developing online problem‐based resources for the professional development of teachers of children...

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Developing online problem‐basedresources for the professionaldevelopment of teachers of childrenwith visual impairmentMike McLinden a , Steve McCall a , Danielle Hinton a , AnnetteWeston a & Graeme Douglas aa University of Birmingham , UKPublished online: 23 Jan 2007.

To cite this article: Mike McLinden , Steve McCall , Danielle Hinton , Annette Weston & GraemeDouglas (2006) Developing online problem‐based resources for the professional development ofteachers of children with visual impairment, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 21:3, 237-251

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Open LearningVol. 21, No. 3, November 2006, pp. 237–251

ISSN 0268–0513 (print)/ISSN 1469–9958 (online)/06/030237–15© 2006 The Open UniversityDOI: 10.1080/02680510600953211

Developing online problem-based resources for the professional development of teachers of children with visual impairmentMike McLinden*, Steve McCall, Danielle Hinton, Annette Weston and Graeme DouglasUniversity of Birmingham, UKTaylor and Francis LtdCOPL_A_195232.sgm10.1080/02680510600953211Open Learning0268-0513 (print)/1469-9958 (online)Original Article2006The Open University213000000November [email protected]

This article presents a summary of the results from phase 1 of a two-phase research project. Drawingon the principles of problem-based learning (PBL), the aims of phase 1 were to design, develop andevaluate a set of flexible online teaching resources for use within a virtual learning environment.Participants in the project (n = 10) were volunteers from students registered on a two-year distanceeducation programme of study for specialist teachers of children with visual impairment. Two casescenarios were developed for the project, each of which was based around a fictitious support servicefor teachers of children with visual impairment. Following a campus-based study day, theparticipants were assigned to one of two ‘PBL Activity Groups’ and completed a series of taskswithin each case scenario. Participation in the project was supported by members of the ProjectTeam over a period of one semester, following which participants were asked to provide feedbackthrough an online questionnaire. A summary of the feedback is presented, and key findingsdiscussed. The results suggest that, with appropriate resources, adequate preparatory training andeffective tutor support, online PBL can be an effective method for supplementing the continuingprofessional development of specialist teachers studying through distance education.

Keywords: Continuing professional development; Distance education; Problem-based learning; Visual impairment

Introduction

The distance education programme for specialist teachers of children with visualimpairment at the University of Birmingham has been established for over 20 years.

*Corresponding author. Lecturer in Education (Visual Impairment), Impairment Centre forTeaching and Research (VICTAR), School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston,Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Email: [email protected]

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238 M. McLinden et al.

The programme has a national remit and attracts students from throughout theUnited Kingdom. Although the content has been continuously updated, theprogramme has essentially retained the structure and format developed at itsinception. In response to the changing professional development needs of studentsenrolled on the programme in recent years, a decision was taken in 2003 to undertakea fundamental restructuring of the programme (McCall & McLinden, 2004). Therevised programme utilises online learning and support facilities to encourage greatercollaborative learning, including the use of dedicated online resources structuredaround the principles of problem-based learning (PBL).

Problem-based learning and distance education

Since its beginnings in Canada in the 1960s, PBL has become a well-establishedapproach in the professional development of students in higher education (for exam-ple, Dahlgren, 2000; Yip, 2002; Arts et al., 2002). While there is no commonly agreedsingle definition of PBL in the literature, Newman (2003) notes that this approachcan be described in a variety of ways that can be summarised as a complex mixture ofgeneral teaching philosophy, learning objectives and goals, as well as attitudes andvalues. As reported by Duch et al. (2001), a major characteristic of PBL is that theproblem is presented to the students before the material has been learned, andstudents then engage with the problems within small groups to bring together ‘collec-tive skill at acquiring, communicating, and integrating information’ (p. 6). This viewis supported by Arts et al. (2002), who note that within PBL the problem serves as astarting point for new learning activities with the problem ‘encountered before allrelevant knowledge has been acquired … This feature reflects one of the essentialdistinctions between PBL and other problem-oriented methods’ (p. 467).

