Documentation Project Survey Results Table of Contents   A. Introduction and Aims Respondents Procedure Structure of the survey B. Use of Online Technologies Description of online teaching and learning projects Characteristics of target groups for online projects Role of respondents Motives for involvement in online teaching and learning Course components delivered online Instructional strategies used in online projects C. Design and Development Educational philosophy and instructional models Teaching strategies that have adapted well to the online environment Teaching strategies that have not adapted to the online environment Unique features of the online environment that improve teaching Changes made to structure of course Changes in design of online teaching programs D. Delivery Technologies used in the delivery of online education Access to technology Induction Learning styles and online learning Unique features of the online environment that improve learning Facilitation in the online environment Supporting the learning process in an online environment Assessment techniques in online projects E. Reflection on Experience Re-examination of teaching processes as a result of being involved in online teaching and learning Success criteria for online projects Difficulties encountered in online teaching and learning References   A. Introduction and Aims This survey aimed to document the current findings and experiences of VET practitioners regarding how online technologies enhance teaching and learning processes. It also aimed to identify any unique features of the online medium that are particularly effective for teaching and learning. Respondents   There were 53 respondents to the survey. Eighteen respondents had experience in the development of online materials or courses, and 35 had participated in development and delivery of courses. The survey was sent out to 72 VET practitioners who had been identified by representatives from each state and territory of Australia. The survey was also sent to the 4MAT listserv that had been established in a previous project, as well as to the Ed Web Dev listserv. A maximum of three reminder e-mails were sent, two weeks apart, to those who hadn't responded to the survey. The participation by state is described in Table 1. The larger number of South Australian respondents probably due to a mix of the project being based in South Australia, as well as that state's high level of involvement in online teaching and learning projects. Table 1. Number of respondents by state. State   Number ACT   4 NSW   5 NT   1 QLD   1 SA   26 VIC   10 WA   2 Overseas   4 Due the low number of responses from various states, the data from the survey may not be fully representative of the views of all VET practitioners involved in online teaching and learning. The findings from this sample provide an interesting range of responses that can be used to extract some larger themes and trends, rather than being a definitive snapshot of attitudes and beliefs of all VET practitioners. The respondents held a range of different positions within their organisations, as Table 2 illustrates. Table 2. Number of respondents in various roles. Group Number Role Title Management / Coordination 9 Executive Officer, Accreditation Officer, Senior Education Officer, Curriculum Officer, Director Off Campus Coordinator, Open Learning Coordinator, Head of Centre (2) Managers 10 Manager (2), Manager Education Services, Manager Curriculum and Flexible Delivery, Manager Online Education, Manager VLE, Educational Manager (3), Project Manager (2) Librarians 3 Manager LRC, Project Librarian, Librarian Instructional Designer 3 Instructional Designer, Instructional Designer/Evaluation Specialist, Senior Instructional Designer Teachers / Lecturers 22 Principal Lecturer (3), Lecturer (10), ASL2 (2), Teacher (2), Senior Head Teacher IT, Head Teacher IT, Advanced Skills Teacher, Band 1 Teacher (contract), Trainer Procedure   After receiving an e-mail the respondents completed the questionnaire in a Web browser. The questionnaire took from 20 to 60 minutes to complete. The surveys were submitted via e-mail to the project team.   Structure of the survey   The survey was designed as a Web form page. It consisted of 25 questions. The questions were a mix of tick box selections and open text boxes for longer responses. The full survey is available. The questions were structured across five major categories: basic information (contact details) use of online technologies (project description, target group, project role, motives, course components delivered, instructional strategies used) design and development (educational philosophy, successful and unsuccessful teaching strategies, unique online teaching features, changes to structure of course, changes to design of course) delivery (technologies used, access to technology, induction, online support for learning styles, unique online learning features, facilitation, support, assessment) reflection on experience (re-examination of teaching process, criteria for success of project, difficulties). The survey was usability tested. The Project Officer observed five people completing the survey in order to uncover difficulties with the wording of the questions. Some of the categories were adapted and modified from previous research. Specifically the list of kinds of learning tasks were adapted from the work of Pitt & Clarke (1997).   B. Use of Online Technologies   This section of the survey was completed by all participants. It focussed on a description of the online teaching and learning project, the characteristics of the target group, the role of the respondent in the project, the motives for involvement, the course components delivered online and the instructional strategies used.   Description of online teaching and learning projects   The use of online technologies is being applied across a wide range of areas from Information Technology to farming and small scale mining (see Table 3). There was also a range of skills being covered from communication to workplace assessment and the use of the Internet. Clearly the Internet is being seen as a delivery method applicable to most content areas. Table 3. Respondents were involved in the following selection of teaching and learning projects. Certificate in Automotive Business Management Certificate in Small Scale Mining Certificate II Spoken and Written English - ESL Modules Certificate IV Information Technology Certificate IV Hospitality Certificate IV Managing Social and Community Services Certificate IV Small Business Management Certificate IV Small Business Ownership Structures Certificate IV Taxation Associate Diploma in Computer Systems Engineering Module: Digital Subsystems 1 National accounting modules - Business Mathematics, Business Statistics National engineering modules ANTA Best Practice in Instructional Design and Delivery Mechanisms Budgeting Fundamentals for Farmers Graphics Prepress Introduction to the Internet Workshops Introduction to Australian Government Occupational Health and Safety Module for Qantas Small Business Management and Preparatory Areas Workplace Assessor Module Workplace Communication Characteristics of target groups for online projects   There was a great range of target audiences for teaching and learning projects being developed online. They ranged from unemployed, non-english speaking background students, to information technology professionals in the inner city who found it difficult to attend traditional classes. There was also a mix of audiences, with some projects aimed at staff development training for VET practitioners, others were directed at those people who had existing competencies