Contributed by:
Clarifying the role of the online tutor and establishing effective strategies for supporting students’ learning online were two of the key objectives of the OTiS e-Workshop1. The e-workshop established a community of online practitioners (academics, faculty, lecturers, instructors, staff developers, facilitators, and trainers) from education and business who could share their expertise and reflect on their practice.
1.
Online Tutoring e-Book
Editor Carol Higgison
Chapter 2
The Tutor’s Role and
Effective Strategies
for Online Tutoring
Sarah Cornelius, Distance and Online Learning Consultant, UK
Carol Higgison, Heriot-Watt University, UK
The Online Tutoring Skills Project is funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Online Tutoring Skills e-Workshop, 8–12 May 2000, T2-06
©2001 Heriot–Watt University, The Robert Gordon University, Sarah Cornelius and Carol Higgison
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Online Tutoring e-Book 2 The Tutor’s Role and Effective Strategies for Online Tutoring
Contact information
This document has been published by OTiS (the Online Tutoring Skills Project) based at:
The Institute for Computer Based Learning, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS
and The Centre for Open and Distance Learning, The Robert Gordon University, Schoolhill,
Aberdeen, AB10 1FR.
URL: http://otis.scotcit.ac.uk/onlinebook
Date: February 2001
First edition
ISBN 0-9540036-3-2
Copyright
©2000 Heriot-Watt University, The Robert Gordon University and the original authors
All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988, this
publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced stored or transmitted in any form or by
any means without the prior written consent of the publishers. Except that (a) for courses of
instruction or distribution within UK higher education institutions this publication or parts
thereof may be copied without charge, provided that the source and publisher's copyright are
indicated in any such reproduction, (b) for courses of instruction by any of the participants in
the Online Tutoring Skills e-Workshop this publication or parts thereof may be copied
without charge, provided that the source and publisher's copyright are indicated in any such
reproduction and (c) authors retain their personal right to re-use the material in future versions
or collections of their own work.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this book, the
publishers wish to emphasise that they cannot accept any liability for any errors which
remain. Further, the views expressed in each of the chapters are primarily those of the stated
authors and whilst the publishers endorse the value of all the contributions, the views
expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers. Please notify us of any factual errors, for
correction in future editions.
OTiS (the Online Tutoring Skills Project) is funded by The Scottish Higher Education
Funding Council under the ScotCIT Programme (http://www.scotcit.ac.uk).
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Online Tutoring e-Book 2 The Tutor’s Role and Effective Strategies for Online Tutoring
Preface
Clarifying the role of the online tutor and establishing effective strategies for
supporting students’ learning online were two of the key objectives of the OTiS
e-Workshop1. The e-workshop established a community of online practitioners
(academics, faculty, lecturers, instructors, staff developers, facilitators and
trainers) from education and business who could share their expertise and
reflect on their practice.
One of the key questions was ‘to what extent and how do the roles and skills of
the online tutor differ from those employed in face-to-face teaching?' Through
case studies and online discussions we attempted to clarify the role of the
online tutor. This chapter is a synthesis of these discussions.
This chapter reviews the roles of an online tutor, offers examples of current
practice and presents guidelines and strategies for effective practice in online
tutoring. We believe that a clearer understanding of the roles and skills
required by online tutors will assist those already in the field who wish to
improve their practice, and help those new to online teaching.
Two participants from the e-workshop, Sarah Cornelius and Carol Higgison
authored this chapter. Sarah was a rapporteur during the e-workshop,
summarising and reporting on the key highlights of each day’s discussion, Carol
was one of the e-workshop organisers.
The success of the e-workshop was due to the interest and enthusiasm of the
participants and their generosity and willingness to share their experiences and
expertise. We hope that the participants in the e-workshop agree that they
became part of an active and supportive online learning community.
My sincere thanks to all the participants and, in particular, the authors whose
commitment extended long beyond the end of the e-workshop.
Carol Higgison
(editor)
The Online Tutoring Skills Project is funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.
1
The OTiS International e-Workshop on Developing Online Tutoring Skills was held between 8–12
May 2000. It was organised by Heriot–Watt University, Edinburgh and The Robert Gordon University,
Aberdeen, UK.
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Online Tutoring e-Book 2 The Tutor’s Role and Effective Strategies for Online Tutoring
Contents
Preface...................................................................................................................... 2.iii
Contents.....................................................................................................................2.iv
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................2.1
1.1 What is an online tutor? ....................................................................................... 2.1
1.2 The online context ................................................................................................. 2.1
2. Online tutoring: an emerging pedagogy............................................................2.3
2.1 Can we learn from face-to-face pedagogy?......................................................... 2.3
2.2 What is different about online tutoring? ............................................................ 2.3
2.3 What are the special demands that online tutors face? ..................................... 2.4
3. Perspectives on Online Tutoring ...........................................................................2.5
3.1 The student’s perspective ..................................................................................... 2.5
3.2 The activity-related perspective: what an online tutor should do .................... 2.7
3.3 The role-related perspective: what an online tutor should be .......................... 2.8
4. Examples of practice: experiences...................................................................2.12
4.1 Experiences of tutors .......................................................................................... 2.12
4.2 Course Experiences............................................................................................. 2.14
4.2.1 Facilitating mutually supported learning online ............................................................ 2.14
4.2.2 Tutoring in real time (text based) environments............................................................ 2.15
4.2.3 Conducting real time online classes: beyond text.......................................................... 2.16
5. Examples of Practice: strategies and techniques ...............................................2.18
5.1 Technology issues ................................................................................................ 2.18
5.2 Tools, techniques and structures for online learning....................................... 2.19
5.3 Participation issues ............................................................................................. 2.21
5.4 Towards autonomous learners........................................................................... 2.22
6. Encouraging effective practice: getting started ..................................................2.24
6.1 Managing expectations ....................................................................................... 2.24
6.2 Building a learning community ......................................................................... 2.25
6.3 Encouraging online discussion........................................................................... 2.27
6.4 Effective administration ..................................................................................... 2.28
7. Encouraging effective practice: promoting learning ......................................2.30
7.1 Maintaining online discussion and promoting interaction.............................. 2.30
7.2 Encouraging deep learning and reflection........................................................ 2.31
7.3 Ensuring progress ............................................................................................... 2.33
8. Encouraging effective practice: feedback and assessment .............................2.36
8.1 Feedback .............................................................................................................. 2.36
8.2 Strategies for assessment .................................................................................... 2.37
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9. Preparing to go online ......................................................................................2.39
9.1 Guidelines for online tutoring............................................................................ 2.39
9.2 Preparing to tutor online.................................................................................... 2.41
10 Executive Summary: towards effective practice .........................................2.43
10.1 What should an online tutor be doing to be flexible? ...................................... 2.43
10.2 Three views .......................................................................................................... 2.44
Appendix 2.A References and Sources..............................................................2.46
2.A.1 Conference sources cited for this topic ......................................................... 2.46
References to OTiS Case Studies ............................................................................................... 2.46
References to OTiS Discussions................................................................................................. 2.48
2.A.2 External references ......................................................................................... 2.50
2.A.3 Authors Details................................................................................................ 2.51
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2 The Tutor’s Role and Effective Strategies
for Online Tutoring
Sarah Cornelius and Carol Higgison
1. Introduction
The OTiS e-Workshop held in May 2000 brought together experienced online tutors to
share their experiences and reflect on their practice. The keynote presentations, case
studies, discussions and online chats have produced a rich and detailed picture of how
tutors have adapted and changed their roles to meet the challenge of the online
environment and developed new skills to meet the needs of online students.
