Barbara Howell and Nimal Jayaratna

School of Computing and Management Sciences

Sheffield Hallam University

Pond Street, Sheffield, S1 1WB, United Kingdom.

B.Howell@shu.ac.uk, N.Jayaratna@shu.ac.uk.

1. Introduction

Information and communications technologies have evolved dramatically and dynamically providing little time to adapt and adopt technologically coherent learning paradigms. In addition, there is growing demand for tertiary education and political support for better-educated citizens. Education as we know it is in a state of transformation. Change is inevitable if institutions are to provide a quality service to a wider audience, from different social and work related backgrounds, influenced by government proposals for increased competition in global markets, improved productivity and effective use of resources.

Virtual-U is an environment created by Simon Frazer University of Canada (SFU) to facilitate students learning through distance learning modes, irrespective of where they are located. In this sense, it is providing access to a University for potential students, which can exist in a virtual sense closest to the students learning environment. To enable Distance Learning (DL) evolution a research exercise was undertaken with participants from the United Kingdom and Canada, mainly academics involved in the development, use and assessment of the effectiveness of this mode of learning. First named author of this paper actively participated in this research exercise, assessing its facilities and suitability for the development of DL materials. This paper evaluates the experience of being involved in this exercise. The evaluation suggests the need for clarity of objectives and rationale for a virtual university because of embedded notions. The paper proposes the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) can be used for structuring the set of activities and demonstrates the type of activities that can be undertaken in order for each group of participants to develop specific DL applications.

2. Evaluation of Virtual-U environment

A collaborative arrangement was established between SFU, the Open University (OU) and Sheffield Hallam University (SHU). The exercise comprised a twelve-week course (start date 20^th Jan 1998) dedicated to the investigation of virtual education, with approximately 53 participants from the three institutions. The environment to be used for the exercise was Virtual-U software, developed by SFU, which operates on a Web browser and offers asynchronous communication. Virtual-U supports the performance of core activities including course design, individual and group learning, knowledge structuring, class management, and evaluation. The concept of the exercise was to enable participants to learn about Tele-Learning by engaging in it. Indicative content included approaches to Tele-Learning, design and implementation of online teaching, lessons learned from online teaching, technological issues and evaluation and vision of online teaching. In order to abstract issues, the experiences have been organised under the following headings; learning curve and commitment; social cues and isolation; asynchronous text based communications.

2.1 Learning curve and commitment

The learning curve was quite steep and difficulties at the beginning of a course of study could hinder continual commitment. Insecurity, uncertainty and lack of social atmosphere all contribute to the erosion of self-belief when using embryonic modes in solitude (Sorby, 1992).

Comments made by participants of the Virtual-U include:

"The learning curve with the Virtual-U varied amongst the students. This had an impact on participation and motivation".

"Lack of training in the use of any software, prior to the learning experience, possibly have a negative impact".

.

"This situation, in which you have the course at home, can interfere in you life"'

"The best way to kill a computer conference is to tell people to go away for a while to do an assignment due in a week or two".

"How can we collaborate with people with different commitments?"

"Participation within Part III of the course diminished in comparison to Parts I and II. This may be due to many factors such as professional workloads, lack of motivation, lack of direction etc."

"On line learning is tremendously time and labour intensive and requires a serious commitment from both the instructor AND the learner".

"I recognise that cultural differences in style, in choice of comments, subjects, background experience (not knowledge) could, eventually, create more difficulties than solve the ones that inspired my collaborative attempt".

Comment made by Virtual-U Facilitator:

"The slow response times and hence access difficulties are having a negative impact upon users' ability to navigate and investigate the system, and engage in discussions".

It is also interesting to note, only 6 out of 53 participants and 16 major contributors participated in the final discussions. Technical difficulties, social culture of participants, aims and objectives, course content and facilitator role all played a part in the participant's commitment to the exercise. In an environment whereby contributions are essential to the ethos of the medium, variable commitments of the participants provided inequality of submissions. In addition, the medium is described as labour intensive requiring an appreciation of both the facilitator and participant role. For example how many hours are required by the instructors to successfully facilitate a program and are the learners heavily involved in domestic, work or social activities? In effect, what demands will be placed on the facilitator and the target audience by this mode of teaching and learning? The diversity of contents, in which the learners operate, is a significant factor in the effectiveness of learning.

2.2 Social Cues and Isolation

It is well understood that face-to-face communication is important for social interaction (Keegan, 1994). Some designers believe that consideration of physical presence is critical enough to propose the creation of whole body electronic representations as "stand-ins" (Oravec, 1996). Lack of personal cues, which illustrate meaning, help interpretation, and influence the intentions of the message are intolerable for the novice user (Simon, 1992).

Comments made by participants of the Virtual-U include:

"Participating in a computer conference can be a lonely act. If you don’t feel part of the group (by knowing who the group is) and being recognised by name then participating in a computer conference can be quite alienating… Peoples inputs are so vital to a successful computer conference".