with the technologies, while more again were working with groups who had only basic levels of technological literacy. A sample of the range is illustrated in Table 4. Table 4. Sample of target groups for online teaching and learning mentioned by respondents. VET teachers and trainers Qantas ground staff TAFE online developers and users Electronics technicians English as a Second Language (ESL) students Frontline managers Small scale gold miners - generally with poor literacy or education skills Adults currently employed in the retail automotive repair and service industry. Role of respondents   Participants were asked to select which of 8 different roles they had played in their project. Each respondent could select more than one role. Graph 1 presents the number of times the eight roles were selected in the survey. As can be seen, the role most selected was that of learning material developer, with 35 of the 54 respondents playing this role in their online teaching and learning projects. The most commonly selected roles were learning material developer, project manager, instructional designer. Graph 1. Frequency of selection of role in online teaching and learning project. The histogram presented in Graph 2 presents the number of roles that each participant selected. The graph demonstrates that there are two major trends - there were some respondents who only performed one or two roles in their project, while there was another group of respondents who played four or more roles in their projects. The average number of roles that each participant played in their project was 3.6. This indicates that currently respondents are playing multiple roles in online teaching and learning projects. Graph 2 presents the number of roles selected per respondent. The histogram shows that there were two general groups of respondents: those who had one or two roles in a project those who had four or more roles. These trends may be a function of the team size involved in the creation of the online project; while some respondents may have worked as part of small teams, others worked individually and so took on many of the roles themselves. Graph 2. Histogram of the number of roles selected per respondents.   Motives for involvement in online teaching and learning   The respondents to the survey were all able to articulate their motives for becoming involved in online teaching and learning, with all 54 respondents answering the question. From the nature of the responses it is clear that the online teaching and learning projects have been personally engaging for many of the respondents. The responses encompassed three major areas of interest: learner motives professional motives business and marketing motives These motives are described in Table 5. The majority of the responses related to learner motives, followed by professional motives and business and marketing motives. This pattern is consistent with the proportion of lecturers to managers in the sample. Table 5. The major motives for respondents involvement in online teaching and learning. Learner Motives Increased quality of instruction Increased access to materials Professional Motives Personal interest or excitement - about the opportunity Professional development - increased skills set Business and Marketing Motives Need to be first into the marketplace Opportunity for 'system' expansion Learner motives   A sample of responses demonstrating learner motives is described below:  Give our clients much greater control over what, when, where and how they learn and provide them with training that suits their individual learning needs and styles. To provide students with alternative modes of learning, apart from traditional classroom lecturing. To give them alternatives to how they may learn and to lessen the tyranny of attendance for those who believed they did not need to attend classes. As these quotes illustrate, often the desire to improve conditions for the learner involved a mix of the desire for improving access to materials and the desire for improving the quality of the learning experience. Many respondents made a link between online teaching and learning and flexible delivery. Respondents who had previous experience with flexible delivery viewed online teaching and learning as an extension:  My major interest is in flexible delivery strategies. Online is another option when developing programs that offer learning alternatives to students. Belief that this form of flexible delivery can enhance learning and provide alternatives to individuals or groups who wish to select their own time and place for learning.  Professional motives The opportunity to learn a new skill and become experienced at technical tasks was mentioned as a motive by a number of participants. These opportunities were often personally motivating to the respondents:  I wanted to learn and understand the workings of HTML / WWW. The thought of doing something new and interesting motivated me. I wish to develop and improve my skills in the areas covered by the current project. It has also allowed me to learn a new skill set that I feel will in the future be of value to me. Development of my previous skills and interest into an area that has the possibility for enormous expansion.  Business and marketing motives Some respondents commented on the fact that online technologies will become 'ubiquitous' in the workplace, so it will be essential that VET sector students to achieve basic competencies in the use of these technologies as part of their education. Consistent with the idea that the technology will become widely available, some respondents mentioned that their motivation to become involved with online projects was to ensure the VET sector achieved business and marketing advantages:  Simple, get into the market or lose important areas of future business; it's about futures marketing. I believe that for an organisation to be credible and competitive into the 21st century it must be involved in delivery mechanisms which provide learners with choice in the time and place of learning. This market pressure will increase as more learners find they need to maintain currency in their field, or change fields, in order to remain employed.  Course components delivered online   The average number of course components delivered online was 4.7 out of 9. This indicates that most projects delivered more than one course component online. The histogram shows that there was a normal distribution around four course components, with a spike at one. This indicates that there were two general kinds of groups - those who used only a single course component, and those who used several course components. Graph 3. Course components delivered online. Graph 4. Number of course components delivered online per respondent.   