This chapter reviews the roles of an online tutor, offers examples of current practice and
presents guidelines and strategies for effective practice in online tutoring. We believe that
a clearer understanding of the roles and skills required by online tutors will assist those
already in the field who wish to improve their practice, and help those new to online
teaching.
We draw primarily on contributions to the OTiS e-Workshop and on some published
literature. Along the way we will try to answer some of the questions that were posed
during the OTiS e-Workshop (Clarke-D 2000a):
• Why do we still think that online tutoring can principally draw its basis from face-
to-face group processes and dynamics or traditional pedagogy?
• Does the literature tell us anything more than we would make as an intelligent
guess?
• Do we really know what an ‘effective’ online tutor would be doing?
1.1 What is an online tutor?
“Tutoring/moderating: those aspects of a teacher’s work which involve
managing and ‘animating’ interactions with and among learners,
especially with respect to their participation in networked learning
activities.” (CSALT, 2001)
We use the term ‘tutor’ is used in its broadest sense to include, amongst others, academics,
faculty, instructors, corporate trainers, animateurs, facilitators, moderators, subject
specialists and learning support staff. The term online tutor includes any person
undertaking a role to support and enable students to learn online effectively.
1.2 The online context
Throughout the discussion in this chapter the focus is on online tutoring for post-
secondary adult learners, although in places other learning scenarios will be discussed.
Some case studies focus on the roles of the tutor in supporting collaboration based on
constructivist principles through text mediated asynchronous discussions (eg Hird and
Slater). A few case studies describe synchronous working using videoconferencing
(McKenzie-a, Glasson, Tammelin) and collaborative working through shared applications
and workspaces, eg whiteboards (Roberts, Bowskill, Ehmann). The majority of the
e-workshop experiences reflect a more general trend in Higher Education towards student
centred learning (Daniel and Roberts, 1999). A minority of case studies (McKenzie-b,
The Online Tutoring Skills Project is funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
Online Tutoring Skills e-Workshop, 8-12 May 2000, T2-06.doc
©2001 Heriot-Watt University, The Robert Gordon University, Sarah Cornelius and Carol Higgison
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Morrison, Labour) reported a move towards separating the provision of content from that
of learning support.
From this wide range of exemplars it is apparent that there is no single ‘correct’ way to
tutor online. The definition of the tutor’s roles and activities must be understood within the
specific context, ie the teaching/learning settings, the constraints of the environment, status
of the learners, and of the tutor and pedagogical model. In order to provide a framework
for online tutors to understand their roles in different contexts, we have included examples
of online learning and teaching from a range of different scenarios.
The contributions for the content are drawn mainly from e-workshop sources. References
given without dates are references to conference case study contributions. References
designated by the letter ‘D’ and dates refer to conference discussion group contributions.
Details for both of these are given in Appendix A.
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2. Online tutoring: an emerging pedagogy
“We need to develop a new educational philosophy relevant for online
tutors. Traditional educational philosophies have limited value since they
rely on face-to-face interaction between students and tutor. Other aspects
that make online learning different include the sheer numbers of questions
that people have about online learning and the absence of visual cues
which in turn raises the issue of cultural markers. If a new online
education philosophy can be created it will help to address tutor questions
about what is effective and not effective.” (Muirhead-D 2000f)
2.1 Can we learn from face-to-face pedagogy?
Many of the e-workshop participants recognise the similarities of online tutoring with
face-to-face pedagogy, (eg encouraging, probing, eliciting, and enabling reflection) yet
still are against the use of face-to-face pedagogy (Rosie-D 2000a).
“The lecturers found that online teaching is not the same as face-to-face
classes. Flexibility is the key. They found that you cannot assume that the
skills and pedagogy of face-to-face teaching will be appropriate in
cyberspace. One has to be open to change and open to the lessons both in
their delights and dangers that teaching online can offer. … Teaching in
cyberspace also gave them a chance to (re)view the familiar in their
educational practice, thereby using their life online to inform their face-to-
face teaching. Several writers have already begun to note that debates
about technologies are leading to a (re)viewing of pedagogy.” (Gwynne
and Chester)
2.2 What is different about online tutoring?
In the online environment the tutors are the interface between the institution and the
student. Tutors need to understand both the environment in which they are working and
the teaching techniques that are effective in this environment:
“Good online teaching requires from the tutor/moderator sound
'understanding' of this specific, newly created environment.” (Radic)
At present, online learning environments are predominantly text based. A tutor may be
involved in activities such as support, discussion, collaboration and moderation using text
based communication. These interactions may be synchronous or asynchronous, and the
use of multimedia, audio, video, graphics, shared applications and shared workspaces may
be necessary.
The tutoring techniques used in this environment differ considerably from those used in
face-to-face situations (Mottley) and preparation of activities may rely more heavily on
teamwork with instructional designers, multimedia specialists, and other technical experts
all working alongside the subject expert (Neal).
The design of learning activities should consider the distinguishing features of the online
learning environment:
• the absence of cultural markers (physical appearance, speech and voice, ethnicity,
race) (Rosie-D 2000b; Muirhead-D 2000f),
• the different nature of interaction between student and tutor (Muirhead-D 2000f),
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• the use of a different kind of text – at present, online communication is primarily
text and image based, and text is presented as ‘spoken text in written form’
(Rosie-D 2000b; 2000c),
• the need to encourage reflection and deep learning – it is questioned whether the
use of technology facilitates ‘surface learning’. (Clarke-D 2000b)
2.3 What are the special demands that online tutors face?
Almost anyone who has taught online would argue that the demands on online tutors are
different from those on face-to-face tutors, although the general issues and situations with
which they must deal are, in essence, the same. The online tutor must manage a course,
guide students throughout the learning experience, motivate them, interact with them,
assess them and deal with any conflicts or difficulties. The differences in tutor role result
from the characteristics identified above: the absence of non-verbal clues, the use of text
as the main means of communications, and the constraints imposed by technology.
However, any list of roles that can be produced should only be regarded as a general
framework. The role the tutor adopts should change:
• during a course (McKenzie-D 2000a),
• in response to the needs and expectations of the students (Daele-D 2000a),
• depending on the pedagogical model adopted, for example student-centred
learning models work particularly well in online mode. (Daele-D 2000b; Hird-D
2000a)
As well as the demands on online tutors being different, they are also perceived to be
greater, partly because of the focus on the tutor and the relative invisibility of other
support services:
“The demands on online tutors are much greater than those on face-to-
face tutors in terms of roles, partly because the tutor is a more intense
focus for relationships, than in face-to-face environments, where course
administrators, and other staff, are more accessible, and partly because of
the technology issue.” (McKenzie-D 2000a)
It is clear that online tutoring is different from face-to-face teaching and the
examples that follow will demonstrate that there is no single ‘correct’ way to tutor
online. The definition of the tutor’s roles and activities must be understood within
each specific context. The teaching/learning settings, the constraints of the
environment, status of the learners and the tutor, and the pedagogical model must
all be understood in order to provide an effective online learning experience for
students. Above all the tutor should be flexible.