While PBL has been widely used in the professional development of campus-based students across a range of disciplines, there is increasing evidence to suggestthat with recent developments in technology (including computer-mediatedcommunication), the approach can also be adapted to meet the needs of studentsstudying through distance education (for example, Watson, 2001; Tichon, 2002;Dennis, 2003). Indeed, as Bates (1995) reported 10 years ago, computer-basedcommunications ‘have revolutionary implications for distance education, providingthe means to free students from the centralised control of pre-prepared andconstricted curricula’ (p. 10). Furthermore, Bates (1995) notes that such develop-ments enable direct interaction between the ‘teacher who originates the instructionand the remote student—and often between remote students, either individually or asgroups’ (p. 10).

Oliver and McLoughlin (2001) report that the World Wide Web has vastlyincreased the repertoire of learning and teaching approaches for distance educationlearners by providing opportunities for collaboration, social dialogue, interaction andcommunication within which learners can learn both formally and informally throughinteractions with others. Such developments have been referred to by Lockwood(2001) as a ‘teaching and technological revolution’ in which an increasing number of

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Online problem-based resources for professional development 239

educators are exploring ‘student centred learning approaches’ and are basing theirteaching on ‘constructivist models of learning’ (p. xi)—models that Oliver andMcLoughlin (2001) report ‘affirm the central role of peers, adults and knowledgeableothers in the development of cognition and understanding’ (p. 149).

There is some evidence in the literature that the strengths of online teaching andPBL may be combined effectively in areas such as medical education (Bowdishet al., 2003), teacher education (for example, Albion & Gibson, 2000) and theeducation of other professionals (for example, Tichon, 2002; Yip, 2002; Dennis,2003). While PBL has been referred to in developing intervention programmes forindividual children with sensory needs (for example, Aitken et al., 2001; McLinden& McCall, 2003), no evidence has been found about the use of online PBLresources in the professional development of specialist teachers studying throughdistance education.

Visual Impairment Problem Based Learning research project

This two-phase research project commenced in January 2004. The main aim of phase1 was to design, develop and evaluate a set of flexible online teaching resources foruse initially in one module of the distance programme for specialist teachers of chil-dren with visual impairment. The resources were designed to help develop thespecialist knowledge and understanding required for the module, which focused onhuman visual processes and the impact of visual loss on learning and development.Phase 2 explores how the pilot online PBL resources developed within phase 1 canmost effectively be embedded into the restructured programme of study. A summaryof the methodology adopted for phase 1 is reported in the following. A more detailedoverview of the online resources developed for the project is included in the ProjectFinal Report (McLinden et al., 2006).

Methodology

Stage 1: recruitment of students

All students registered in 2003/04 on the programme of study in Visual Impairmentat the University of Birmingham (n = 90) were invited to express an interest inparticipating in the Visual Impairment Problem Based Learning (VIPBL) project.Although participation in the project was planned as an additional component totheir regular coursework, the students were informed that they would be able to drawupon their experiences of participating in the project as part of a ‘reflective analysis’within their Year 2 dissertation. Fifteen students requested further information, ofwhom 10 (nine female and one male) volunteered to participate for a period of onesemester. The participants worked in a range of educational settings where childrenwith visual impairment are educated, including visiting teacher services, specialistresource bases in mainstream schools, and special schools for children with a visualimpairment.

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Stage 2: piloting and development of online resources

A pilot course was developed by the Project Team using Web Communication Tools(WebCT), an online platform that includes a range of features including bulletinboards and chat rooms. By incorporating online resources that already existed withinthe School of Education, such as student information materials and icons, the onlineenvironment was developed with relatively low overheads in terms of cost and time.A screen shot of the homepage of the pilot WebCT course is presented in Figure 1.Figure 1. Screenshot of the homepage for the VIPBL WebCT courseAn experienced Head of a Local Education Authority Sensory Support Service forchildren with visual impairment served as a consultant in the development of two casescenarios based around a fictitious support service for children with sensory needs.The key characters in the service included ‘Mrs Abbot’ as Head of Service, and ‘Ms

Figure 1. Screenshot of the homepage for the VIPBL WebCT course

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Farrow’, a recent appointment to the service, who was undertaking a professionalqualification to become a specialist teacher of children with a visual impairment.