Instructional strategies used in online projects   Respondents were asked to identify the instructional strategies used in their online projects, from a list provided. Respondents were able to choose as many strategies as they had used in the design of their online teaching and learning project. The list was adapted from the work of Pitt and Clarke (1997) and is presented in Table 6. Table 6. Instructional strategy with description and possible technology. Instructional Strategy Description Possible Technology Self-paced learning Working through content independently, similar to print-based resources Web pages, e-mail Lecture Format Notes available online or for download Web pages Discussion format Discussions for learners Mailing lists, bulletin board discussions, chat room, MUDs/MOOs Self-directed learning Learning initiated and directed by the learner Searching the Web to research topics Case Studies Case studies of real-world problems Presented as Web pages, discussed through e-mail or conferencing groups. Internet as a pool of data Forum Open discussions carried on by one or more hosts and an entire group Chat sessions Learner Projects Group projects, simulations, role playing, case studies, problem solving exercises, debates, brainstorming which result in a final product addressing the driving questions Web pages, e-mail, newsgroups to publish or present findings, as well as gathering feedback Small group work Discussion, role-plays or game formats Synchronous chats, asynchronous e-mail or bulletin boards Graph 5 presents the number of times each instructional technique was chosen in the survey. The most commonly used instructional techniques were self-paced techniques followed by lectures and discussions. Graph 5. Instructional techniques used in online teaching and learning projects. Graph 6. Number of instructional techniques used per respondent. Graph 6 presents the number of instructional techniques chosen per respondent. It is clear from the graph that the majority of projects implemented a number of instructional techniques. The average number of instructional strategies chosen per respondent was 4.5 indicating that the online projects took advantage of the online technologies to deliver more than just a single strategy.   C. Design and Development   This section was completed only by those participants who had been involved in the design of an online teaching and learning project. The questions focussed on the educational philosophies, teaching strategies, unique features of the online environment and changes made to the structure and design of the course.   Educational philosophy and instructional models   Respondents were asked to identify educational philosophies and/or instructional models that had guided the design of their online teaching program. The responses indicated a wide variety of interpretations of philosophy, ranging from ideas about the layout and structure of the course, to thinking about the learning process and different theoretical approaches to learning (Table 7.). Table 7. Range of educational philosophies mentioned.  4MAT model Flexible delivery Key Competencies Active learning Work based project as a basis for assessment Problem based learning Adult learning Experiential learning Constructivism Simulation Problem solving Learner-centred. One clear theme that came through from responses was that the underlying philosophies were more related to delivery strategies (e.g. self-paced) rather than cognitive learning strategies (e.g. problem-based learning). This theme would support the view that the major initial benefits of using the online environment were its ability to deliver and provide access to courses, as opposed to its ability to improve learning tasks or outcomes. There was some indication that development was often driven by technology first. The development of philosophies often occurred along the way, taking advantage of the ability to get feedback from the students through observations and surveys. The following quotes illustrate this position:  Based on trial and error approach with observation of students and feedback from them. We had no philosophy, it's occurred simply through the development, modification and testing of facilities over a three year period. No single philosophy - however the continuous evolution of computer hardware and software forces constant review and appraisal. Even in instances where respondents had well thought-out approaches it was often difficult to implement these philosophies due to the need to develop the skills of the teams involved:  The underlying philosophy is that learners will engage with learning experiences that draw on real world experiences, they will collaborate with others in a problem solving/Action Learning context, and that they will be given the skills to map their own learning path(s). Even though initial packages have not reflected this, we are gradually moving this way as we develop the skills of students, writers and teachers. Some respondents expressed their beliefs in their own language, without reference to an academic theory. The following quote illustrates some of the thinking that has been prompted about teaching and learning as a result of moving to an online environment.  I am no theoretician, but I see learning as a process that has to be carried out by the learner, the thing being learned has to pass somehow through the learner's brain in order to be retained. This is a hard thing to do, it needs focus and concentration and motivation.  Teaching strategies that have adapted well to the online environment  There was a range of teaching strategies that were considered to have adapted well to an online environment. The range of strategies seemed to fall into four major categories: facilitation and support learning tasks structure/learner expectations resources. These are presented in Table 8. Table 8. Teaching strategies that adapted well to an online environment. Support/Facilitation Forum discussion Online debates The Socratic technique Group work Group problem solving Using plenty of e-mail interaction to encourage student participation Facilitating the discussion of issues via electronic chat forums Communication tools like e-mail lists or conferencing programs worked for some- providing a sense of being part of a group, opportunities for learning from others, sharing of ideas, philosophies, experiences and information.   Resources Using demonstration screen capture movies A storage bank for lectures Linking content with case studies and personal experiences works better online because of the non-linear nature of the online environment Putting existing material into a hypertext structure to increase flexibility for learners Structuring of notes to make full use of links to access to examples and tools available on the Internet Provision of clear and informative notes for participants in an easy to read manner Case studies. Learning Tasks Lecture Tutorial Theory lessons through reading text and doing exercises Practicals through downloading software and following tutorial materials Encouraging students to work in small groups and assist one another Building in activities requiring interaction, especially with other students Simulation, the use of narrative, metaphor and analogy Role plays - anything involving communication, where learners would interact with other learners Research activities Encourage the use of wider resources is facilitated by embedding links to the Web and search engines into the online environment. Links to interactive Websites based on the topic, where the learners can do something Self-quizzes (ideally with clear and helpful feedback branching students to the reason why certain answers were wrong) Formative assessment (exercises with feedback).   Structures/Learner Expectations Clear goals and objectives Assignments - dates for doing these Time frames for submitting work Teaching strategies that have not adapted to the online environment   Interestingly some of the strategies that were described as not adapting well to the online environment were similar to those that were described as adapting successfully (Table 9.). This indicates that there are other factors that determine how effective teaching strategies are perceived to be online. Anecdotal evidence from the project suggests that factors such as infrastructure and logistical support may have influenced the effectiveness of a particular strategy. The effectiveness of a strategy is likely to be tied closely to the design and content of the course. Table 9. Summary of teaching strategies that did not adapt well to an online environment.   