Mary Thorpe

Assessment and ‘third generation’ distance education

The convergence of computing and telecommunications technologies has created a range of new possibilities both for the communication of knowledge and for social interaction. The application of these technologies in the context of distance education has been characterised as creating a ‘third generation’ in terms of media and technology use. Computer mediated communication (CMC) has been seen as one of the applications of technology with the most far reaching implications for teaching and learning in distance education (Garrison, 1997). CMC enables distance learners to engage in collaborative learning and discursive interaction with peers and tutors in a variety of communicative settings. However the potential of the technology to deliver a more discursive and collaborative learning process has not always been achieved. Course designers are seeking to build constructivist pedagogy into the learning process so that students will perceive the use of computer mediated communication as essential for the achiev...

Interaction and e-Learning: The Student Experience

A distinction between interpersonal and content interaction was identified in the literature, and applied in research undertaken on a selection of 36 courses. These courses differed in both the kinds of interaction offered and its integration in the teaching and assessment. They included different combinations and use of conferencing, email, interactive software and the Internet. Student comments on their perceptions of the positive and negative contributions of these computer-mediated elements are presented. The perceived benefits of interpersonal and content interaction are distinctive, and both can also have negative effects. Students value content interaction and interpersonal interaction for different reasons, and it is not helpful to privilege one form of interaction over another.

Encouraging students to reflect as part of the assignment process Student responses and tutor feedback

Reflective activities, in some cases quite extensive teaching material about reflection’s role in adult learning, have been used within distance-taught courses at the Open University, UK for more than a decade. This article summarizes the outcomes of an evaluation of the use of reflection in the assessment of a second level technology course in the Open University undergraduate programme. Two questions are addressed: how effectively do students engage in reflection when required to do so in these circumstances, and what responses to their reflections do their tutors make? The evidence from student scripts is that students find some types of reflection more difficult than others, notably setting and applying criteria to their own work. More guidance on these types of reflection produced improvements, but evidence suggests that students still found the exercise challenging. Tutor comments were also improved in both quantity and quality, following additional guidance and support from the course team. The course experience demonstrates that reflection by students is more effective when supported by the substantive goals of the course and where the course team persist in and improve on their method of implementation of the strategy.

Reflective Learning in Distance Education

This article addresses one of three major challenges which it is argued, currently face distance education, namely its claimed over-reliance on behaviourist approaches to teaching and learning. In particular, the derivation of principles of course design which can be applied irrespective of difference of context, content and learners, has not proved to be a realistic and effective way forward. Fortunately, the practice of distance education has not been limited to applied behaviourism only, and has included approaches which draw upon social constructivist and cognitive approaches to learning. These have worked well in combination with regular feedback to students in programmes at undergraduate level at the UK Open University (UKOU).Other conceptualisations of learning have also begun to make an impact, notably the experiential and the relational. The former emphasises reflection on direct experience and the transformation of existing knowledge. The latter reveals the shaping influence of students conceptions in these areas. Distance education already has many examples of activities and projects which require students to process existing and new experience in relation to course concepts and goals. A number of courses at the UKOU are also encouraging students to review their own learning approaches and to be proactive about their study methods. A case study of two courses is introduced, as an example of teaching approaches which foster reflection on experience, integrated with conceptual learning, and reflection by the learner on their own learning process in parallel with the study of course content. Evidence is provided from evaluation of the extent to which these learning process oriented course materials, have affected the learned outcomes students identify for themeselves. The integration of a reflective component into assessment of the course has been especially effective. Students report changes most frequently at the level of general awareness of purpose of study and learning transfer, rather than in the area of detailed study skills.

Practices with technology: learning at the boundary between study and work

A study of part-time student experience of university courses delivered using a range of technologies found that ICT enabled students to move between study and work experience to the benefit of their learning in both contexts. Technology-based study activities enabled students to participate in learning both as a student and as a member of a practice or work context. Given the increasingly pressured lives of all students in higher education and their aspirations for employment after graduation, this suggests that we would benefit from taking their relationship to work and professional practice into account more directly, in deciding how to integrate technology into their study experience. Teacher conceptions of technology as a tool primarily for information delivery and discussion need to expand to recognise that it can be used to construct learning experiences situated in roles, skills and interactive environments that enhance students’ ability to make transitions across the boundaries between contexts of study and work.