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3. Perspectives on Online Tutoring
“Changing the roles of academics and teachers challenges established
patterns and creates concern, horror even, in those who believe we risk
quality…in learning provision.” (Salmon, 2000 p.89)
The tutor's role is examined here from three viewpoints:
• the student’s perspective,
• what the tutor should do – what activities a tutor should perform,
• what the tutor should be – what roles a tutor should play.
3.1 The student’s perspective
Students are quick to recognise the changed role of their tutor in online activities.
They also acknowledge that online learning makes special demands on both
student and tutor:
“The teacher’s role was not anything like in conventional situations,
where the teacher tells exactly what to learn. In a telematics-based
environment the teacher is more or less just another participant, though
very active one and the teacher’s role as an organiser is greatly
emphasised. So in this way it is much more efficient to learn to
communicate, and learning is not just a one-way street.” (Tammelin)
“My own concept about learning online changed! I suggested learning
would be easier than it turned out to be. You need time and you must
really be involved for studying. This came clear in small group working
where every member had their own tasks. So we can forget comments
about how easy studying online is. As a matter of fact learning and
tutoring online demands more than traditional studying at least at the
beginning of it.” (Nurmela)
Challenges facing students
Muirhead outlines the problems and challenges that students may face, for example:
• students may feel isolated from other learners and tutors,
• students may face communication problems with other students or tutors (eg
inadequate feedback),
• students who are constantly late in posting their weekly comments and students
who fail to do their group-work can have a negative impact on the quality of
interaction,
• students may struggle with writing online comments and work for assessment.
Responsibilities facing students
Students need to be encouraged to take some responsibility for their own learning. The
students themselves have an important role to play to facilitate effective learning (Janes-D
2000b):
• they should be able to construct their own learning,
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• they will have their own issues and agenda (yet the problems they face are often
‘global’),
• they need to manage their own time,
• it is useful if they are proactive and willing to take risks,
• they need to ‘trust’.
Tutors as learners
Many case studies endorsed the view that online tutors need to experience online learning
as a student before they can effectively support other online learners. Priest (2000), an
online learner herself, provides an interesting reflective account of an online learning
experience from the student's perspective. Priest suggests that an effective online program
will help the working adult online student to succeed. She identifies the key elements that
should be provided for a successful program:
1. Support services
Information on how the university functions and how it relates to individuals, together
with assistance with administration and enrolment matters.
2. A social context for learning
Membership of a learning community to allow the development of relationships with
other students and provide support and feedback. Group-work can help with this.
3. Effective online communication and teaching practices
Sensitive online instruction and support, ie tutors who can ask the right questions,
probe for information, and provide clear and detailed instructions. Tutors also need to
be accessible by means that do not involve a computer.
4. Clear guidance through the online curriculum
Clear instructions and details of requirements for assessment.
5. Tolerance for differences
Tutors who can guide and moderate discussions.
6. Motivation
Tutors who can keep the online process on track and sensitively handle problems with
progress and performance.
7. Tracking attendance
Students need to know that tutors can monitor attendance.
The student’s ideal online tutor
From the student's perspective an online tutor should:
• facilitate and nurture a learning community,
• facilitate communication (including email and offline methods),
• monitor attendance and contributions,
• support process related activities, including learning skills,
• provide access to administrative and other support,
• provide sensitive online instruction (including group-work) and moderation,
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• guide students through their curriculum,
• motivate,
• tolerate differences,
• help learners to achieve their objectives.
3.2 The activity-related perspective: what an online tutor should do
Tutors as experts
As in face-to-face teaching, the online tutor must undertake a range of tasks and activities
that call on a variety of skills. As a prerequisite we assume that online tutors have (Kulp):
• expertise in their subject matter,
• expertise in pedagogical issues,
• technical skills.
Kulp suggests that in addition, tutors need to have skills in facilitation and written
communications; time to commit to the course; previous experience as a student; and
enthusiasm for the subject matter and online learning. (Kulp)
Tutor's tasks
Once the course has begun, the tutor must take on a variety of tasks, as identified by
Duggleby (2000):
• welcoming learners,
• encouraging and motivation,
• monitoring progress,
• ensuring learners are working at the right pace,
• giving information, expanding, clarifying and explaining,
• giving feedback on learners’ work,
• ensuring learners are meeting the required standards,
• ensuring the success of conferences,
• facilitating a learning community,
• giving technical advice and support,
• ending the course.
The need to ‘end the course’ might seem trivial, but it is important to have an appropriate
activity or assessment to end a course or an individual learning activity. The enthusiasm of
some students may lead to them placing additional demands on peers and tutors that are
outside the remit of the course as this quote illustrates:
“Bringing closure to each course at the end of the semester continues to be
a difficult issue. … I have had several students request that the course site
remains open as a forum for professional discourse. This does raise
questions regarding faculty moderation of an ongoing discussion and
maintaining student accounts may also exhaust the limits of the
institution’s site licence. One strategy is to include on the course web site
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the information students need to join online discussions hosted by various
professional associations. These can be phased in as a gradual
replacement for the class online discussion.” (Hird)
‘Giving technical advice and support’ were not mentioned in any of the case studies that
provided lists of tutor activities. However, almost all case studies noted the need for
establishing and maintaining communications, and initiating and supporting learning
activities.
Tutor guidelines
The Institute of Educational Technology at the UK Open University has produced a set of
guidelines to help establish the quality of online tutoring on their courses. These guidelines
are being piloted on current courses. Their recommendations focus closely on interactions
with students. They consider that tutors should (Sharpe and Baume):
• be supportive in tone,
• demonstrate adequate knowledge of the course,
• provide a guiding presence in the conferences,
• answer direct requests for information,
• follow the discussions,
• provide summaries and feedback on the activities,
• weave comments at appropriate points,
• monitor the participation of all students in their allocated group.
By contrast, the Institute of Information Technology Training (IITT) has compiled a
comprehensive list of tutor activities based on a Competency Framework – Online Tutors
(IITT, 2000) (http://www.iitt.org.uk/c-onltutor.htm). Generally only a subset of these is
required in each particular instance, according to the design and application of a particular
learning programme.
Whichever list of roles and activities is referred to it is clear that tutors need to be flexible
in their roles. At the start of a course the tutor may be a social host, but may then need to
change this role to suit student needs. Pastoral care, hard-nosed responses, or even conflict
mediation may be required. Throughout a learning experience tutors need to act as models
of good online behaviour, whilst at the same time monitoring and guiding others behaviour
(McKenzie-D 2000a).
3.3 The role-related perspective: what an online tutor should be
The role of manager is one of the most important for an online tutor.