Case scenario 1. Case scenario 1 featured a seven-year-old girl with a visual impair-ment whose family had recently moved to a new part of the country and who wasabout to start in her new school. The cast of main characters in the scenario includedthe headteacher, the class teacher, the child’s mother and ‘Ms Farrow’. The partici-pants could access the scenario through WebCT to view an onscreen picture anddescription of each character.

The participants were required to assume the guise of ‘Ms Farrow’, and, as a group,to complete an assigned task every two weeks in this role. Responses to the tasks weresubmitted to their line manager ‘Mrs Abbott’ through the programme bulletin board.On submission of a response by ‘Ms Farrow’, feedback was provided by ‘Mrs Abbot’in the form of an online memo, following which the next task was presented to thegroup. A chairperson and summariser were appointed from within each group andthese posts were rotated to other members at the start of each new task. A total of fivetasks were offered within case scenario 1 over a period of 10 weeks.

VIPBL study day 1. The participants in the project were requested to attend apreliminary study day at the University of Birmingham to outline expectations forparticipation in the project and familiarise them with relevant technologies, includingWebCT. Prior to attending the study day the participants were asked to take part inan online tutorial to familiarise themselves with the key web resources. All the partic-ipants had regular access to the Internet at either home and/or work, and, althoughthey had some experience of sourcing materials from the web, none of the participantshad prior experience of using WebCT. During the study day, participants weredivided into two ‘PBL Activity Groups’ according to their cohort of study (Group 1,n = 6; Group 2, n = 4) and were introduced to the learning environment and projectresources through a combination of online and face-to-face activities.

Following the study day, there were no opportunities for further face-to-face meet-ings, and group work for case scenario 1 took take place within the virtual learningenvironment using either the dedicated asynchronous (i.e. bulletin board) orsynchronous (i.e. chat room) facilities. On completion of case scenario 1, participantsreturned to the university for study day 2 and the work undertaken by the two groupsfor case scenario 1 was reviewed. Additional training was provided in the use ofsynchronous discussion facilities, and the participants were introduced to the tasks forcase scenario 2.

Development of case scenario 2. Case scenario 2 was constructed around an 11-year-old child with a severe visual impairment who was about to transfer from a schoolfor children with severe learning difficulties to a new purpose-built resource base forchildren with a visual impairment on the campus of a large comprehensive school.

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Key characters in this scenario included Ms Farrow, Mrs Abbot, the foster parentsof the child, his teaching assistant and the head of the new resource base. Theparticipants continued in the same PBL Activity Groups with the group roles ofchairperson and summariser rotating on a fortnightly basis. A total of four taskswere offered within case scenario 2 over a period of eight weeks.

Stage 3: evaluation of pilot online resources

On completion of case scenario 2, the participants were asked to complete an onlinequestionnaire. Questions were organised under nine key headings:

1. Design of virtual learning environment.2. Format and design of VIPBL case scenario 1.3. Format and design of VIPBL case scenario 2.4. Affective issues.5. Time management issues.6. Project resources.7. Development of knowledge and understanding.8. Contribution of project team.9. Recommendations for future practice.

A brief summary of the findings is now reported. A more detailed discussion of theresults is included in the Project Final Report (McLinden et al., 2006).

Results and discussion

Design of the virtual learning environment

The results of the questionnaire suggested that the design of the virtual learningenvironment was appropriate, with most respondents reporting that they were able tonavigate WebCT effectively, and access and use the online learning resources either‘very well’ or ‘well’. Although all the participants reported they could access and usethe dedicated bulletin board either ‘very well’ or ‘well’, their responses about theirchat room were less favourable: four respondents reported that they could use thechat room facilities ‘fairly well’ and four ‘not very well’.

It was apparent during study day 1 that some participants expected the main forumfor discussion and group problem-solving would be the chat room as they saw this asthe most obvious way to replicate the discussion that takes place within face-to-facegroups. However, on the basis of previous experience of using online resources inother teaching programmes, the Project Team decided that while facilities forsynchronous discussion would be made available to the participants, the main formatrecommended for communication within the virtual learning environment would beasynchronous discussion through the dedicated bulletin board. Where participantswithin each group did make use of the chat room facilities this was with only limitedsuccess, with difficulties reported in arranging a time when all group members couldbe available for discussion.

