20 ] September 13-14, 2014 The Weekend Australian
Debunking the isolation myth
Undertaking a degree via online education is no longer an exercise in solitary confinement thanks to recent gains in technology.
WHO says it’s lonely doing an online course? Technological advances and growing expertise around what works in the online space are making off-campus study more social than ever.
Simon McIntyre, the director of learning and innovation at UNSW Australia Art & Design, says while online learning is “completely different” to the face-to-face experience, it provides incredible opportunities for social engagement.
McIntyre has been teaching online courses since 2002. Together with Dr Negin Mirriahi, he is currently mid-way through delivering a MOOC (massive open online course; see page 28) about how to teach online. More than 18,000 people in 173 nations are participating, reflecting the global thirst for knowledge about making the most of online environments in education.
“One of the key things is how you set up the online space at the beginning. You do need a clear set of ground rules around how often teachers will be participating in the space and what the expectations are for students in terms of their presence and contribution,” says McIntyre.
“A big thing for students is to know when the teacher is going to be there. No one wants to be typing into a black abyss. “Online learning may have had a certain stigma about it in the early days – a bit like online dating did. Thanks to social media, we facilitate much of our lives online and it’s now just another natural way we extend our human connection.”
McIntyre says online spaces encourage unprecedented networking and sharing of ideas.
“If it’s set up properly, online learning enables everyone to contribute. If you’re in a face-to-face class you may never actually interact with the lecturer, but online the chances are you’ll be part of numerous conversations with your teacher as well as your peers.”
There are plenty of options for interactions but you need to seek them out. The good news is that there are lots of other students who are looking to create a sense of community.
McIntyre says quiet students or those for whom English is a second language often find it easier to express themselves in an online context.
“When I meet students I’ve only known online, I’m often surprised. The most outspoken person online is often very shy and reserved in real life.”
He says while face-to-face courses might be delivered once a week in a lecture theatre for three hours at a time, online learning is most effective in little bites.
“People tend to dip into the online environment for smaller amounts of time, more often.”
At the University of Newcastle’s Faculty of Health and Medicine’s GradSchool, Dr Chris Kewley says to deliver a social experience, institutions and staff must create an effective learning culture without the bricks and mortar of the classroom.
“The virtual classroom is open 24/7 so it’s a totally different style of teaching and learning, where students and teachers are going in and out constantly. It’s all about connectivity,” Kewley says.
“Universities have a wide array of online tools and resources at their disposal from networking sites to blogs to discussion boards to video sharing. Good teachers use these tools to create an interactive learning culture in their online classrooms so every student can participate.”
Most of GradSchool’s masters programs are available online and Kewley says even digital immigrants have little or no trouble connecting with peers and teachers in the virtual classroom.
“You need an online classroom that’s intuitive and you need to have help available fast if students encounter glitches.” With students from all over the world, Kewley has seen firsthand the way online education fosters new styles of learning.
“When a diverse mix of students come together in the virtual classroom, I see learning accelerate. Students see new perspectives and ideas and participate in information sharing that just didn’t used to happen with the old lectures and overhead slides.”
However, Paul Wappett, CEO of Open Universities Australia, says studying online is just like being on campus.
“There are plenty of options for interactions but you need to seek them out. The good news is that there are lots of other students who are also looking to create a sense of community with their classmates and for people with which they can compare experiences, study tips, and even how to approach an upcoming assignment,” says Wappett.
“Discussion boards and forums work just like social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and people are generally very familiar with those.”
He says a challenge for students considering an online postgraduate course is that, while they are familiar with campus-based study from their undergraduate days, they sometimes find it diff cult to imagine how online study actually works.
“Some people say ‘I don’t understand what I’m going to get. I can’t picture what it will look and feel like to do an online course.’ This can hold them back.”
As a kind of ‘taster’, Open Universities offers free short courses on its ‘Open to Study’ platform (www.open2study. com) where you can choose from a wide range of courses – offered by 12 universities in Australia and one in New Zealand – that last for four weeks and don’t cost a cent.
“It’s a great way of experiencing the online learning environment before committing the time, energy and money to a full course.”
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