“At the beginning [the] role is 'managerial' (organising work, agenda,
deadlines, providing resources).” (Daele-D 2000a)
“As to the roles of the teacher, his or her role as a manager emerges as the
key role. Among the other teacher roles are the roles of the producer,
novice, expert, motivator, moderator, co-learner, team member, resource
specialist and assessor. Even though it can be argued that the teacher
(roles) identified above are not necessarily bound to a network-based
learning environment, many of the same roles may be apparent in any
modern classroom where teaching and learning are in line with the
constructivist conception of learning. However, in an online classroom,
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teachers need to be increasingly aware of these roles and they need to be
capable of role switching in a flexible manner.” (Tammelin)
Classification of roles
As a first step towards awareness of the roles of an online tutor, there are many published
classifications to which we can refer. These include Berge (1995), Collins and Berge
(1997), Harasim, Hiltz, Telles and Turroff (1997) and Salmon (2000) (see also Salmon’s
case study). The most widely used of these classifications is Berge’s (1995). This has four
categories:
• Technical – this involves making participants comfortable with the technology and
ultimately to make the technology transparent.
• Managerial – this includes setting the agenda, objectives, procedures and rules of the
educational activities.
• Pedagogical – this includes designing and delivering an appropriate educational
experience, encouraging participation and fostering deep learning and reflection.
• Social – this involves creating a learning community that supports and encourages
students, monitoring progress and participation.
Collins and Berge (1997) expanded the list to firefighter, facilitator, administrator,
promoter, helper and participant, but the four categories above remain widely used.
The OTiS e-Workshop discussion considered twelve roles for the online tutor developed at
a workshop on Competencies for Online Tutors2: technologist, manager, co-learner,
designer, knowledge expert, researcher, facilitator, assessor, adviser/counsellor, tutor and
mentor. This classification of tutor roles is presented in Table 3.1 and compared with other
published classifications. No significance is placed on the order of the roles in this table.
The OTiS classification included two roles not included in the published sources: those of
researcher and mentor.
Researcher – As online tutors we are involved in a new and evolving pedagogy
developing around online learning. As reflective practitioners we can examine and develop
our practice through action research enquiry (Cowan), ie developing, reviewing and
refining our practice in a systematic and thoughtful way (see also Bailey, Radic, Salmon,
Tammelin).
Mentoring – The role of mentor to new online tutors is an area of particular importance at
a time when experience of online tutoring is still relatively rare. The use of mentors can be
an important aid to newcomers to online teaching (Juwah, Macdonald, Morrison).
2
The Workshop on Competencies for Online Teaching held at Bowness on Windermere, Cumbria,
England, 7–9 June 2000 sponsored by IBSTPI (http://www.ibstpi.org), CSALT Lancaster
University (http://csalt.lancs.ac.uk/csalt) and JISC/CALT (http://csalt.lancs.ac.uk/jisc). Details at
http://csalt.lancs.ac.uk/Goodyear/cot/details.htm (accessed 14 Feb 2001).
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OTiS Berge Harasim, Collins and Salmon 2000
Discussion 1995 Hiltz, Telles Berge 1997
group 2000 and Turoff
1997
Technologist Technical Firefighter
Manager Managerial Planner Administrator
Co-learner Pedagogical Participant Information giving and
receiving
Designer Group structurer Development
Knowledge expert Knowledge construction
Researcher
Facilitator Facilitator Facilitator Access and motivation
Assessor
Adviser/counsellor Social Guide Promoter Socialisation
Tutor Helper
Mentor
Table 3.1 Classifications of the Roles of an Online Tutor
Flexibility of roles
Online tutors need to demonstrate a flexible approach towards their roles (Tammelin). The
word 'flexible' appears in several case studies which address tutor roles. These indicate the
need for tutors to adapt to their online environment and be responsive to student needs:
“Staff were able to be flexible and pedagogically receptive; in reviewing
the conferences it was established that staff had undertaken the following
roles in the life cycle of a conference: host, teacher, facilitator, motivator,
moderator, assessor. Staff need to be prepared for the change in styles.”
(Street)
“The most significant barrier that I encounter in my online teaching is the
need to develop a new understanding of my role and responsibilities as
teacher in an online environment. As with any organisational change,
there is a strong inclination on the part of both teacher and students to fall
back into old roles and routines when the uncertainty of the new learning
environment and interactions become uncomfortable.” (Hird)
Allocation of roles
An important question is whether the full range of roles can actually be provided by a
single online tutor. The full range of roles may be split between subject support and
learner support (McKenzie-b, Macdonald) or allocated amongst a support team
comprising, for example, ‘local animator’, ‘tutor’, ‘professor’ and ‘co-ordinator’ (Daele).
McKenzie describes how learning support tutors can be deployed alongside subject
content tutors each with a different role and responsibility. Subject tutors act as an expert
resource providing focused interventions relating to subject delivery. Learning support (or
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process) tutors can focus on developing long term relationships with learners over a longer
period and provide continuity of support and help maintain a feeling of intimacy and
motivation. As McKenzie recognises, this approach helps to create a community of people
skilled in facilitating online discussion, in turn helping to develop high levels of expertise
in the area that is not diluted by subject focus (McKenzie-b).
The UK Open University (OU) model is one example that demonstrates the separation of
the provision of content by subject experts from online tutorial support during delivery.
However, the OU's online tutors are still expected to have subject expertise and provide
both subject and learning support (Macdonald, Salmon, Tolley, Zimmer and Alexander).
Daele and Finkelstein describe a broader approach where the role of the online tutor is
viewed in the context of the complete learning module or programme. The online tutor
may be part of a course team (Finkelstein) with complex interrelationships, responsibilities
and roles (Daele).
In the next sections examples of practice in online tutoring are presented to give a richer
picture of the role of the tutor and some pointers toward effective practice.
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4. Examples of practice: experiences
Sections 4 and 5 present some 'real world' experiences of online tutoring. In Section 4 the
experiences of individual tutors are reviewed, and reflections on a small number of online
courses are presented. Section 5 follows with a closer look at the strategies and techniques
employed to facilitate online learning.
4.1 Experiences of tutors
Adapting existing roles
Many OTiS participants have made the change from the ‘sage on the stage’, or expert, of
the traditional classroom to a ‘guide on the side’, or facilitator in the online environment.
This change is not always easy, but requires a fundamental shift in approach and methods
of working:
“As much as I believe in constructivist learning theory, I still found it
difficult the first time a student openly challenged my thinking in the
online environment. It took a tremendous amount of self-discipline for me
to avoid falling back into a traditional teacher role. My every inclination
was to respond with a ‘Yes, but…’statement that implies that I still know
the one right way of approaching the problem at hand. The expectation that
the teacher has the right answer is not restricted to instructors; one student
repeatedly apologised for taking issue with a statement I made, even
though I repeatedly told him that I expected students to challenge ideas I
put forth. I am finding that it takes constant vigilance to prevent both
teacher and students from falling back into traditional classroom roles.”
(Hird)
“About tutors having to adjust to checking and contributing to conferences
frequently rather than logging in once a week like a traditional seminar.
It's the ‘taken-for-granted’ ways of operating in the traditional mode that
can sometimes get in the way of effective online learning – for tutors and
students. I guess to an extent we all need to become socialized to this new
way of teaching and learning.” (Ballantyne-D)
Others also recognise that unfamiliarity with the technology based approach and an ‘email
mentality’, which lends itself to providing answers to direct questions rather than
encouraging debate and reflection through the online discussion, can act as a barrier
(McKenzie-b).