Reflective learning and distance learning - made to mix by design and by assessment

Reflective activities, in some cases quite extensive teaching material about reflections role in adult learning, have been used within distance taught courses at the Open University UK for more than a decade [6]. Some of these courses have focused on professional development in adult learning and encouraged reflection within the frameworks created by theorists of adult learning [2]. Others have integrated reflective activities into courses in introductory maths and science courses, in order to foster greater awareness of how best to learn within these disciplines, and of their connection with the day to day world of the student [3]. This article reviews experience in three Open University courses, notably a recent course - T293 Communicating Technology - a second level 30 credit point course (equivalent to approximately 300 hours study) in the Undergraduate Programme of the Open University. All three courses include material about reflection and are designed to emphasise the process of the students own learning. Reflective activities are linked with the assessment process and the importance of the role of tutors in feeding back and responding to the content of student reflections is emphasised. There are particular challenges to encouraging reflection for students studying at a distance, though T293 students are networked and also attend tutorials and a residential school. The invitation to reflect as a specific activity in study is something many students find difficult. How effectively do students engage in reflection when required to do so in these circumstances, and what response to their reflections do their tutors make?

Talk in virtual contexts: reflecting on participation and online learning models

Computer‐mediated conferencing has been adopted, particularly for purposes of online course provision, as a method that can deliver community. Widespread interest in a communities‐of‐practice approach within both informal and formal learning has strengthened perceptions of the value of creating a community online. A case study of asynchronous computer conferencing for the purposes of leadership development in schools is the focus for a study of the features and the discursive quality of the online interaction that occurred. Two analytical approaches are used: discourse analysis and social network analysis. These highlighted different aspects of the case, in terms of the role of peers versus the expert moderator (or ‘hotseat guest’), the extent of readership versus contribution and the tone and content of the discussion. Evidence that contributors were learning from the interaction was identified and strong links with place‐based communities of practice were also evident. Nevertheless, the online interaction could not be said to constitute a community or to be evidently developing in that direction. Its features as a network, where weak links were key to a sharing and knowledge‐construction process, were more salient. Networks offer the potential for weak connections that have a particular value for connecting across dispersed practitioners and potentially bridging between communities of practice and other forms of organisation and groupings.

Student workload: a case study of its significance, evaluation and management at the Open University

Distance students are time poor and some drop out of their studies because they fall behind with coursework. This raises the issue of how course teams decide upon how many study hours should be included in a course. This article presents a number of Open University projects that have addressed student workload management and relates how learning design has incorporated these findings into advice for new module development. Moreover, the article also discusses how recent automatic feedback systems can motivate and support time-poor students when writing their assignments. This is an important finding as drop-out can occur when students are unable to devote the necessary time to their summative assessments and drop out of the learning process.

Distance education: A particular context for teaching and learning. Introduction to this special issue

This editorial introduction positions distance education in the larger context of educational research and theory construction. Next to a definition of key concepts, the authors elaborate three major issues that are dealt with in distance education research in relation to educational materials. The first issue centres on curriculum and values. The second topic concentrates on the creation of appropriate learning environments. The third issue focuses on the evaluation of effects of materials in use. In discussing the three issues the authors stress the particularities of the distance education context.

Open for business ‐ delivering the goods in management education

At a time of economic recession, with a successful model for teaching adult undergraduates studying year‐long courses over a number of years, the Open University decided to undertake a high risk venture: an array of short courses in business for managers. A new model required radical change in systems of publicity, recruitment, registration, payment, tuition, assessment, residential schools and examinations. Cordon Dyer, currently Deputy Regional Director for the Open University in East Anglia, was Management Education Co‐ordinator in London during the launch of the Open Business School; Ken Giles, Staff Tutor in Education in East Midlands, designed the new policies for management education tutors; and Mary Thorpe, Lecturer in the Institute of Educational Technology, evaluated feedback from tutors on the first courses.