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Format and design of VIPBL case scenario 1

The decision to develop case scenarios based on a fictitious support service for chil-dren with sensory needs arose from preliminary discussion within the Project Teamabout presenting problems that were realistic, plausible and relevant to all the partic-ipants. Nine respondents reported that they either ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ thatthe scenarios were well planned and constructed, and all agreed that the main char-acters in the case scenario were plausible. There was less consensus, however, aboutwhether the case scenario was realistic. This could be the result of differences in theparticipants’ backgrounds, since only four had actually worked as a visiting teacher ina special needs support service. This finding suggests that, in future developments,scenarios might be designed to reflect a wider range of backgrounds of theprogramme participants.

A particularly novel feature of the VIPBL project was the use of role-play. Eachgroup member assumed the role of ‘Ms Farrow’, an inexperienced teacher of the visu-ally impaired who worked under the direct line management of ‘Mrs Abbot’, theknowledgeable head of service. Feedback and tasks were presented in memo formatby Mrs Abbot through the service’s ‘pigeon holes’ located on the bulletin board.Given that visiting teachers have a degree of autonomy in their role and spend muchof their time away from their base, this mode of communication is not unusual insupport services. There was broad support for the role-play element, with eightrespondents feeling that it was helpful.

The tasks in the scenario were designed not only to address the programme’slearning outcomes, but also to inform the participants about practice in supportservices. All respondents agreed that the five tasks used in the scenario were ‘wellplanned and constructed’, and that the tasks had ‘clear relevance’ to their professionalrole—with nine respondents in agreement that the tasks had ‘clear relevance’ to theirprofessional development. Modifications suggested by the respondents related moreto structural factors such as guidance about the time they were expected to devote tospecific activities, rather than to the content of the tasks themselves.

Format and design of VIPBL case scenario 2

A key difference between the two case scenarios was the shift in focus from a child ina mainstream environment to a child with more complex needs receiving his educa-tion in specialist settings. In many respects the feedback for the second scenario wassimilar to that reported for case scenario 1. For example, there was broad agreementthat the case scenario was ‘well planned and constructed’, with the majority ofrespondents in agreement that the format of the scenario was ‘realistic’ and the maincharacters were considered ‘plausible’. Of particular interest was the finding that sixrespondents ‘disagreed’ that they found it easy to navigate and access the differentcomponents of case scenario 2. This is in contrast to the findings relating to casescenario 1, which all participants found easy to navigate and access. Although theformat and structure of the two case scenarios were largely similar, there were some

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subtle differences in the way the content was presented. Thus, at the start of casescenario 2, less information was provided about the educational and medical needs ofthe child on the premise that information about children’s needs in real contexts canoften emerge in a piecemeal manner. Information about the child was therefore ‘dripfed’ by the Project Team over the course of the scenario; and it appears that someparticipants did not appreciate this approach, with four respondents suggesting thatmore information was required about the case scenario prior to commencing thetasks.

In each of the case scenarios, eight respondents felt that they would have welcomedadditional support and guidance from tutors during the tasks (i.e. prior to submittingtheir final response). The programme tutors had provided summative feedback to eachgroup at the end of each task in the guise of Mrs Abbot, but had taken no active rolein the students’ discussions unless specifically requested to do so. Participants had beenable to contact a programme tutor through the bulletin board if they required clarifi-cation on any aspect of the task, and additional information was also presented in theform of a fortnightly online newsletter, providing an update on the progress of thegroups as well as reminders of key dates relating to the project. However, the feedbackfrom the respondents indicates that additional guidance would have been beneficialat key points in the discussion. Within phase 2 of the study, therefore, it is planned tointroduce additional support for Ms Farrow in the form of a ‘virtual mentor’ who willbe able to provide online guidance as and when requested during each task.