Adopting new roles
As well as this change in approach to help avoid the traditional roles of the classroom
teacher, the online tutor must adopt the new roles outlined in the previous section, and do
this with flexibility and in responsiveness to learner needs:
“In some groups (the) role was more affective support than managerial –
(they) expected (the) tutor to be involved in the work. In other groups tutor
was expected to be leader.” (Daele-D 2000a)
“Facilitating an online course is not an easy task. It is a time-consuming
and challenging experience that requires the use of ‘soft’ skills for
promoting and building a sense of group within the Learning Sets.
Ultimately, however, it is very rewarding.” (Pickering and Duggleby)
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Setting guidelines
To facilitate the tutor role, clear guidelines for students are required, and some experience
of the student role is recommended.
“As the instructor, I set clear expectations of the time commitment I expect
from students (one to two hours per day for three weeks). And I have a
clear schedule of what activities I want them working on each day (or each
few days), to keep everyone together and collaborating as much as
possible. Tutor time varies a lot and has a lot to do with course design.
Typical is two to four hours per day.” (Kulp)
“In order to give students some understanding of what was required in the
online seminars, the four unit tutors conducted the first online seminar
themselves, thereby modelling the behaviours expected.” (Phillips)
Working in teams
The last quote refers to four tutors working together. Several OTiS case studies provide
evidence that team working is essential for effective delivery of online learning.
McKenzie’s case study (an MBA programme) illustrates the effective use of two types of
tutors (McKenzie-b):
• subject or content tutors,
• learning support or process tutors.
“The reasons for using two types of tutor in the online and face-to-face
processes were twofold.
“Firstly the subject tutor could be positioned as an expert resource with a
focused interventions dedicated to the subject content, whereas the process
tutor could concentrate on developing long term relationships with course
members over the three years of the MBA, and improving the course
members ability to use the technology effectively. This leveraged the
expensive expert resource, by allowing them to teach large numbers any
time any place, whilst still allowing us to create a feeling of intimacy and
motivation through the less expensive learning support tutors, who could
concentrate on maintaining the motivation for virtual collaborative
learning.
“Secondly, we could create a community of practice of people skilled in
facilitating online discussion, developing high levels of expertise in the
area, without it being diluted by subject focus …
“The ability of a process (learning support) based tutor to sustain a long-
term relationship with the students throughout the length of the MBA
programme, is argued to be a critical success factor in the quality of the
learning achieved.” (McKenzie-b)
Other benefits of teamworking include sharing the load and problem solving:
“…assessments were individually marked but group moderated. The team
met up at least once every week to monitor progress and review tactics and
plans for the upcoming sessions. The weekly meetings were also useful for
discussing problems encountered, working out common questions and
themes to offer across all tutorial groups, and monitoring general student
activity on the module. This [was] particularly crucial since we were
dealing with large numbers (one hundred and forty) and a small number of
tutors (three).” (Finkelstein)
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In discussions Janes (D 2000b) recaps the roles of the tutor:
• to facilitate versus be expert,
• to choose the type of facilitation – active, moderate, absent,
• to ‘allow’ a group to grow, form relationships, and find its own freedom,
• to be very supportive, and be seen to be present.
Clearly, to meet these roles the tutor must be familiar and comfortable with the technology
for online learning.
4.2 Course Experiences
Examples of online courses have been selected to illustrate the use of asynchronous and
synchronous communication techniques in the facilitation of learning. In each example the
focus is on effective techniques for online tutoring and each case study demonstrates
different methods and technologies that can be used to engage learners.
4.2.1 Facilitating mutually supported learning online
Zimmer and Alexander’s case study examines the application of Carl Roger’s
communication principles to facilitate mutually supported learning online. This technique
is based on the premise that some of the most effective collaborative learning takes place
when learners act as tutors for one another. Applying this technique enables collaborative
learning to become mutually supported learning. Students can develop the skills to act as
tutors for one another by adhering to the three Rogerian communication principles that
participants should:
• offer individual creative insight,
• be receptive,
• avoid imposing dogmatic, judgmental demands.
If participants can be encouraged to adopt and follow these principles it helps to generate a
trusting, mutually supportive online community and helps avoid and resolve conflicts. The
third Rogerian principle – ‘avoid imposing dogmatic and judgmental demands’ – means
that these principles cannot be imposed by the tutor on the students or by the students on
each other. For online learners to function as effective, mutually supportive tutors
themselves, they need to learn how to behave – in this case by demonstrating the three
Rogerian principles. Zimmer and Alexander’s evaluation of two courses where these
principles were introduced highlighted the need for tutors to ‘talk the talk’ and ‘walk the
walk’, ie talk about and model appropriate behaviour in their own online communication
and interaction.
Kennedy and Duffy describe an alternative model ‘PACE’(Participation, Addition,
Constructive criticism and Encouraging). These are presented as key principles for
responding to contributions that students make to forum discussions. They are designed to
help overcome feelings of vulnerability when students put their thoughts into a public
forum, even though the ‘public’ is restricted to a class group. That vulnerability can stifle
participation, as can insensitive responses.
Cowan in his case study discusses the use of Rogerian principles to encourage reflection
and develop reflective skills in personal development planning in a different context.
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4.2.2 Tutoring in real time (text based) environments
A key benefit of online learning is its anytime and anywhere attributes – learners can
engage in learning at a time and place which suits them and their needs. However, benefits
can come from the use of synchronous, or real time, elements in online learning (Kennedy
and Duffy). These include marking key events in the course such as the start and end of
activities, increasing spontaneity and motivation, and providing a sense of immediacy and
community.
Bowskill considers a course that aims to support academics new to synchronous (real
time) technology or new to its use in teaching. The case study draws on experiences of two
projects at Sheffield University, UK: NetLinkS (http://netways.shef.ac.uk/index.htm) and
the Computer Based collaborative Group Work Project (http://collaborate.shef.ac.uk).
Bowskill’s case study offers useful tips and techniques for tutoring in real time text-based
environments such as online chat systems, Multi-User Object Oriented Systems (MOOs)
and Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs). These include:
1. Pre-preparing your script
“[For] those new to these technologies, there is a tendency for them to
type frantically often without fully registering what is happening on the
screen …to control that tendency you need to avoid typing in a similar
fashion. The aim is to try and get them to slow down and ‘listen’ to each
other. By having your script prepared, you can copy and paste responses
and any directions very quickly. This in turn helps you to cope more
easily with that initial frenzy. Although you may need to depart from your
script it often helps you across most situations early in a course or session.
It also buys you reading and thinking time.”
1. Brief the participants about aims and objectives of the session
“Prior to the session, …brief the participants about the aims and
objectives of the real time session …beyond the aims for the unit or
module in which the session might reside. It is…common for people to
meet in real time spaces and see what happens and, although this can
work, it is better to brief everyone beforehand… helps overcome some of
that initial anxiety… a guide to using and working in the given
environment should also be prepared and circulated… and the
environment … should be available … for people to experiment before
any formal sessions.”
2. Use the initial sense of chaos as a learning opportunity
“… in the real time session there are a number of issues …how to help the
participants cope with the initial sense of chaos that can arise in early
sessions…. it should be recognised that this is both a problem and a
learning opportunity. Participants need to experience some of the chaos
first-hand to have some sense of what it might be like for them as tutors in
such environments. So, however uncomfortable that may be at first, it is
worth letting them have a few minutes coming to terms with that
awkwardness before starting to introduce some order and structure.”