Traditional lecturing should be kept to an absolute minimum or abolished altogether Attempting to stack heaps of text based instruction into Web pages Motivation Personal contact Practical exercises Group work Social environment for learning Practice to theory is more difficult to direct Methods requiring a demonstration of motor skills A free ranging classroom discussion Individualised attention to struggling students. The effectiveness of strategies that relied on the technology were affected by the learner's skill levels:  Technical difficulties proved a barrier for some people- they did not participate in the online communication opportunities. Some people did not cope well with the high need to be self directed in order to develop their own workplace projects and to seek out additional sources of information. People who like concrete learning activities rather than action/reflection processes found the loose structure of one course frustrating. Discussion and discursive exploration of issues did not develop as much as had been expected: initial student responses were of a 'set piece' answer type rather a more open and dialogic type exploration. Some learners find the Internet overwhelming in the diversity of information that is available. A key lesson that one respondent had learned was not to believe that mastering the technology would necessarily lead to improved teaching strategies:  . . . assuming that just because you wrote it, said it was important and put it in prominent position and told people to read it that it would be read. Attempting to move all aspects of a course online was considered unwise by one respondent. They mentioned the need for socialisation as an important part of a face to face teaching situation. In moving online there will be some learner needs that will be more difficult to meet: socialisation--students still like to come to lectures to be 'taught' by a person rather than a computer. And they like the idea of meeting together in the lectures as well. We still have tutes as well, and I think giving those up and going completely online would be seriously detrimental to the course.   Unique features of the online environment that improve teaching  When asked to identify features of the online environment that have led to more powerful teaching, most of the respondents mentioned the improved quality of communication and the increased access to resources as the features that had contributed most (Table 10.). These features were identified more than features of the online environment that related to the learning tasks or exercises that a student might complete. This may be an indication that the online environment has not provided any unique learning tasks or exercises that aren't available in other environments. Table 10. Summary of unique features on the online environment leading to more powerful teaching. Peer to peer teaching through the use of communication technologies Communication with people of similar interests Asynchronous technologies that allow for increased quality of communication between teachers and learners Ability to regularly update modules Access to up-to-date technical information Access to other institutions' work Using hypertext to allow students to choose the activity or content path which suits them best Using Internet tools encourages development of a range of competencies, wider than just the core educational competencies. One key theme from the survey was the importance of online communication tools to facilitate interaction between teachers and students, in one to one, one to many and group situations. The ability to use the technology to contact other people was regarded as at least as important as the ability for students to view Web pages, or to use interactive programs. The strength of the communication tools has been in their support of group project work, and the ability to form strong relationships even at a distance. In forming relationships at a distance, the asynchronous nature of many of the communication tools has played an important role. Asynchronous communication allows for communication to take place without the teacher and student needing to be available at the same time. The ability to think about and compose responses has also contributed to the quality of relationships formed. These points are illustrated in the following quotes: Online tutorials provide time and privacy for all to comment and participate, and this works well for constructive dialogues. Groups working together to present their outcomes online provide unique opportunities for constructing meaning from the learning. In the same way the teacher is less constrained by having to develop ideas in a linear format and can better demonstrate thinking processes and linking of ideas using the online environment. Ability of the tutor to act as a mentor, guide, coach at a quite personal level in asynchronous communication is a possibility. The 'non-timed' features of online delivery enables the delivery of learning materials to anyone at any time. This empowers the learner and emphasises the 'learner centred' approach currently favoured by the 'flexible delivery champions'. There was some indication that the benefits of having students interact solely with the computer may involve too much dependence on technology not considered to be reliable at this stage. Several initial online projects have chosen to start with simple 'low end' technologies such as Web pages before trialing more involved technologies:  Not that I can think of--my Web pages are 'low end' technology--just text and graphics, nothing too fancy. I haven't exploited all the aspects of interactivity available, because I want to make sure that whatever we use, works! Some respondents noted that the online environment is a potentially fertile one, supporting a range of learning styles: This work has a powerful potential to encourage achievement of generic competencies such as use of technology and problem solving.  The use of text, visuals, colour, sound and kinaesthetic in the same materials appeal to different types of student and are therefore highly effective. Finally, one respondent pointed out that powerful online teaching may result from the need for greater planning and organisation when teaching online. The extra planning and organisation of material may produce online courses which are better quality than other delivery methods:  First, online programmes have to be well structured, well thought out and comprehensive. I guess I mean well planned, *extremely* well planned. As a consequence they are better *quality* than face-to-face programmes.   Changes made to structure of course  Participants were asked to describe any changes they had made to the ordering, structuring or sequencing of their course to suit and online environment. Many respondents commented that the structure of their teaching program had changed very little, mostly because the information had already been structured for distance education or flexible delivery. Those respondents who had changed the structure of their teaching program had generally done it to take advantage of hypertext in linking documents together, or they had changed their structure to compensate for the difficulties in reading large amounts of text on a computer screen. The key points were: In instances where the material was already structured for distance education there was often little need for re-ordering the material:  Very little, especially as most, if not all, of the modules which I am acquainted with had already been structured for distance education-type delivery. Very little change to existing structure of print-based flexible learning materials. The use of links and search engines etc provide learners with additional choices in sequence and directions of study path, but essentially the structure already accommodates flexibility in flow of learning process. Other respondents indicated they had made large restructuring to their courses: Radical restructure to suit a hypermedia environment. Shift from an essentially linear print-based paradigm to a more dynamic 'Web' of hyperlinks within a small degree of linearity.  