Affective issues

The term ‘affective issues’ was used in the questionnaire as a broad heading tocapture feedback in relation to the emotions or feelings experienced by theparticipants in this form of learning. The majority of participants reported that theyfound their involvement in the project ‘challenging’, especially as it was additional totheir studies for the regular programme. The findings suggest that the study day 1 wasimportant in developing the participants’ confidence in their technical abilities, andby the end of phase 1 all participants agreed that they felt ‘more confident’ in theirability to work online in small groups—with nine of the 10 participants agreeing thatit had been ‘beneficial’ to complete the online tasks within a small group. Mostrespondents reported that their participation in the project had provided them with auseful professional support network that would continue after their studies werecompleted, but all agreed that they would have welcomed additional opportunities tomeet face to face with members of their group.

An unexpected finding was the extent of the anxiety respondents reported about‘letting the group down’; for example, by not contributing to a group task by the duedate. At the start of the project, the Project Team were uncertain how they couldensure that the groups met the deadlines set for the tasks and that, within each group,each member would fulfil his or her obligations. However, the sense of obligation tocolleagues was a much stronger factor than had been anticipated and, in practice,there was no need for external enforcement by tutors other than a simple reminder to

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participants of approaching deadlines. This does not answer the question of how thetutors will deal with participants who do not carry out their responsibilities to thegroup in future cohorts, but it does suggest that loyalty to the group is a key factor incompliance and that this emotional link perpetuates itself beyond the immediatetasks. For example, nine respondents reported that they planned to maintain contactwith members of their PBL group once the project had been completed and, to enablethis, participants were provided with continued access to the project website for theduration of their studies at the university.

Time management issues

As noted earlier, the teachers’ participation in the VIPBL project was ‘additional’ tothe requirements of the programme, and consequently time management presentedparticular challenges. While there was no consensus about the amount of time partic-ipants had dedicated to each of the tasks, the majority of participants reported thatthey spent between one and three hours a week on the project (Table 1).

The responses provide some useful insights into the online working practices of theparticipants. For example, the majority of respondents reported that they found iteasier to participate from home than at the workplace. Furthermore, while allparticipants in the programme were allocated a half a day a week for study time bytheir employers, most used this for the conventional aspects of the programme, andall the respondents agreed that most of their online participation was undertaken inthe evenings and/or weekends. Given that all the participants were volunteers to theproject, and were prepared to put in the additional effort in order to complete thetasks within their own time, this finding raises an interesting question about howrepresentative this sample is when compared with the working practices of the fullcohort of students within phase 2 of the study.

Given the relatively small sample, it is not possible to draw any firm conclusionsfrom this study about the effect of group size on the working practices of each group.The groups were matched according to their cohort of study (Group 1, n = 6; Group2, n = 4) and while three respondents agreed that their group size was adequate toenable them to complete the tasks on time, seven disagreed with this statement.These findings raise interesting questions about what constitutes an ‘optimum’ groupsize for students engaged in collaborative learning when engaged in online activities.While there is some evidence in the literature to suggest that the group size in moretraditional PBL should be six students (for example, Lohman & Finkelstein, 2000),it is not clear whether this number is also appropriate for collaborative learning usingweb-based resources, and presents an interesting line of enquiry to be exploredfurther within phase 2 of the project.

Project resources

The project resources for each case scenario included a range of supplementary mate-rials; for example, articles from the literature that had relevance to the focus of the

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task and/or scenario, a link to enable online search through about medical conditions,and so on. There was broad consensus that these resources were appropriate, witheight respondents agreeing that they were ‘adequate’ to enable them to participate inthe project. While one respondent reported that additional advice from tutors abouthow to use the resources effectively would have been welcomed, seven respondentsagreed that they would have welcomed guidance from tutors as to how much timethey should have spent reading relevant literature for each of the tasks. This is an areathat can be addressed within the guidance to be provided as part of the time-manage-ment issues discussed earlier.