3. Consider adopting some conventions for working together online
“ I use two conventions. The first of these is for everyone to type a single
question mark when they wish to speak and to wait until this is
acknowledged by the moderator (myself to start with) before
speaking/typing. The second convention is to end a line with a series of
dots or full stops like this…
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“The use of the question mark provides a vehicle for turn taking and it can
also be useful if there is any tendency by individual to dominate the
discussion…its down side… is the potential to prevent more fluid
interactions amongst participants. However, for first-timers (and others) I
have found it helps them cope with the experience more easily.
“Finishing a line with a series of dots is intended to indicate that you have
not finished speaking. This avoids any concern that can arise in the minds
of participants if no messages are coming up on the screen. Too much
delay can result in several people typing at once as a response to that
uncertainty. This strategy also allows you as a tutor to say a little more
and offer it in more digestible chunks (it offers the same opportunities for
the learners as well). Another technique I use is to break lines of typing
up… into bits… like this… just to help the text scan more easily and
appear like speech rather than cold text. It is interesting to see how often
participants start to adopt this and other techniques once shown. It also
suggests that you are getting across to them and offering something
useful.”
4.2.3 Conducting real time online classes: beyond text
Audio and shared workspaces
Roberts’ case study describes the use of multimedia tools for real time online learning
including audio and shared workspaces. It compares the implementation of a synchronous
integrated online delivery tool (LearnLinc) in two Australian postgraduate courses. These
courses had different subjects, different levels of user experience and different levels of
contact.
LearnLinc provides a multimedia approach to real time, online learning and includes:
• the ability to share applications such as Powerpoint and Internet browsers,
• shared workspaces through a shared whiteboard facility, for collaborative problem
solving, tutorial support and data sharing etc,
• audioconferencing.
Roberts makes a number of recommendations for successful real time online classes:
1. Be very well prepared in advance
“An experienced statistician can present the … class off the top of their
head for on-campus students … For the synchronous online version the
tutor had to find examples, type details on whiteboards, prepare suitable
multiple choice question and answers, then a follow up whiteboard with
complete explanation for students to print or save. In summary, it is not so
easy to ‘wing it’ online.”
2. Have backups available
• for planned resources, eg a web site not being accessible,
• for application sharing, eg by having screen dumps available,
• for audio failure, eg by having key points on a summary slide.
3. Be aware of technical issues
• the delay in audio transmission due to compression and
decompression,
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• the pressure on bandwith of competing applications, eg launching a
new whiteboard can cause the sound to break up.
Ehmann also describes the use of real time shared workspaces and whiteboards for a
tutorial support service.
Videoconferencing
Tammelin describes the use of videoconferencing to deliver real time classes supporting
collaboration on an environmental management module across two institutions in Finland.
Scheduling of classes and differences in the levels of students’ prior experience in the
subject area were two issues that had to be addressed. The videoconferencing sessions
were recorded and both students and tutors evaluated their individual and collaborative
contributions. Feedback from the students was extremely positive:
“Videoconferencing was the highlight of the course. There were many
reasons for that. The settings were real, very close to working life lying
close ahead, only this time you could afford to make mistakes. Active
participation is still rather challenging, especially for a Finn… There is still
some magic with the new type of high tech … Recording made it possible to
go through it again and again.”
“The videoconferences and the preparation sessions for them made the
learning situations closer to the real world situations. Of course we could
have had the same roles in a classroom, but during the videoconferences we
had to communicate with people we did not know and who had a very
different view on environmental issues.” (Tammelin)
Glasson describes the use of de Bono’s ‘Thinking Hats’ technique as a communication
method to aid effective communication in real time discussions and negotiations. The
students learn the technique prior to engaging in the online class. Glasson concludes that
the application of the technique makes the online discussion more efficient and effective
but acknowledges that problems in scheduling. Difficulties also arose where students had
not taken the module where they learned the technique before the online exercise.
“De Bono’s ‘Thinking Hats’ method is a simple system for categorising
thinking into six modes, in the context of discussion. During a discussion,
any participant can switch to any of the six thinking hats. The six hats
promote structure and efficiency, and help to reduce the
misunderstandings that can occur during discussion.” (Glasson)
McKenzie addresses some of the staff development issues involved in exploiting
videoconferencing technologies for online classes and suggests some techniques to
encouraging staff to experiment. The case study (McKenzie-a) describes how practical
case teaching, and online interaction and discussion are used with students, then becomes
experiential learning for the tutors that can be used as case material for a tutor
development workshop.
Further case studies on ‘Videoconferencing for Teaching and Learning’ (Alexander et al,
1999) can be found online at http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/ltdi-pub.htm#VCStudies.
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5. Examples of Practice: strategies and techniques
The strategies and techniques used in online tutoring vary according to the context for the
learning experience, the pedagogy adopted and the needs of students. However, there are
some issues and experiences that cut across most learning situations. A selection of these
are considered here:
• technology issues,
• tools, techniques and structures for online learning,
• participation issues,
• the creation of autonomous learners.
5.1 Technology issues
Tutors and students need to have technology related skills in order for online learning to
be successful. However, for many students it is a desire to learn about technology that
motivates them to take an online course, and the course may provide them with their first
experiences:
“It was important to acknowledge that for some students this would be the
first time they had used a computer. By providing enough instruction to
walk students through everything they needed to do an even playing field
was provided for the whole group. Those who were already competent
could skip these aspects of instruction.” (Gilbert-Hunt and McLaine)
Dealing with technical problems can often become part of the tutor's role, particularly at
the beginning of a course. This might be appropriate for a learning support tutor, but in
order to prevent a subject tutor being overloaded with technical queries, strategies for
managing technical questions may be required:
“Dealing with the technical problems that some students encountered at
the beginning of the subject was time consuming as it involved a great
deal of problem solving to even determine the issue. The few private
emails to tutors usually occurred when there was a specific technical
problem with the technology…We addressed these problems in a variety
of ways, eg sending out information via an email list to all students
directing them to the technical support available, as well as giving them
further instruction.” (Gilbert-Hunt and McLaine)
The reasons for technical problems are varied. Janes reports problems with the
specification of equipment available to students, and the variable and potentially high cost
of Internet access:
“Although we noted a minimum specification for the technology to be
used, we were often faced with early adopters of technology as our
students. Several reported some frustration with older equipment.
“A related issue was the cost and access to an Internet service provider
(ISP) available to our international participants. A number lived in
countries where ISPs charged high access fees and therefore limited some
to offline preparation of discussion responses or to the printing of the
course web site to paper. Some others felt the need to work with paper, so
felt more comfortable when the web site was printed. To assist in these
areas we chose to make the web site relatively graphic and animation free.
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These items were used only as optional add-ons or where deemed
necessary to the learning.” (Janes)
There is also a need for help desk services for students.
