-face versus online coursework: A comparison of costs and learning outcomes. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 7(4): 318-326.
Jaggers, S.S. (2013). Choosing Between Online and Face-to-Face Courses: Community College Student Voices. CCRC Working Paper No. 58. Columbia University: Community College Research Centre, retrieved September 2013 from http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/online-demand-student-voices.html.
Johnson, L., Adams, S. & Cummins, M. (2012). Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2012-2017: An NMC Horizon Report Regional Analysis. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Johnson, S., Aragon, S., Shaik, N., & Palma-Rivas, N. (2000). Comparative analysis
of learner satisfaction and learning outcomes in online and face-to-face learning environments. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 11(1): 29-49.
Keengwe, J. & Kidd, T.T. (2010). Towards Best Practices in Online Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2), retrieved September 2012 from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no2/keengwe_0610.htm.
Legutko, R. S. (2007). Face-to-face or cyberspace: Analysis of course delivery in a graduate educational research course. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(3): 288-294, retrieved January 2013 from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol3no3/legutko.htm.
Lu, F. & Lemonde, M. (2013). A comparison of online versus face-to-face teaching delivery in statistics instruction for undergraduate health science students. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 18(5):963-973.
Kirtman, L. (2009). Online versus in-class courses: An examination of differences in learning outcomes. Issues in Teacher Education, 18(2), 103-116, retrieved September 2012 from
http://www1.chapman.edu/ITE/public_html/ITEFall09/12kirtman.pdf.
Martens, R., Bastiaens, T. & Kirschner, P.A (2007). New Learning Design in Distance Education: The impact on student perception and motivation. Distance Education, 28(1): 81-93.
Neuhauser, C. (2002). Learning style and effectiveness of online and face-to-face instruction. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(2): 99-113.
Norton, A. (2013). Mapping Australian Higher Education. Melbourne: Grattan Institute.
Nykvist, S.S. & Kar-Tin, L. (2013) Mixing higher education teaching and learning with mobile devices and social media. In Proceedings of IAC-ETeL 2013, Prague, Czech Republic.
Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) (2005). E-Learning in Tertiary Education. Policy Brief. Paris: OECD.
Park, G., Johnson, H., Vath, R., Kubitskey, B., & Fishman, B. (2013). Examining the Roles of the Facilitator in Online and Face-to-Face Professional Development Contexts. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 21(2): 225-245.
Partridge, H., Ponting, D. & McCay, M. (2011). Good Practice Report: Blended Learning. Australian Learning and Teaching Council, retrieved March 2013 from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/47566/1/47566.pdf.
Poe, M. & Stassen, M.L.A. (Eds.) (n.d). Teaching and Learning Online: Communication, Community, and Assessment. A Handbook for UMass Faculty. University of Massachusetts, retrieved December 2012 from http://www.umass.edu/oapa/oapa/publications/online_handbooks/Teaching_and_Learning_Online_Handbook.pdf.
Redmond, P. (2011). From face-to-face teaching to online teaching: Pedagogical transitions. In G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown & B. Cleland (Eds.), Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings ascilite Hobart 2011. (pp.1050-1060), retrieved February 2013 from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/hobart11/procs/Redmond-full.pdf.
Salmon, G. (2003). E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. Second edition. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Thurmond, V. A., Wambach, K., Connors, H. R., & Frey, B. B. (2002). Evaluation of student satisfaction: Determining the impact of web-based environment by controlling for student characteristics. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(3): 169-189.
Tuovinen, J.E. (2000). Multimedia Distance Education Interactions. Educational Media International, 37(1): 16-24.
Tynan, B., Ryan, Y., Hinton, L. & Lamont Wills, A. (2012). Out of hours. Final Report of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council project of “E-Teaching leadership: planning and implementing a benefits-oriented costs model for technology enhanced learning,’ retrieved March 2013 from http://eprints.usq.edu.au/21319/2/Tynan_Ryan_Hinton_Mills_LRTC_2012_PV.pdf.
West, R.E. (2011). Insights From Research on Distance Education Learners, Learning, and Learner Support. The American Journal of Distance Education, 25(3): 135-151.
Yang, Y., & Durrington, V. (2010). Investigation of students' perceptions of online course quality. International Journal on E-Learning, 9(3): 341-361.
Young, A., & Norgard, C. (2006). Assessing the quality of online courses from the students' perspective. The Internet and Higher Education, 9(2): 107-115.