Learners had total choice of where to start their learning. The ability to link to with other sources of information and knowledge experts, without lecturer control was highlighted: Online tends to allow developers to fast-track mapping of expert knowledge it also allows for links to expertise to be explored without lecturer control. The availability of material has led to courses that allow more room for guided reflection, rather than 'think on your feet' lectures or tutorials: There is much more room for guided reflection now, as students use the Web pages. It used to be three hours of face to face instruction (one lecture and a two hour tute--which was diabolical). Students had to think on their feet. For technical reasons, and for improved usability, the material has generally been chunked: Broken it into smaller chunks to facilitate download time and our assumption that students will be less likely to want to read heaps of information online. Some still mentioned the need to set deadlines in a flexible delivery setting, mainly for administrative purposes: Distance Ed is usually extremely open ended - we have asserted a schedule (partly because we need it to ensure that the teacher keeps on track with developing the material). Changes in design of online teaching programs  Participants were asked to reflect on what changes they would make to the way they went about designing their teaching program. The key points were: A trend in responses was that the development of new materials for the Web was a more efficient and productive approach than the conversion of existing materials. There were some respondents who commented about the need to develop materials for the Web, rather than trying to convert existing material that was designed for other media: You need to develop materials for the Web, not try and use already developed materials (that were not made for the Web). We would not base the online design on any current methods and media but rather design it from scratch. Much stronger emphasis on the problem solving learning model with easier access to a group learning process. Much more emphasis on a team approach to "teaching". Some respondents mentioned the need to have induction and training courses about how to study online, before the courses were undertaken: We would have a pre-course on How-to-take-an-online-course. Needed more introduction on learners using the net as a learning tool. Several respondents were keen on adding more interactive elements such as animations, or communication elements such as discussion board and chat: I want to keep building in elements of interactivity. The challenge is to do this and still maintain the 'low tech' side. I think there's huge potential in multimedia, but in a cash strapped institution (who's not in one of those?), my IT solutions have to be budget conscious, and they have to work. I don't want students to be turned off because the whiz bang things I try to get them to do, just won't function. More interaction, use of forum and bulletin boards. More exercises to encourage student interactions. More fun in the presentation and even some humour. More contemporary news and searches. More interaction more case-studies more student presentation. One respondent who had been involved with several projects described the benefits the project had received by developing resources around templates: We made great changes from the mining program to electronics. In the first, we used a one-off system, where every learning activity required new code. In the electronics we set about creating a re-usable template to facilitate future developments in any field of study. Another highlighted the need for time to develop, maintain and revise quality online learning materials: None. All I would ask for is *more* time. Creating perfect (:-) material is time consuming and like a good essay must be reworked and reworked until you are totally satisfied. I am not satisfied with my efforts to date but it's not because what I've done needs to be redesigned or reorganised it's because it needs many revisions.   D. Delivery   This section of the survey was completed by only those participants who had been involved in the delivery of an online teaching and learning project. The questions focussed on the technologies used, the target group's access to technology as well as to how the learning cycle was supported in terms of induction, facilitation, assessment and learner support.   Technologies used in the delivery of online education   Participants were asked to select which technologies they had used to deliver their online course, based on a list of ten technologies listed. Participants were able to select as many technologies as they had used. The results presented in graph 7 shows that the most widely used technologies were web pages and e-mail. Graph 7. Technologies used by respondents to deliver online courses. Graph 8 presents the number of technologies indicated per survey respondent. From the graph it can be seen that most projects involved a number of technologies. The average number of technologies indicated per respondent was 3.4, which suggests that most projects are taking advantage of more than just one technology in their project. Graph 8. Number of technologies used to deliver courses per respondent.   Access to technology   The technology was accessed from a variety of locations, including on-campus, at work via a network or modem and at home using a modem. The range of access locations is consistent with the idea that the Internet will allow greater access flexibility. The benefits of having a range of Internet access points was illustrated in a comment by a lecturer: [students accessed the material] from home, from the lab we provided, from work and from friend's homes. The last one was a big surprise to me. I also had one student that used an Internet Cafe on his way home from work. In order to improve the access and delivery of richer multimedia content, some groups have been using WWW/CD-ROM hybrid applications. This allows students to view videos and large graphic files as well as listening to sound files without needing a large bandwidth connection to the Internet or having to wait long periods of time.   