Humanizing the Online Experience Through Effective Use and Analysis of Discussion Forums

Discussion forums are one of the main avenues for communication, interaction and engagement in the online learning environment, yet are often under-utilized or do not have the desired effect of promoting a sense of belonging and deep learning and collaborative learning for students. Limited use of discussion forums and/or lack of guidelines in how to engage, can leave students feeling isolated. Conversely, extensive use can result in students feeling overwhelmed. This chapter considers some key theories and frameworks for using discussion forums, and presents strategies that an academic can implement to promote effective use of their forums. It is through this effective use that students become part of a Community of Inquiry and valued as a person. Through consideration of hypothetical case studies, this chapter also offers practical ways in which staff can sift through the available data to evaluate and improve their teaching practice and the learning experience of students.

Reversing the Tyranny of Distance Education

In today's higher education environment, online education has become a rich and nuanced medium characterized by a dynamic and progressive use of technology. These technological advancements require research-informed guidelines and practices to facilitate understanding of how they can be used to foster positive outcomes in distance education contexts. By employing a mixed-methods multiphase design case study at Avondale College of Higher Education, the authors examine the challenges, self-confidence and threshold concepts, or transformative, conceptual understandings that academic faculty staff experience while engaging in distance education course design. The authors examine how these threshold concepts, attitudes and skills can be used to inform the design of professional development programs for academic staff who teach in online contexts. The results and associated recommendations of the six-year investigation are presented to inform professional development programs that aim to improve the quality of online teaching, course design and learning experiences of students.

Taking a Hard Look at the Soft Skills of Online Course Design and Online Teaching in Higher Education

Over the past few decades, substantial growth has occurred in online education in general, and this has been particularly true of the higher education sector. Most universities and post-secondary institutions now offer students the opportunity to enroll in online pre-tertiary, vocational, undergraduate and/or postgraduate courses. While some of these courses are successful for the learners who enroll in them, others have been found somewhat deficient, often criticized for their lack of humanization, interaction, communication and online presence. This chapter examines the role of the so-called soft skills of online course design and online teaching that are seen as vital for online educators who are responsible for the facilitation of high quality online learning. Along with a review of relevant literature about the soft skills of online teaching, the chapter presents three institutional case studies from which a set of practically-focused recommendations for promoting the design of humanized online learning environments has been developed.

Networking Learners Using Online Asynchronous Discussions

Online asynchronous discussions (OADs) are a prospective tool for creating learning networks that can minimize transactional distance and humanize distance learning. Using it to support effective communication and interaction among learners in video-based distance courses requires special skills and consideration. This research evaluates the use of OADs in a second and third year sociology undergraduate video-broadcast course (VBC). Patterns of participation and interaction were examined using the network and content analysis tools to determine the effectiveness of OADs as a pedagogical strategy. The role of the teacher in establishing a learning network between on-campus and distance students was also investigated.

Understanding Faculty and Student Attitudes about Distance Education

The purpose of this chapter is to further understand faculty and student attitudes about distance education by exploring the psychological processes through which these attitudes are influenced. The authors explored whether feelings of excitement or fear mediate and/or moderate the relationships between experiences with distance education and various faculty and student attitudes. Survey data from 152 faculty and 1,400 students from a mid-sized United States public university were collected. The results of multiple regression analyses revealed support for both mediation and moderation in both samples. Thus, feelings of excitement/fear play a large role in explaining both why and to what degree experiences with distance education relate to attitudes. The authors suggest that consistent communication about the positive aspects of distance education that instill a sense of excitement among campus communities may be helpful in shaping more positive attitudes about online learning.

Supporting Student Self-Regulation

Research studies are discovering the importance of self-regulation for successful online learning. Self-regulation requires learners to be actively involved in the management of their learning and includes setting, monitoring, and evaluating learning goals, and making any necessary modifications to learning strategies (Zimmerman, 2008). This chapter discusses students' perceptions of the effectiveness of different types of learning supports that the authors used in a blended, flipped undergraduate education course to help students with self-regulation. The perceptions of high and low self-regulated students are compared and recommendations made about what supports to include when designing an online course to ensure successful learning.

Managing Student Expectations

Online quizzes, and particularly multiple choice quizzes, are fast becoming a standard type of assessment for distance learning as well as classes taught through a blended delivery modality. Whilst there are advantages for teachers of automatic marking there are also a range of concerns such as collusion and for students the impersonal nature of these types of assessment. This chapter will consider ways in which these concerns can be addressed through conversations between staff and students, the ways in which quizzes are designed and administered and the feedback that is provided to students. Students' expectations of the processes around quizzes as well as the merit of this type of assessment often varies significantly from the reality, leading to discontent and lack of engagement. Strategies for setting realistic expectations for students are provided that will help make online quizzes a more personalized experience for students.

Generation of Authentic Learning and Learners

A study of 100 pre-service teacher's attitudes to self-managed online forums on pastoral care of students in schools was undertaken. This assessment activity involved the students in contributing to forums under the leadership of one of their group, whose responsibility it was to guide the discussion and then mark the members of their online group. After an initial reticence to engage in the task, students reported their satisfaction at managing their own learning and having input into the actual assessment process. This paper recommends that more possibilities for self-managed learning be made available to tertiary learners.

Foundational Theory

Some of the fundamental concepts we use to frame our theories of online education have undergone a meaning shift since the advent of the computer age. As such, online educators need to update their understanding of such concepts in the light of the changes their meanings have undergone. This chapter examines the changes in three such concepts: ‘personalisation', ‘presence', and ‘communication' by examining the shifts in three of the more fundamental concepts upon which they depend: ‘mind', ‘self' and ‘others'. It outlines a framework based on a ‘discontinuous' theory of the latter notions; one in which the presumed continuity between these concepts and online reality is challenged. Thus the chapter works toward a new conceptualisation of the terms of our enquiry that responds directly to the way in which shifts in their presumed or default meanings may have led us astray over the past few decades.

With the Likeness and Voice of Mentor

Online distance learning environments are increasingly designed and facilitated using a Community of Inquiry framework, which promotes participant presence, encourages social interaction and exchange, and develops a sense of community. Communities of inquiry recognize the participation of real people, acknowledge their individuality, and engage them in a communal endeavor. However, sometimes communities of inquiry do not adequately meet the specific learning expectations and individual goals of participants. This chapter explores the author's quest to enhance a community of inquiry to make it more responsive to international students, skeptical about online distance learning and acutely focused on writing their undergraduate dissertations. The solution was to embed a one-on-one mentoring facility within the learning space thereby allowing students to receive personal guidance and support. The chapter considers Communities of Inquiry, social presence, and what is considered an innovative use of e-mentoring to support individuals within a broader learning community.