One of the survey findings shows the learners’ perceptions of what online learning is useful for.
Q: “I feel that online learning is most useful for:”
- Learning (information, opinions) 85.1%
- Social communication (peer support) 14.9%
(Total Respondents 195)
McConnell’s (1990) findings reveal that his learners thought their conferencing system was more useful for information and opinion exchange than for social purposes.
Another finding shows that the online learners tend to prefer to study alone rather than in a study group.
Q: “I tend to like to study:”
- In a study group 20.4%
- Alone 79.6%
(Total Respondents 196)
References
McConnell, D. (1990) A case study: The educational use of computer conferencing Educational and Training Technology International 27 (2).
Is getting enough prompt and accurate feedback the single most important variable for improving learning online?
The following is a definitive answer recieved from a UHI learner for the tutor feedback question that I posted on the results page – What kind of feedback would learners like from their tutors and how quickly would they like to receive this feedback e.g. within 24 hours, 48, 72, one week?
A few others have posted their agreement to some and all of the points made and also similar points have been mentioned in the telephone and email interviews that have been conducted.
What is common is that learners would like regular and consistent feedback from their tutors, and some of them would like it immediately if at all possible. In many cases, what they are wanting is reassurance that they are doing the right thing and are on the right track. (This improves their confidence and motivation.)
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UHI Learner:
Discussion board
“It is good to get comments back within about 24 hours (weekend and holidays excepted.) It is useful to know if you are thinking along the right lines, have gone off at a tangent, have made a useful contribution, or to be asked a further question that makes me think more deeply.”
TMAs (assignments)
“I would like to receive feedback between 2 and 3 weeks after submission. I would like to know what was good; structure, appropriate references, appropriate thinking, where I could improve- Having the feedback/marking sheet with mark or even scale for each section helps you see where you need to improve if you want to get a better grade.”
e-mails
“Depends what I am asking how quickly I would like a response. If it is an urgent exam or TMA query I would like the response within a day (has always happened). If it is what modules I can expect to do next semester it isn’t urgent so probably would like a response within a week even if it is just to say don’t worry about this now I will contact you closer to the time. I would like all e-mails that contain a question to be acknowledged even if the answer is not or cannot be immediately forthcoming.”
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Furthermore, 201 people responded to the following question, showing that 78.7% would like to be in regular contact 1-to-1 with their tutor between 1 week and 1 month. While 16.4% only want contact as required and when necessary.
How often would you like your tutor to communicate with you directly and privately?
- Once a week 25.4%
- Once every two weeks 24.4%
- Once a month 28.9%
- Once every two months 2%
- Once a semester 3%
- Not at all 0%
- Other (please specify) 16.4%
One thing I forgot to ask about in the UHI How You Learn survey was about tutor feedback to discussion posts, assignments and email queries.
If I was to do the survey again, the question would be something like this:
What kind of feedback would learners like from their tutors and how quickly would they like to receive this feedback (e.g. within 24 hours, 48, 72, one week)?
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I have also posted this feedback comment/question at the end of the Raw Data: How you learn survey results page – and emailed the link of the results page to all those respondents who provided their emails (about 65 people) – in order to share the results as promised and so that any of the respondents could comment on the feedback question and/or the survey results. This will also add useful data to the research.
HOW YOU LEARN SURVEY
The UHI learners survey was completed by 205 respondents – 90% female and 10% male – which reflects the general gender ratio of the online courses.
110 people answered the open question:
What would make learning online more enjoyable for you?
88 people also provided additional open-ended comments about online learning.
64 people have agreed to do a follow up interview.
ONLINE COURSE DESIGNERS SURVEY
The CIDER survey was completed by 19 respondents.
About 20% of the survey respondents who agreed to a follow up interview have completed the email interview I sent out. A few more have said that they will complete it when the exams and final assessments are over at the end of May.
To state the obvious: I have found email interviewing to be different to in-person interviewing!
I spent some time in thinking of a single, well-constructed question that would elicit a detailed specific experience of learning online. With the email question, I attempted to ensure that the replies would be focused on descriptions of the experience of learning online rather than abstract discussions about it.
Q: Think of a time when you successfully learned something online and tell me about it.
What I am looking for here is the essence of the experience of learning online – which I will attempt to interpret through the textual data that they provide.
The question didn’t really work – it would have been easier to focus on the descriptions in a f2f or telephone interview.
However, it is possible to have an email exchange that matches a f2f conversation to some extent.
For each person who responded to the interview, I sent another email commenting on their replies and asking for clarification on something that they wrote so that I can be clearer about what they mean. I have found this personal approach works really well as people are happy to expand on their views and by focusing on a specific comment I am able to find out what works for the learner in an online learning environment.