Induction   Numerous induction methods were used in the online teaching and learning projects, as summarised in the table below. They ranged from having no induction, through to a complete induction in the technology and the process of learning online (Table 11.). Table 11. Range of induction strategies used in online teaching and learning projects. Face to face staff development workshops Workplace programs involving mentors or colleagues Online induction guides (such as http://wwwtafe.lib.rmit.edu.au/bizman/olg) Introductory modules on using the Internet Print, e-mail and telephone support for off-campus learners Telephone help desk Class demonstrations Some lecturers had detailed and involved induction procedures, in terms both of the methods of delivery and the range of content: Tutorial sessions on-site for industry students. Induction sessions for on-campus students by their lecturer. Written guide for off-campus remote students. We ran a formal induction programme: Internet essentials to do the online work; independent study techniques; effective electronic communications; and an overview of online learning. Others had very little or no induction for their students. Some respondents expressed the attitude that they would prefer that they didn't have to deal with inducting students how to learn online We hope that there will soon be a techno-literate population ready for online learning! This sentiment was echoed by other groups who used basic techniques to avoid having to provide any induction to online learning, such as only allowing learners who could fill in an online application form to enrol in the course. Induction was mentioned as a necessary part of a successful online teaching and learning project by many respondents. Online technologies require some familiarity and training in order to become effective learning tools. In projects where there was little induction some respondents felt that too much focus was placed on the technology, with the consequence that the learning activities took a secondary focus and had to be rushed through.   Learning styles and online learning   Respondents were asked to comment on types of learning styles that were most conducive to online teaching and learning. There were wide variations in interpretations of learning styles (Table 12). Many respondents indicated that they hadn't had enough experience with online delivery, or had not thought through the issues well enough to comment on the effect of learning styles in the online environment. Many respondents interpreted learning styles as being more equated with self management skills rather than cognitive preferences. Table 12. Range of learning styles most conducive to online teaching and learning.  Computer literate people Those who enjoy self-paced learning Those not fazed by technical problems Highly motivated students Reflective learners Mature, self-motivated and self-disciplined individuals 4MAT Quadrant 4 learners. Many of the responses were pragmatic, raising some important points about the difficulties in trying to cater for any one style that is perceived as most suited to online learning. One lecturer made the point that the match between learning styles and the online learning environment is likely to be influenced by other factors, such as personal learning style:  I also think that where an audio-preferred learner has other needs such as the need to choose their own place and time of learning that these other needs will overwhelm their preferred learning style. It will probably be a case of learner priority rather than pure learning style preference. A learner's priorities will include personal circumstances as well as preferred learning style. The type of learning style is influenced by the design of the material rather than the technology used. As one lecturer mentioned: All learning styles can be successfully accommodated by using an online approach. It just depends on the quality and balance of the design . . . As in any learning environment, variety and balance is needed to engage learner motivation and enhance their learning experience. A clear point was that it is not so much the kind of learning style a learner has, but the skills they have to manage their own learning: if the environment is well designed it will cater for all learning styles. Perhaps the question really is about how quickly students can take on responsibility for their own learning and how much support they need to develop skills to learn. These are issues for all flexible delivery models whether or not they incorporate online delivery. The relationship between the skills required online and those required in any flexible delivery mode was again highlighted: However, what it really takes is the same skills and attitudes required for learning in a flexible mode: good degree of independence, adequate literacy/numeracy skills, good organisational and time management skills, a certain amount of confidence, assertion and perseverance. Learners who were likely to have difficulties with online learning were often those seen as lacking in the above skills and personality characteristics, as the following quotes demonstrate:  Students who are yet to appreciate and develop some self-directed learning skills. Levels of Key Competencies of learners will impact on the capabilities of students in this area. This includes the Using Technology competency which will appear as a barrier to those lacking confidence or competence in using computers and other technologies.   Those who like concrete activities, oral presentations, those who are only doing it as a last resort. Learners who need lots of structure including timetabled classes found the lack of structure uncomfortable. Table 13. Range of learning styles not conducive to online teaching and learning. People who have no understanding of computers or the Internet Social learners Those with poor balance between work commitments and study Learners who need a lot of encouragement 4MAT Quadrant 1 and 3 learners. Unique features of the online environment that improve learning   When asked to describe any unique features of the online environment that have led to more powerful learning, only a few respondents mentioned features that were specific to the online environment. A sample of features identified are presented in Table 14. Most of the features of the online environment were available in other environments, the advantage of the online environment being that it can encompass features of many other environments at once, as illustrated below: No unique features, but a mixture of features that are not available elsewhere . Table 14. Features of the online learning environment that improve learning. Use of computer simulations Ability to change and update materials constantly Students are able to work at their own rate Some novelty effects using the technology Greater range of information that students can access, including other subject matter experts Alternative presentations of information (through hyperlinks and other Websites). The first major feature that was specific to the online environment was the ability of online communication tools to allow contact with peers, teachers and other subject matter experts. As mentioned in the following quote, the students do not have to rely on the teacher to start the communication:  Feeling of being linked with people all over the world. Ability to network with people pursuing the same interests can foster a natural increase in curiosity and involvement in the subject at hand. Direct availability of or connection to subject-matter experts, in many cases - not always brought in at the request of the teacher but accessed directly by the learners. The second major feature of the online learning environment was that it can act as a resource library for other teaching materials and simulations. The range of search techniques available on the Internet has increased the ability to capitalise on other existing resources, as the following quote illustrates: One particularly successful enhancement I have noted has been the availability and use of computer simulations to enhance student learning. In fact many of these have been found as a direct result of searching for resources on the Web to compliment the range of resources available on online versions of our modules. These tools are obviously well suited to online environment and have proven very successful for learners within our 'engineering' type program. I believe simulations offer great potential in any (perhaps all) disciplines of study - not just the core technically oriented disciplines like ours. Many of the benefits were similar to