Supporting Synchronous e-learning

Different strokes for different folks

Heidi SugarmanOno Academic College & Ben Gurion Universityhsugarman@hakirya.ac.il

Tamar WeissUniversity of Haifatamar@research.haifa.ac.il

Market

Pull

Technolog

y Push

Student and lecturer convenience

Technologies for online learning

- Wide availability of computers - High speed online connectivity- Courseware programs- E-learning support centers - Older students with work & home

obligations - Traffic, weather, strikes- Differences in learning styles- Accessible for students with disabilities-Commuting students & lecturers

Advantages of DL• The obvious ones: weather, traffic, crowded,

uncomfortable classrooms, students with disabilities

• The more subtle ones: students take more responsibility for their education in order to support options for life-long learning.

2 Types of DL

• Synchronous

• Asynchronous

SynchronousAsynchronousSame time any placeAny time any place

Computer, modem Computer, modem

Online, on demand Online, live

Student initiative, driven by materials prepared by instructor

Instructor drivenNeeds discipline by student

Extremely flexible Moderately flexible

Moderate use of multimedia, limited by bandwidth

Multimedia not posible due to bandwidth limitations

Advantages of Synchronous DL

• Students taking part in synchronous sessions are motivated by the energy generated by the group.

• In contrast to the delayed response associated with asynchronous discussion forums, feedback with synchronous methods is fast-paced and immediate.

• Encourages students to keep up-to-date and maintain discipline in meeting course deadlines

Main advantage of synchronous DL

• Potential for creating the feeling of actually sitting in a real classroom – i.e., the creation of a sense of "telepresence" over the Internet.

• Telepresence = the extent to which one has the experience of being fully present at a live real world location remote from one's own physical location

Disadvantages of Synchronous DL

Lack of control over students

• Moderating a synchronous online event has been likened to teaching while wearing a blindfold and earplugs – the lecturer usually has no idea what is taking place on the other side of the Internet connection

Distractions

• Students at work have the usual pressures and demands of work setting

• At home: temptation to take care of domestic chores can be overwhelming

Demographic data

UniversityNLevelProgramAge Gender

Computer & Internet at home

BGU*27B. ScBiomedical Engineering

25. 3 ± 1.3 13 M14 F

20/27

Haifa14MScOccupational Therapy

30.2 ± 7.7 14 FAll

*Ben Gurion University

The Interwise system

Lecturer’s Desktop

Supporting Synchronous

e-learning

Different strokes for different folks

Student's Desktop

Supporting Synchronous

e-learning

Different strokes for different folks

Importance of adequate support for synchronous DL

Haifa• PPT explanation of the program

sent to each student• Individual training using support

person to use the Interwise program – one or two 20 min training sessions for each student

• Individual training was needed because of feelings of fear and trepidation

BGU: • PPT explanation sent to each

student• Lecturer did “dress rehearsal” to

check for technical problems• Students viewed using the

program as a great adventure

Interactivity

• Students were encouraged to make use of the Interwise tools to communicate with the lecturer and with each other

What we did –

• Interactive – many questions to the students

• Lecturer stopped as soon as hand was raised, and passed speaker rights to student

• Camera showing lecturer (Haifa)

• Student presentations (BGU)

Student's Desktop

Support system

• Technical support person for training and during sessions

• Needed occasionally even by BGU students because of technical difficulties that arose during the lecture (usually problems with downloading materials).

Use of internet, chat, e-mail

Yes=1, no = 0

Maximum score = 3

Internet experience - years

Knowledge of computer and internet applications – students rated themselves

Similar Learning styles

Wide variation in both groups masking any between group differences

Active vs. Reflective “I understand something better after I (a) try it out or (b) think it through”.

Intuitive vs. Sensing “I would rather first (a) try things out or (b) think about how I’m going to do it”.

Verbal vs. Visual “When I think about what I did yesterday, I am most likely to get (a) a picture or (b) words”.

Sequential vs. Global “Once I understand (a) all the parts, I understand the whole thing or (b) thewhole thing, I see how the parts fit”.

Both practical professions like to try things out, get a feel for what it means

Feeling of presence

Feeling of accomplishment

Comfort level

Student comments

• BGU enjoyed the comfort of tuning in from their own homes

• BGU students tended to get together in small groups of 2-3

• Both groups of students enjoyed the feeling of being “techy”

• Haifa students : several negative comments about presenting difficult material in this format

• Otherwise they seemed to like it and felt that an online learning format suited the course material “Technology in Occupational Therapy”

Conclusions & Recommendations

• Camera (Haifa) and participating in small groups (BGU) added to sense of presence

• Good to ask many questions and create interactivity

• Not a good idea to try and teach difficult material in this format

• Can only cover about 2/3 of the material in comparison to face-to-face lecture

• Even non-techy older students can enjoy the internet format, if they are adequately prepared

•Overall, both students and lecturers reported that the advantages of synchronous learning outweighed its disadvantages, at least for occasional courses.•Technology can overcome problems of wide geographic distribution of potential students

Bottom Line

Unfortunately

• Support for Interwise is now being discontinued at both BGU and Haifa due to lack of demand on part of lecturers.

• Need to find incentives to encourage lecturers to try out new learning technologies……

Limitations of this study

• Group sizes are small relative to the variability

• Technical difficulties with some of the more interactive interventions

• Groups differed in many ways that confounded the study (e.g. different course material, different lecturers)

Meital for financial support for the Interwise platform and this study

Alison Brann for technical support

Noa Gilad for data analysis

Micha Konja and Yehuda Hausner for support above and beyond the call of duty

Acknowledgements