“As soon as any online learning gets beyond the experimental phase there
needs to be a system whereby students can get technical assistance as soon
as they require it. Most such students are interacting with the material, and
hence most likely to require assistance outside nine to five working
hours.” (Roberts)
Whilst a help desk might reduce tutor workload, or at least focus it on learning support
issues, it has in some cases been found to be an advantage to have tutors directly
interfacing with students on technical issues:
“Tutor control over registration of users also enabled forgotten passwords
to be resolved 'on the spot'.” (Ewing)
“The tutor is able to provide some support and advice, for example, on
how to send attachments or the use of WebBoard. We also point out at
enrolment that students should have access to their own local technical
support.” (Pickering and Duggleby)
“Early introductions online required participants to become familiar with
the WebCT shell and allowed tutors to quickly access any technical
problems that might be occurring among the participants. The tutors often
were able to troubleshoot ‘on the fly’ but had technical expertise
[available] when required.” (Janes)
“Both tutors and students need to be resourceful enough to find solutions
and workarounds if the technology is not working smoothly.” (Pickering
and Duggleby)
Morrison provides an illustration of this resourcefulness in practice:
“A self-help group was formed, in which students exchanged telephone
numbers and addresses. This proved useful when students experienced
technical difficulties, with, in one case, a student travelling to another’s
home to restore Windows.” (Morrison)
5.2 Tools, techniques and structures for online learning
With the technology operating effectively, attention can turn to the tools and techniques
that are available for structuring and supporting communicating and learning online.
Morrison provides a list of the some of the options available to tutors and offers comments
on how they might be used:
1. Announcements board
These gave students a 'first port of call' for reference information,
particularly on assignments and the end of course assessment.
2. Online handouts
… provided online… Each module could also be downloaded as a zip file,
to save on telephone costs. This enabled materials to be updated more
rapidly.
3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Academic Computing Service provided FAQs … These reassured
students (and tutors) that they were not the only person to experience a
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particular problem. They also provided a quicker solution than waiting for
a reply to an email.
4. Workgroups
One assignment involved the tutorial group splitting into two subgroups
and creating two web sites. This allowed the students to work in a small
group on a defined project and to experience the ‘forming, storming’ etc.
processes, discussed in a previous tutorial activity, for themselves.
5. Virtual Office Hours
Students are often reticent about contacting a tutor by telephone. Email
provided a more relaxed way of asking for advice and help.
6. Open discussion list
The main support method… gave students the opportunity to
communicate about tutorial activities and assignments, both within the
tutor group and on a national level.
7. Online café
An area for informal discussion and meeting arrangements, which
attempted to replace the student canteen in a traditional course.
The collation and use of a FAQ list is widely recommended:
“By the end of the training program a list of ‘Frequently Asked Questions
and Answers’ had been generated. This list will constantly be refined and
distributed to tutors.” (Ehmann)
The use of synchronous communication tools such as chat can provide opportunities for
spontaneity (sometimes missing from asynchronous discussions) and improve motivation.
However, they are not suitable in all situations:
“Chat was not included as a compulsory element due to its synchronous
nature, as many students had chosen this course for the facility to
undertake tutorial activities and communication with other students at a
time which suited their work patterns. Some students made occasional use
of the chat facility, more often in the national course conferences than
within their own tutor group.” (Morrison)
The use of journals is also recommended as a productive learning device by, amongst
others, Cowan and White and Moussou:
“We learn a lot from our journals as both teachers and learners and they
give the students places to tell us both their frustrations and what they
enjoy/what works. It is some of the best feedback I've ever had in a group.
“We read all the journals every day and respond as quickly as possible to
students’ questions to reinforce the importance of asking, inquiring,
reflecting, sharing in the group learning process. Silent head nodding at a
screen does not provide that reinforcement, but sometimes too much ‘I
agree’ in the learning space is clutter. In the journals it is very specific,
human-to-human feedback.
“Every time at the beginning students have been reluctant to post in each
other’s journals. We started suggesting folks ask explicitly or tell
explicitly if they welcomed or wanted to make comments in other's
journal. It was a great way to also demonstrate the development of a norm
for an online learning group.” (White and Moussou)
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5.3 Participation issues
The course examples in Section 4 illustrate active participation by students, and give
advice on how tutors can help to encourage participation. It is the activities involving
students that take place early in a course that have a particularly important impact on the
development of a supportive and motivating learning community. These activities also set
the tone for those that follow. McKenzie provides one illustration of the opening stages of
a course designed to encourage participation:
“…module one introduced the technology, and allowed them to get used
to navigating and communicating … At this stage the learning support
tutors concentrated on creating a welcoming environment, facilitating the
group forming process, and modelling good online behaviour.”
(McKenzie-b)
Using early activities to model good online behaviour and set the standards of acceptable
behaviour can help to prevent later problems that have an effect on participation. For
example:
“Another early activity was to research ‘netiquette’ online and this
encouraged students to apply these principles to their communication
activities. Inappropriate communication did not occur within my tutor
group.” (Morrison)
Bailey and Noakes both suggest setting ground rules that include issues of tutor response
times, and recommend that these be agreed by negotiation:
“A set of ground rules were agreed at the start which as well as issues of
confidentiality and respecting opinions, included the target response times
for tutors and participants. Participants wished to have seven days to
respond to activities posted up by the tutor, but requested that the tutor
responded to their messages with forty-eight hours. It was also agreed that
each member should let the group know if they were likely to be away for
any period.” (Bailey)
Clear guidelines for students on what response times they could expect from tutors are
important. If students know when tutors are likely to respond they will not become de-
motivated when they do not. Street’s findings suggest a ‘little but often’ approach is most
effective when combined with encouraging students to sort out their own problems:
“Tutors’ discussion about personal strategies concluded that regular short
dialogue with the conference was more efficient, say fifteen minutes a
day, rather than two hours a week and timing the conference dialogue to
give a presence. Collectively we decided that initially we had led the
students to be too reliant on our input as the ‘right’ answer so designed the
conference activities to enable the students to rely on each other. This
meant that the tutor was facilitating their learning rather than conducting
it, which of course lends itself to the new philosophy of our role. Once
tutors relaxed with the medium they were able to let go and facilitate.”
(Street)
Students too need to be clear about the effort they are required to make to complete an
online course since as Kulp recognises:
“The biggest barrier is students’ non-commitment of time and energy for
the duration of the class. The approach I’ve evolved is to be very clear
about the requirements in a pre-class welcome message, and to ‘nag’ non-
participants, some of whom decide to drop the course and retake it when
they can give it the attention it requires.” (Kulp)
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‘Nagging’ can also take other forms such as exclusion from activities:
“…some students were reluctant to do the necessary preparation. We
overcame this by excluding them from the teleconference learning
experience, an experience that all students regarded as attractive.”
(Glasson)
Finally, whilst nagging and penalising students might be seen as negative ways in which to
encourage participation, there are more positive strategies which work such as:
• Awarding marks for participation in online activities and discussions, a technique
described in many case studies, for example:
“…if I was to chose the most important [strategies to encourage
participation] these would be giving a small percentage of the subject
mark to active participation in the subject and ensuring that the subject
material had in-built tasks that required interaction with others to
complete it.” (Gilbert-Hunt and McLaine)
• Limiting participation in the conferences by the tutors:
“In addition by not actively contributing to the discussion myself I believe
that the student group took more ownership of the discussion and did not
wait for the tutor to rescue them or come up with the right answer.”