those in flexible delivery where the resources are available at any time. In particular, some respondents commented on the usefulness of having lecture or other course material available at all times. As one respondent mentioned, this has led to an increase in the quality of class discussions and the challenge for the teacher:  The fact that students can access all the course materials at will. You can't do that with traditional lectures. If you missed the class, you missed it. You can't just recreate it. The ability for students to review notes and lectures before attending class has led to students being far more informed on the topic and question sessions becoming an exciting and daunting time for the teachers. Although not necessarily unique, the online learning environment is providing an opportunity for many teachers to discover the benefits of a flexible delivery approach. The excitement generated is evident in the following quote: There are some learners, and you would never pick them in a face-to-face class, who are zooming ahead. The course is up and they immediately read through EVERYTHING, not study but scan. They are gauging how quickly they can do this subject. And their immediate question, not believing what they have deduced and are really hoping for, is, 'if I do all this work quickly, can I hand my assignment in?' . . . They want to do the work but do it quickly. These people must get *very* frustrated with normal 2 hours per week formal lessons. . . . I am used to students falling behind and needing extra time to complete work. I am not used to students wanting to get ahead. This is an extraordinary revelation. Online learning, and distance education, permit this.   Facilitation in the online environment   Participants were asked to describe the effectiveness of online facilitation methods that had been used in their projects. A list of these strategies is presented in Table 15. Some key points were: The difficulty in 'taking the pulse' of an online class and of individual learners will be new to most teachers, as well as requiring high levels or technical and social awareness. Chat sessions were sometimes useful in providing an answer to a participants immediate problem. However they were mentioned as difficult to set up, often difficult to keep structured and resulted in students getting off topic. Some tutors expressed the idea that being available to answer e-mails etc. was time consuming. Using expert peer students, and encouraging peer-to-peer support was mentioned as useful by several respondents. Having someone who can support learners through the inevitable technical problems was mentioned as important, as the following quote illustrates:  Unlike the classroom as a technology, the online environment can and often does fail. Learners become extremely frustrated when the technology fails as it is very difficult to know where the problem is or who can fix it, particularly for remote students and staff....learner support through such events is critical, particularly in the early stages of online delivery. Table 15. Facilitation that worked well. Facilitation that didn't work so well.   Students using the message board forum to communicate with the lecturer E-mail, forums Providing immediate feedback on assessment tasks Using small groups to collaborate in learning both online skills and content in campus classroom situation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Setting certain times of day for students to access you Structured, focused questions and appreciative, encouraging comments by the instructor or facilitator promoted student input. Students were required to send a roll call e-mail every week Providing every student space for their own homepage Providing opportunities for students to meet each other Having developers, teachers and 'expert' peer students as facilitators.   It was difficult to get students to communicate with each other Chat group were difficult to control and led students to areas away from the core learning topics Chat was too unstructured Students having unlimited access to your time Peer facilitators who were not fully technically competent. Supporting the learning process in an online environment   Participants were asked to describe any differences in how they supported the learning process in an online environment compared to other environments. A list of strategies used to support the learning process is presented in Table 16. Table 16. List of strategies for supporting learning online.   Adding personal details into your site, photos of class members, interesting quote of the day..... A lot of low key communication early on as people became used to the technology A help desk Links to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) The key points were these: On the topic of whether there is a difference between how learners are supported online, some respondents pointed out that the principles of supporting online learning were viewed as consistent with those of flexible delivery, and adult education: Again, as in any flexible delivery strategy, the clarity of the learning framework, timeliness and quality of feedback, as well as opportunities for meaningful interaction make or break the process. Thought must be given to how the learning events can be balanced, points of teacher intervention, and methods for initiating and maintaining interaction. The unique aspect of supporting learning online comes from the challenge to receive feedback about a learner's progress or experience using the online technologies. The online environment provides some unique challenges and opportunities to collect the information necessary to support online learning. It lacks the volume and richness of cues that are available in a face to face setting. However it also provides the opportunity for more interaction than some existing distance education methods (through using communications tools such as e-mail, discussion or chat technology) There is a great need to make connections with the students: Frequent contact to let students know that we know they exist and aren't just a statistic. At this stage learners feel they need to be in touch with the teacher so there seems to be a need for on going and regular contact. All three media must be used, chat, notice boards and e-mail. Need to have someone permanently assigned as student contact and for them to be available always. Many respondents mentioned the importance of creating a sense of group, through the use of communication tools: Considerable time needs to be invested early on to develop a sense of a group. Individuals need to be supported . There needed to be a lot of low key communication early on as people became used to the technology. It is unfortunately easier to ignore students in difficulties when they are not present- and if their e-mail is not working. Many respondents highlighted the need to encourage connections between students and other students, as well as students and other resources. The general point seemed to be extending the students' ability to find support, through contacting other people: Great attention to fostering student-to-student as well as student-to-instructor interaction despite the miles. Apart from providing the online learning materials, linking collaboration tools for communication between peers and Institute staff is very important and easily overlooked. The ability to take the pulse of the classroom is much more difficult in an online environment. The key task of mentoring or facilitating, judging when to jump in and assist a student becomes more difficult: Need to check the progress of students and judge when to step in with assistance. Most of the need for support is, and should be - I believe - learner-initiated.  