Table 1. Time management issues

Less than 1 hour per week

1–2 hours per week

2–3 hours per week

More than 3 hours per week

1. On average approximately how many hours did you spent engaged in each of the tasks during your participation in case scenario 1

0 4 3 3

2. On average approximately how many hours did you spent engaged in each of the tasks during your participation in case scenario 2

1 4 1 2

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree3. I found it difficult to manage my time

effectively in order to fully engage in the tasks for the case scenarios

3 2 4 1

4. I would have welcomed additional input from tutors about how to manage my time effectively

2 3 4 1

5. I would have welcomed guidance from tutors regarding how much time I should have spent engaged in each of the tasks

3 4 3 0

6. I found it easiest to participate online from my work establishment

0 3 2 5

7. I found it easiest to participate online from home

7 1 1 1

8. I used my allotted study time to participate in the project

0 4 2 4

9. Most of my online participation was in the evenings and/or weekends

6 4 0 0

10. I found the group size was adequate to enable us to complete the tasks on time

1 2 6 1

11. I felt the group size was too small to enable us to complete the tasks on time

1 2 5 2

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Of particular interest was the use made of online and paper-based resources tolocate information for the tasks. Eight respondents agreed that they found it ‘mostappropriate’ to draw on online resources to find out information for a given task,while seven respondents made use of a combination of online and paper-basedresources. The findings suggest that while online resources have an important role,there may still be a need for students to have access to a range of conventionalresources in hard copy format, including course texts and journal articles.

Development of knowledge and understanding

The tasks developed for the case scenarios were built around the learning outcomesfrom a module concerned with vision and human visual processes and the impact ofvisual loss or on learning and development. As shown in Table 2, there was broad agree-ment that participation in the two scenarios developed knowledge and understandingin relation to these learning outcomes, with the majority of respondents reporting thattheir participation helped to develop their knowledge and understanding either ‘verywell’ or ‘well’ for each outcome.

Table 3 provides a summary of the responses when participants were asked to listup to three ways in which participation in the project helped to develop knowledge,understanding and/or skills in order to identify and meet the educational needs ofchildren with visual impairment. The responses have been grouped under four broadheadings: ‘knowledge and understanding of visual impairment’, ‘online resources’,‘professional aspects’ and ‘group participation’. The most common observation wasthat participation in the project had helped to increase knowledge and understandingof the educational implications of visual impairment, with five respondents reportingthat participation had increased their skills in Information and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) and/or use of online resources.

Table 2. Development of knowledge and understanding—module learning outcomes

To what extent did your participation in the two case scenarios help to develop your knowledge and understanding in relation to: Very well Well

Fairly well

Not very well

1. The analysis of the process of vision, the effects of ocular and cerebral dysfunction and the implications of these for development and learning?

5 4 1 0

2. The evaluation of a range of commonly used procedures for assessment of children with visual impairment?

3 5 2 0

3. The analysis of how information from visual assessment procedures can be used to develop and maximise vision?

1 5 2 2

4. The adaptations and development of customised approaches to assessment of children with visual impairment?

2 5 3 0

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Contribution of the Project Team

There was a high level of agreement in support of the role of the Project Teamthroughout the project. For example, all respondents agreed that the team were‘knowledgeable and analytical in their approach’, ‘provided clear direction andfeedback’ and ‘created an atmosphere of engagement’. While all the respondentsagreed that the campus-based sessions were important in establishing ‘a good grouprapport’, most felt that insufficient time had been provided for them to learn thenew skills and procedures, with recommendations made for additional campus-based sessions in order to develop the range of skills needed to fully engage in onlinePBL.

Recommendations for future practice

The final heading of the questionnaire requested participants to list up to fiverecommendations for improving the online PBL experiences of future cohorts ofstudents. This was an unstructured section and respondents were free to make anyrecommendation(s) they felt to be appropriate. Only one respondent offered fiverecommendations for improving the online PBL experiences, with the other ninerespondents choosing to list either one or two. A summary of these responses ispresented in Table 4 with responses grouped into four broad headings: ‘Inductionto PBL/ICT’, ‘Participation in case scenarios’, ‘Role of tutors’ and ‘PBL ActivityGroup’.

