Centre for Continuing Education Implications for Improving Instructional Design Casual Conversations with Online Students

Centre for Continuing Education

Implications for Improving Instructional Design

Casual Conversations with Online Students


Agenda

1. About Us 10 min2. Student Feedback 30 min3. Your Thoughts? Discussion 20 min


University of Regina



wordle.com


Course Growth

*Note: Faculty of Nursing & First Nations University of Canada are not included in statistics.


Enrolment Growth

*Note: Faculty of Nursing & First Nations University of Canada are not included in statistics.


Our Project


What was your experience

taking an online course

like?


Preparation &

Participants


Age


Gender


Faculty


Four Themes


1. TOOLS


Tools & Technology“Definitely having a tutorial ….at the beginning of any

course that uses URCourses…they kinda have to learn to use to URCourses all by themselves…that would really help everyone.”

Short video tutorials were brought up several times throughout the focus groups


Tools & Technology

“What I think we’re saying is that .. at least when you log into URCourses you got a POOF right there, you can see visually like what’s been changed and not just email, any thing that has been updated or changed, you can just see it in a second (like in Facebook)..yeah exactly.”

Notifications and mode of communication in each course needs to be clearly defined (email )


Tools & Technology

“My computer is very old so definitely prefer a PDF just because I can open it..ahh..I have just a nightmare with the docx extension…”

“If something is in word format I have to jump through hoops to get it to open up on my computer so if it is a PDF it opens up really quickly.”


Tools & Technology

“There’s almost too many other tools online that you can do online stuff with like google docs for example…it seems like coming to URCourses just for the sake of using of using URCourses wasn’t efficient…we’ll just use google or something else.”


How do you deal with notifications, orientation, incompatible files

and use of web 2.0 tools?

Twitter: #CAUCEconversationsGoogle Docs: http://tinyurl.com/CAUCEconversations


Tools & Technology

“The University is an opportunity to explore the world and learn things. What if your opinion is wrong, what if it is derived, what if it’s incorrect and the next thing you know is your employer is googling you…I think this is one case where the wall garden is a good idea and all your digital history be actually destroyed at the end of your university career.”



What do you think of the walled garden idea &

handling student data each term?


2. Course Design


Course Design

“I think the professors actual ability to use URCourses properly…it changes the value I get from URCourses because … maybe he is computer illiterate…but it does affect what I get out of it.”


Do instructors have easy access to IT & instructional design

support for face-to-face, online and blended?



Course Design

“There seems to be constant errors within the course material…whether it is a missing link… different page numbers in the text which is obviously from a different version.. but it is the little things like that. Somebody just needs to go through that course and make sure everything lines up. I find it frustrating …those kind of details.”


How to handle course quality with increased

growth in course offerings & enrolments?



Course Design

“I find with online courses, the paradigm isn’t well thought, your just basically putting online what you use to do by correspondence ...are they really engaging me as a student sitting in front of the computer…I can use so many of things at the same time, so if the material isn’t engaging, here is something for you to read...”


Course Design“the bookshelf format …made it easy for me to reference

something, because I didn’t have to remember did we studied that concept …it was right there…”

“I like how it is dated here in mine the bookshelf wasn’t dated …I mean it was still fine…its really nice to have a visual week-to-week …every week you knew what you had to do…that was great…it was better for scheduling.”


3. Humanizing Technology


Humanizing Technology“I would say what …what distinguishes a bad and good

online course would be...the one who is running it, like there has to be a human component even though it’s like technologically...the virtual teaching assistant...If I had a question they would email me within that hour... and those were kind of odd hours as well. I uh, was really of amazed...


Humanizing Technology“…. Some professors almost make it pointless to show up to

the lectures, because with UR Courses, you know, everything’s on there almost?…... That’s kind of the feeling I get sometimes, but um, then there’s classes where that extra information is required, you know? …it’s good to have somebody to fall back on and ask about, you know, just clarify? and that’s why I do attend the lectures because you pick up things you don’t always get through the online part”


Humanizing Technology

“Probably only one out of 5 profs actually JOINED the discussion and tried to bring it back into focus or, add something or maybe… or maybe you know, something to just kind of generate discussion. “


4.Flexibility


Flexibility

“...suppose your Internet connection is down and it’s the day before the exam. Like I had that happen to me before and that was just, pure hell... And because it’s all up there you wouldn’t have bothered to print out the Power-points or anything like that ...”