However, an effective facilitator of learning would also have a well-developed sense of when and how to initiate contact with learners for orientation, motivation, feedback and assessment purposes. In order to understand where students are up to it may be necessary to keep better management records (this can increase the time required to facilitate a group): The informal communication that happens over a cup of coffee or in the corridor is not fully replaced by online conferencing. This means that a tutor must be much more pro-active in initiating communication with a student and have a rigorous record system. More time needed to be invested in the administration side of the course.........more admin support is required than I would have ever thought! The expectations of the learners are higher, with more demand on the facilitators:  The teacher needs to be very available - in mail based distance you can be absent for several days - not online. Providing for students expectations can be demanding: . . . because of unfamiliar technology and because the strategy is so individual, demands on the facilitator's time are enormous at first . . .however, this drops off after a while as students gain expertise.    Assessment techniques in online projects   Respondents were asked what types of assessment they used in their teaching program. A list of techniques is presented in Table 17. The most common online assessment method was a traditional assignment that was e-mailed back to the tutor. In some of these cases the tutor used e-mail to return comments to the student. The next most common online assessment method was to use multiple choice questions that were marked by the computer, or short answer questions that were stored in a database or sent via e-mail to the tutor for marking at a later time. There were a small number of respondents who mentioned using more innovative and integrated online assessment techniques. These two quotes illustrate these techniques: Integrated online activities into assessment process. e.g., participation in an online debate, reflective journals. Individual papers that resulted from online presentation of ideas, followed by comments from the group, ongoing discussion and then the preparation of the papers. Resources from the Web were found and used by the students in the process. Table 17. Uses of Internet technology in assessment.   Formative assessment which was marked by the server Practical worksheet exercises Group presentation of materials developed collaboratively in online environment Assignments requiring private research Level of participation in online debates Submission of assignments as attachments to e-mail Use of e-mail to return comments. E. Reflection on Experience   This section of the survey was completed by all respondents. It provided an opportunity for participants to reflect on their experience either designing or developing online teaching and learning projects, with a view to how they might do things differently in future. The questions focussed on whether involvement in online teaching and learning promoted a re-examination of teaching processes   Re-examination of teaching processes as a result of being involved in online teaching and learning   When asked to identify whether developing and delivery online courses had led to a re-examination of teaching approaches, the majority of respondents indicated that they had re-examined their teaching approaches: While there are some difficulties identified with face to face, the flexible nature of the delivery has led some people to re-examine face to face teaching practices. The technology has allowed many teachers to feel safe in questioning their beliefs about teaching There is a spirit of experimentation and discovery - back to the core principles. There is a major shift away from teaching to a learning focus:   Yes, it's made me far more conscious of the learner and their learning processes, and less focussed on what I needed to teach. My focus has shifted to the learning process not the teaching process, and in an online environment this is very important concept to understand. I'm more interested in developing more flexible ways of meeting students' learning needs, and creating more learner- centred learning experiences in my on-campus classes. I have become more aware of self-paced practices and student attitudes towards it. More focus on concise explanations, and more thought to the quality of materials and documentation. I am much more aware of the 'learning' process and therefore would re-examine how materials and learning is presented to the learner in future. Experiencing the 'learning' through the learner's eyes instead of the trainer's eyes, is a very powerful tool for the tutor, facilitator, trainer, or teacher. I am not directly involved in teaching. What it has demonstrated is the capacity of the technology to broaden the concept of delivery, even within the classroom, and remove the focus from the teacher to a more flexible structure permitting the student to move at their own pace through the modules. It's given staff the opportunity to feel OK about starting to reconsider teaching methodology.   I feel that my involvement in online is part of a large process of constantly examining and discussing with others what are the learners' needs and how we can best set up flexible delivery models to meet them. The exciting thing about online delivery is that many staff feel OK saying that they need to learn about the environment and so are more receptive to considering issues of teaching and methodology that we should be examining all of the time. Sometimes a change in learning style, and a change in technology was more than could be handled by a group of students:   I prefer a very learner directed, negotiated curriculum: feedback from students indicates that many do not like this style and that coupled with barriers of learning new technology prompts me to provide more structured and clear instructions. There is a need to concentrate on the more advanced learning tools in order to make the most of the online environment:   It has reinforced the need to build independent learning skills early, or at least before using the methodology. . . It's reinforced the need to focus on the learning process much more, with less emphasis on content. . . I think we should look at a new structure for courses, with the emphasis on learning skills and methods up-front, followed by Introductory type modules, followed by negotiated study. This would be concurrent with as much opportunity to apply in the real world as feasible, for example while the participant was working (the workplace is not the only destination for application of knowledge etc, but it is the current focus). There has been a follow-on effect, where the skills learnt in teaching online are being taken back to the classroom:   My involvement with online learning began with an examination of my teaching processes. It has had a more profound effect on my subsequent teaching than I could have imagined. Every didactic moment when I am centre stage, when I have bleary eyed adult learners in a class room at night I ask myself "Is this the best option?". Yes, in the classroom I do more explanation of the concepts underlying the one I am teaching. I talk about learning skills. I use CML in a supportive role in the classroom. Ideally a classroom should have a large electronic whiteboard in it as well as a hookup for the instructor's laptop computer. Absolutely. I think my face to face techniques have improved dramatically. My understanding of what 'well organised' means has made me lift my game.