(Gilbert-Hunt and McLaine)
“… any attempts to email the facilitator off list were responded to with a
reply to the entire list. Learners quickly learnt to share all problems and
solutions!” (Clarke)
• Providing reinforcing, positive responses to encouraging participation:
“The practice of collaborative learning was quickly established...
Students… indicated…participation was encouraged by the positive
responses from tutors to individuals as well as to small groups.” (Clarke)
5.4 Towards autonomous learners
After initial activities to get students involved and beginning to take responsibility for their
learning, the opportunities for collaborative learning can be exploited. OTiS participants
report differing experiences during the later stages of a course. One example, reported by
McKenzie, and using different tutors for content and learning support, illustrates the type
of activities that might be undertaken as the course progresses:
“[In Module 2- collaborative activity] the emphasis of the learning support
tutors was on helping the group work through the storming process, by
encouraging the course members to surface their differences online, and
express their feelings about the experience of working collaboratively.
“The third module concentrated on setting the group charter, and
establishing a working protocol and discipline for later modules where
group assessment would be included. This helped course members
experience the process of developing group consensus without the normal
face-to-face signals. The incentive for group discipline was that the
subject expert would only participate in the online discussion during
certain periods. To get the most from his/her online presence, group
preparation was required. The process tutor acted to maintain momentum,
and ensure group cohesion. Once the groups had a reasonable expectation
of performing as virtual teams, later modules assessed the quality of
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collaborative online working through a subject tutor allocation of marks
for quality, quantity and timeliness of the contribution.” (McKenzie-b)
The students’ reactions, and the tutor’s responses, to these activities are interesting:
“Our experience was rich and varied. There was an initial burst of
enthusiasm for the technology at the outset, during module one. In module
two, we encountered some serious aversions and resistance, as the
frustrations of asynchronous online collaboration became apparent.
Process [learning support] tutors needed to invest a lot of time,
encouraging people, resolving technical ‘hiccups’ that became scapegoats
for avoiding online conversations. Module three demonstrated that some
groups had found ways around the ‘pain’ of online discussion, by setting
up face-to-face meetings of local sub sets of the group, or audio
conferences, in which the tutors were not included. The tutors had to do a
lot of one-to-one lobbying, to ensure that groups did not exclude the
geographical outliers, and that they gained the full value from sharing
their learning online, with others. Face-to-face workshops were leveraged
to build relationships, develop group learning contracts, and discuss the
practical aspects of learning at a distance with online support.”
(McKenzie-b)
In most courses tutors have initial responsibility for group formation. Labour indicates
perhaps why this is necessary:
“The first barrier was to properly ‘matchmake’ email partners. At first we
let learners go onto the Internet and find partners but this did not work as
our adults felt that their email ‘pen-pals’ were not ‘serious’ enough. This
meant that tutors had to intervene directly by asking future participants to
write to them in sending a short biographic profile via email. Based on
this profile, tutors matchmake learners.” (Labour)
Throughout the course it is essential to guide students through their learning activities, and
to help them understand why what they are doing is important:
“Throughout the subject it was important to make the learning strategies
explicit for the student, this was achieved by providing reflective
activities, which contributed to set assignments.” (Gilbert-Hunt and
McLaine)
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6. Encouraging effective practice: getting started
“Computer-mediated education creates unique risks for both tutors and
students. Tutors can face heavy workloads from large online classes that
require large amounts of personal emails, phone calls, and discussion
forum comments. The quality of online interactivity with students can
suffer, if teachers become overwhelmed by constantly having to deal with
large classes. Yet, students can become discouraged by the appearance of
more intelligent discussion comments that are made by their fellow
classmates. It can have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of
their discussion postings. As students devalue their personal knowledge
and life experiences, their online contributions can become more driven
by an obligation to get through the experience.” ((Rowntree, 1995,)
quoted in Muirhead)
In the sections entitled ‘Encouraging effective practice’, advice from OTiS participants has
been collated to provide guidelines for those involved in online learning. The advice is
wide-ranging and covers:
• managing expectations,
• building a successful learning community,
• encouraging participation,
• administration,
• encouraging and maintaining discussion,
• encouraging deep learning and reflection,
• monitoring progress,
• providing effective feedback,
• assessment.
In some places the advice is accompanied by examples from the case studies that illustrate
successful practice. It is hoped that the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of
others will help to mitigate the risks outlined by Rowntree and make online learning a
successful and rewarding experience for both students and tutors.
6.1 Managing expectations
Students' expectations
Students come to an online course with their own expectations and objectives.
McKenzie (D 2000c), based on research on UK Open University students, suggests that
many come to online learning with an 'email mentality', expecting one to one
communications. This can create an enormous overload on the tutor and also student
dissatisfaction when response time is slow. McKenzie (D 2000d) recommends that we
clearly define the learning objectives for everyone so that we are all aiming for a common
target.
Students may also have unrealistically high expectations and need to be guided to
moderate their plans to set achievable tasks and targets:
“The project is quite short (nominally thirty to forty-five hours, though in
reality much more) and the students planned to interview ten or more
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teachers. I had to reduce their expectations to make a quantitative survey
and clarify the objectives of the work…” (Daele)
“Naive expectations by students that this is the ‘easy’ way. Our
experience is that for both students and teachers, distance learning is the
harder way. It has been essential to encourage students to be realistic
about the time this course of study will take and about the amount of time
they have.” (Kennedy and Duffy)
McKenzie (D 2000c) provides a useful list of suggestions to help manage student
expectations:
• State up front the tutor online commitment in terms of times per week that they
will log on to asynchronous mode.
• Discuss the role of the tutor compared to the value of others as a resource. Perhaps
discourage one-to-one support as a first line of defence. When a student asks the
tutor a question the first response could be “who have you talked to about this
already, and what suggestions have they made?”.
• Have a planned mix of synchronous and asynchronous communications so that
there will be specific 'tutorial' or 'problem solving' sessions where the tutor will be
available.
• Use email as a last resort for private communications.
McKenzie also describes the use of a “roadshow to manage the expectations of potential
candidates prior to signing up for the course, which reduces the potential blockage that
‘culture shock' can create in the learning process.” (McKenzie-b)
Tutors' expectations
Whatever techniques and skills tutors are using online, they will be different from those
involved in classroom teaching, and the timing and implementation need to be carefully
thought through:
“ … sometimes we have to manage the trade off between packing in the
learning in order to complete the course … which is somewhat in conflict
with the time demands needed to explore, reflect and collaborate.”
(McKenzie-D 2000b)
“…in addition to rethinking content and structure when moving online we
need to rethink the time the learning activities will take. ‘A commonly
used rule of thumb is that each day in the classroom translates into a week
online. And ‘courses that last more than three or four weeks lose
momentum’.” ((Kulp, 1999) quoted in Kulp)
6.2 Building a learning community
An effective learning community is a prerequisite to successful online learning, especially
if collaborative work is involved. This section offers an overview of the issues that are
addressed by Zimmer, Harris and Muirhead (2000) in ‘Theme 3: Building an Online
Community’.
Palloff and Pratt (2000) identify the key areas that will lead to the development of an
effective learning community:
• ensuring access to and familiarity with the technology in use,
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