Flexibility

“That’s one of the things students have to take into account is, you know, maybe... you are going to get more out of the...on site lecture, but at the same time, I’ve seen these students in the lecture and this is what they do (sleeping motion). Are they getting any of the stuff out of it? No... it’s your responsibility to get out of it what you put into it. It’s not the university’s job. It’s not the professor’s job. In the end, you’re the one who takes responsibility.”


Flexibility

“It’s happening. The government talks about barriers to post secondary education. Elearning and online learning is barrier removal”


Flexibility“I don’t want to be working until 5...going home and cooking

supper for my kids and saying “ok, see you tomorrow. I am going to go to class from 7 to10”. ... I don’t get to be a parent. …”

“Just getting to campus, its ummm… parking and walking…It’s cold and nasty outside. It is nice to have one less class to have to attend...”


Flexibility

“... I have to go to work half an hour early in the morning because I go to class during my lunch hour. So you’re thinking about work and then you go sit in a lecture, probably miss half of it because you haven’t eaten, then it’s right back from the lecture back to work ... then you’re home at 5:30... whereas with online classes it’s much easier to set a time to work on it ...”


Lessons Learned &

Moving Forward


Lessons Learned & Actions

What we learned1. Email issues & alerts

2. Instructor presence in courses varies

What we’ll do1. Work with IT department to

improve communication tools

2. Work with instructors to improve attitudes, knowledge and communication skills.



What we learned3. Courses which have limited

or no course design support are frustrating to students

4. Many students requested more video, especially tutorials

What we’ll do3. We will collaborate with the

Centre for Teaching & Learning (CTL) to provide PD for face-to-face instructors

4. Make short screencast type overview tutorials



What we learned5. Students experienced

frustrations with file formats and file sizes.

6. Students want clarification up front at registration about whether a course has synchronous or asynchronous components

What we’ll do5. Internally look at how we

present materials to students.

6. Include this information in UR Self Serve


Mobile phone during commute I don’t want to pay for a data planI enjoy group work Group work sucks

Synchronous meetings are beneficial

Synchronous meetings are a hassle

I want open access tools Want a walled garden so employers can’t Google them

Preferred weekly paced instruction

Provide the content and I’ll work at my own pace

I wanted a correspondence course

I learn better with interaction

Contradictory Feedback


DiscussionTwitter: #CAUCEconversations

Google Docs: http://tinyurl.com/CAUCEconversations


Question summary• How do you deal with notifications, orientation, incompatible

files and use of web 2.0 tools?• What do you think of the walled garden idea & handling

student data each term? • Do instructors have easy access to IT & instructional design

support for face-to-face, online, and blended?• How to handling course quality with increased growth in

course offerings & enrolments• Are there any institutions with strategies for personalized

learning? One size doesn’t fit all.


darrel.lawlor @uregina.ca or @[email protected] or @M_vanginneken


Campus Facts 2010 - University of Regina ‘Facts Brochure’

People vs. ‘Personalization’ Retaining the Human Element in the High-Tech era of education - http://tinyurl.com/7qz4b88

A Student Guide to Studying Online - http://tinyurl.com/7jowm82

Designing & Conducting Focus Group Interviews by Richard A. Krueger, University of Minnesota, 2002

University of Regina – Photography Department


Humanizing Technology

“I think it kind of depends on the class and probably the professor as well... so we didn’t have that isolation whereas in my economics class... you didn’t have a chance to meet your classmates...it depends on who’s in the class (any hunch as to why that is)...it depends if they’re more confused about something”


Contrasting Views

“I’m still on pre-paid... I don’t want to have to pay extra for my phone... Just like computers now-a-days. ...if you don’t have a computer, which is almost rare now-a-days, the university does provide public computers..”

“ I used my iPod 70% of the time.. for readings, ...I would look it up online from the...university wifi ... sign into that and I could go to UR Courses and go down to whatever I needed... For the readings.”


Flexibility“...I am a single parent and I work and I am still doing 5 classes a

semester so I try to get at least one online class ...so just having that online class to kinda free up that space ...I can do it whenever I want like when my son is napping …”

“It is very convenient. I have 3 kids and I work full time...I do the things after they are in bed. If I don’t understand something I can go back 5or 6 times where if I was in class I would not have that...”

Documents

Centre for Continuing Education Implications for Improving Instructional Design Casual Conversations with Online Students