Table 3. Development of knowledge, understanding and skills—professional role

List up to three ways in which your participation in the project helped to develop your knowledge, understanding and/or skills in order to more effectively identify and meet the educational needs of children with visual impairment

Number of responses

Knowledge and understanding of visual impairmentIncrease confidence in relation to educational implications of visual impairment 6Raised awareness of needs of children with multiple disabilities 2

Online resourcesIncreased competence in ICT skills/using online resources 5Increased knowledge of relevant web resources for professional role 3

Professional aspectsRealised differences in procedures used in different local education authorities 1Developed ability to sift through information to find out which is relevant to task 1Stimulated analytical thinking 1

Group participationUseful to share and discuss resources/tasks with participants from otherprofessional roles

3

Gained information from working as a group 1Increased reflective thinking to take account of perspectives of others 1

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Five respondents stated that more time was required for the induction session tofamiliarise participants with ICT, and a further three noted that induction opportu-nities should be provided for chat-room discussion earlier on in the induction session.While there is no clear pattern in the recommendations for improvements (with themajority of items included in this summary based on only one response), thissummary provides useful feedback for the Project Team in further refining theresources and support to be offered to students prior to commencing phase 2 of theproject.

Conclusion

Although there is evidence in the literature to suggest that, with recent developmentsin technology, the principles of PBL can be adapted to meet the needs of students inhigher education studying at a distance, this is the first study that reports the use ofonline PBL resources in the professional development of specialist teachers. While

Table 4. Recommendations for improving the online PBL experiences for future cohorts of students (list up to five)

RecommendationNumber of responses

Induction to PBL/ICTMore time required for induction sessions to familiarise participants with ICT 5Provide induction opportunities for chat room discussion earlier on in inductionsession

3

Participation in case scenariosIncrease allocated task time within case scenario 2Ensure participants notify each other if unable to contribute to a task 1Stress importance of setting realistic time limits for investigation of task to ensureappropriate time is left to summarise

1

Role of tutorsCloser monitoring of individuals by tutors to ensure participation by all 2Ensure each group always receives positive feedback from the tutors to motivate thegroup

1

Tutors to provide individual as well as group feedback on participationMore precise feedback on the group discussion would be helpful prior tosubmission of task

1

More precise instructions from tutors at beginning of case scenario as to how oftento go online/how much time to spend on each task

1

PBL Activity GroupEnsure groups have opportunities for face-to-face contact 3Group size to be no fewer than six participants 1Ensure characteristics of group roles are clarified 1Ensure even gender balance within each group 1Ensure even geographical mix within activity groups 1

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the findings presented in this paper are based on a relatively small sample, theyprovide evidence to suggest that, with appropriate resources, adequate preparatorytraining and effective tutor support, it is possible to structure the virtual learningenvironment to enable these learners to engage in PBL activities as part of theircontinuing professional development.

Furthermore, the findings suggest that the resources developed for this projecthelped to create an environment described by Oliver and McLoughlin (2001) as onewhere learners are supported in developing independent learning skills, with the webproviding opportunities for learners in terms of its capacity to provide access to infor-mation, support collaborative learning and enable communication between learners.As Oliver and McLoughlin (2001, p. 150) caution, however, these same possibilitiesopen up significant questions for educators and designers:

● How can online environments be designed to ensure learning?● What structures and forms of support will ensure that collaborative and meaning-

ful dialogue will ensue between participants?● What forms of assistance are required in order to create motivating contexts for

learners?

A key challenge for the Project Team within phase 2 of the project will be to seekinformation to address these and related questions further, as they explore how tomost effectively embed the pilot resources described into the restructured programmeof study.

Acknowledgements

The Project Team would like to acknowledge the role of the Learning DevelopmentUnit at the University of Birmingham in funding phase 1 of the project. They wouldalso like to acknowledge the contribution of the 10 participants for their involvementin the project.

Note

The report for phase 1 of the project is available through the VICTAR website(www.education.bham.ac.uk/research/victar/research.htm). For further informationon this project please contact the corresponding author.

References

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Albion, P. R. & Gibson, I. W. (2000) Problem-based learning as a multimedia design frameworkin teacher education, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 8, 315–326.

Arts, J., Gijselaers, W. & Segers, M. (2002) Cognitive effects of an authentic computer-supported,problem based learning environment, Instructional Science, 30, 465–495.

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