"Being a shy person I have hung back on all these conferences and no one has emailed me with words of encouragement. The problem is that no one is talking to me and reassuring me…. It's like being in prison and trying to learn about the world by looking through a key hole"

"The mutual pleasure of seeing and being seen. This is more than just video viewing - this is human mutuality that is deep in our experience, right from the week we were born when we gazed with mum and learned to touch and be touched… To lose this kind of human interaction, and to become only projectors of words, ahh, what a terrible loss, truly a grief".

"I realise how much I was bound to the need of having continuous reinforcement of the feeling of being accepted in social groups. In face-to-face situations, you get it by glances, comments, touches, laughs, etc… The online environment was a desert for me in the beginning."

Social interactions can be fundamental to the learning process. However face-to-face depravation can focus effort more purposefully (Oravec, 1996). Software has been specifically developed to overcome the visual dilemma of computer conferencing, however this investigation was not intended to draw comparisons between the mediums, rather to clarify users perceptions of text based modes. Many Virtual-U participants commented on the lack of visual contact and social interaction. The dynamics of existing software, be it text based, voice or video conferencing, must relay the message effectively and exploit the medium in relation to overall learning objectives. In addition, the role of facilitator should complement the medium in terms of counselling and encouraging participation.

2.3 Asynchronous text based communications

Benefits of Computer Mediated Conferencing (CMC) include bringing together like-minded individuals who are geographically dispersed and operating in different time zones (Tiffin and Rajasingham, 1995), to communicate at a time most convenient to them (Marold and Larsen, 1996). It is also widely recognised that text based communications enhance the learning experiences (McComb, 1993), provide greater access to women, minorities and other disadvantaged learners (Mason, 1992).

Comments made by participants of the Virtual-U include:

"The task of getting students from three different institutions linked across six time zones to take a course lead by four different professors is an amazing feat which just a few years ago would have been impossible…. We got to work with people from two countries, sharing thoughts."

"I enjoyed the chance to take a course that attempted to bridge large geographical and knowledge distances and bring different perspectives and experiences to bear".

"The great advantage of this medium is asynchronicity, I can, we all can, join anytime".


The main disadvantage of computer mediated conferencing for the learners is the extreme difficulty in putting the written word into context (Collins, 1996). In addition, the prolonged discourse associated with asynchronous communications (Mason, 1995), irritates the impatient (Hiltz and Toroff, 1993) and inhibits those who lack self-confidence to participate (Harasim, 1996).

Comments made by participants of the Virtual-U include:

"With Tele-learning it is easy to stop. You just don’t bother to log on. It is difficult to feel that you are offending anyone or letting people down".

"It's not just that I'm late contributing to the conference, I really feel quite intimidated by the prospect of doing so. Typing up a contribution seems so much more formal than just making a verbal comment."

"The exclusive use of writing, were an enormous personal challenge for me. I though I was prepared for the experience by having almost one year of studies in my bag but it was, really, a big illusion".

Comment made by Virtual-U Facilitator:

"The asynchronous nature of the online environment leads to a more reflective, 'abiding' experience - the mulling over of issues".

It is clear that participants appreciated the experience of communicating with distant peer groups via Virtual-U. With technologies advancing at such a pace, the process of teaching and learning can now operate more efficiently as a global education system. Asynchronous communications can also support more carefully thought out debates with composed and reflective contributions, hence an aid to critical thought processes. However, text based modes proved challenging to even the more experienced users, with some reticent to commit to the word processor. Typical problems include the formality of the medium and the lack of personal response. The issues would therefore revolve around the synergy between educational modes and the facilitators' roles. In addition, was 'global participation' found to be a satisfactory learning outcome for the instigators? Have the aims and objectives of the course been met by using this form of technology?

 

3. Application of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to distance learning

Many studies have been conducted that concentrate on specific elements of CMC (Ferris, 1996; Kirkwood, 1995; Morgan, 1995). However it is well documented that for CMC to succeed in education a more holistic approach is required (Waggoner, 1992; Metz, 1994). The emergent properties of distance learning systems and the appreciation of classifying CMC initiatives as a human activity system require a methodological approach that uses epistemological notions (Checkland, 1981; Jayaratna, 1994). A methodology that has epistemology of learning as its central focus is SSM (Checkland and Scholes, 1991). This has been used for over 500 industrial, business and public sector application environments. SSM can be used for addressing complex issues that arise from this form of teaching and learning situation. The following section demonstrates how SSM can be used to structure the issues arising from the experiences of this project.

For example, a 'Root Definition' (i.e. a relevant notional system) of SSM that can be used for discussion and debate, is in figure 1.

Fig 1. Root definition - virtual education provision

"To deliver applicable subject matter by electronic means to potential student population with the aid of advanced technologies. Taking into account financial constraints, existing platforms, academic abilities, social trends and the economic climate."

The Root Definition is then explored in order to develop conceptual models that would enable the 'Root' definition to be realised in practice. Figure 2 illustrates such an example for the chosen Root definition.

Fig 2. Conceptual model - virtual education provision

 

4. Conclusions