Dr. Nelda Mouton

Covid-19 introduced a radical change in how we think and how we work. A new normal came into play and this is changing the way that we are presenting ourselves to our new environment, whether it is in our personal households, with our students or with other lecturers. Strategies that seemed to be a far-off illusion suddenly became the norm and new wisdom of the day.

I am a senior lecturer at a business school involved in the development of distance education practices. A distance post-graduate diploma has been offered successfully for the last two years. During this time, ongoing research has been done on the best practices and challenges experienced within this programme. This motivated me to design a five-step framework for distance lecturers to follow to assist and guide them on this new journey.

This brings me to my own new working environment during the Covid-19 phase - working from home. I literally woke up one cold, Covid-19 day, and asked myself: What am I doing? As you know, this led to more and more reflective questions, which sounded as follows: How can I further assist my lecturers in distance education? What about my students who have to cope with studying, a family in a lockdown situation, the possibility of losing their jobs, a very uncertain future …? As we are now at war with a new big C! This time, this C is not a reminder of joyous, sunshine, stressless, seamless, never-ending days … This time it is a fearful, frightful, fragile, a seemingly never-ending reality against an invisible enemy.

I realised – This is the new 2019.

I decided – Covid-19, the big C will not be the fearful, frightful, fragile Hiroshima, begging to destroy humanity, Covid-19, the C of sunshine, seamless, stressless days is also blinking in a new era on a new horizon. Covid-19, the C of vision, strategic thinking, new opportunities, new creations, and a 5G generation, is bouncing energetically in front of us, if only we can see!

And I say YES. Yes, for a new reality, yes, for a new future, yes, for my lecturers and students, yes, yes, yes!

I asked myself – How am I going to pave the way to break down silos of thinking and gelling together the many initiatives that I have experienced in less than three months! I decided and realised: What a great opportunity!

A network of thinking exploded in my mind and in my new normal, I cuddle my newfound insight and need to share this to all to make the academic world a better place … for every global citizen within the sphere of any form of education.

That said, my focus is on higher education and more specifically on post-graduate studies. My personal observation was that some lecturers lack concrete conception of good teaching and learning approaches. They do have sufficient subject knowledge, but they do not necessarily have effective teaching knowledge to enhance the new environment that they need to work in. Some lecturers also battle to integrate new technologies to support their teaching. With this in mind, I base my reflective thinking on theory – internal and external factors that will influence the student and lecturer environment. Lastly, I have developed a five-step strategy to guide lecturers in this environment.

Let’s start off by looking at a theoretical model where we need to link complex interactions of teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction, as well as student-lecturer-technology interaction. I followed a constructivist approach where three pillars of thought came into play: connectivism, social constructivism and socio-culturalism. Note that online constructivist theories support synchronous and asynchronous learning and mitigate the isolation of online learners (Robinson, et al. 2017).

As we move to a mega-paced, technological mediated environment, a cognitive-, social- and teaching presence is non-negotiable, where we need to constructively create a cognitive presence that is grounded in communication. We also need to create a ‘touchable’ social presence that involves the recognition and projection of each and every individual’s personal characteristics as well as a teaching presence that forms part of the design and facilitation of the structured learning processes blanketing cognitive and social presence (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019).

Within the connectivist approach, there is an ongoing complex interaction of lecturer-student, student-student, and student interaction in collaboration with various demands and technology (Sozudogru et al. 2019). The mega-change and impact are therefore that knowledge can no longer be seen as acquired or tangible. Knowledge should now rather be seen as communication. It is a theory of abundance where knowledge is shared with others, dialogues are a given and sharing of connections, inevitable. (Sozudogru et al. 2019). This said, online materials enhance learning, which is further enriched by social, technological and cognitive interpretive patterns (Sozudogru et al. 2019). It is also acknowledged that ICT integration and connection are integral parts of the connectivist spectrum.

The second pillar of my thinking is based on the social constructivist paradigm as it is believed that language, collaboration and interaction directly contribute to the role of thinking and learning (Robinson, et al 2017). Social constructivism is part of the foundation as the lecturer must understand the theoretical principles and design models. They should also be familiar with the approaches for providing a rich, learner-centred environment for active learning, as interaction and collaboration are different in a distance classroom compared to a contact classroom (Robinson et al., 2017).

This implies a substantial task for the lecturer who needs to understand the theoretical principles and design models to provide a learner-centred environment for active learning as it will differ when compared to the ‘old’ face-to-face environment (Robinson et al., 2017). Within this new environment, social-constructivism needs further substance and this is found within the socio-cultural theory of learning where the focus is on socio-cultural diversity and understanding, as this will impact on acquired cultural knowledge and how students understand and use language. With this in mind, the collective appropriation of tools is needed through language, as well as how students use language (Ahmag, 2015).

The next section will focus on internal and external factors that will impact on the student and the lecturer as they will constantly fight to dominate the classroom.

Internal factors will evolve around Wenger’s (in Ahmag, 2015) four components, which will include:

1. Meaning, as a way of talking about our abilities, whether it is individually or collectively;
2. Practice, as a way of talking about various perspectives that can sustain mutual student and lecturer engagement;
3. The community, as a way of talking about social arrangements; and
4. Identity, which will imply the way we talk about learning (Ahmag, 2015). 

Within this mainly constructivist paradigm, it is inevitable that project-based learning (PBL) and the way we assess will provide a platform of demonstrating and explaining of what was learned (Shadiev et al., 2015).

In this essay, I will focus on self-regulation, self-management and collaboration as internal factors that will impact on distance learning.

First of all, let’s take a look at the learner profile for distance. First and foremost, they need to possess self-regulated learning skills as it is vital to facilitate independent and collaborative learning (Chang & Hannafin, 2019). Means have to be found, by the lecturer, to assist students to acquire these skills. This will include self-regulated learning, quantitative reasoning and activities to promote these within higher-order thinking. Reflective and integrative learning can also increase content knowledge and cognitive processing, which will link to student-lecturer success.

Secondly, self-management is of utmost importance within online communication or social networking as it is a developmental process relating internal with external nuances and includes growing and developing as scholars of lifelong learning (Sozudogru et al., 2019). Therefore, students must constantly be guided to be able to assess their arguments and to defend their reasoning (Beckmann & Weber, 2015).

This brings me to the third point – collaboration. The distance lecturer should ask how collaborative learning can be sustained in group interaction in order to promote socialised learning while involving a cognitive, social and teaching presence to enhance learning performance (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). Research strongly indicates that interaction in collaborative distance environments is key to motivating students to learn and to promote their learning satisfaction (Jin, 2017).

Effective collaboration can only be achieved where there is mutual trust, knowledge and respect as collaboration is key to motivating students to learn and to promote their learning satisfaction. In order to assist students in this process, lecturers need to access more personal information about their students and be more informed about the profile of their students (Sozudogru, et al., 2019). It can be argued that if the lecturers know their students, it may add to student motivation and self-discipline to be successful in online learning endeavours (Dumfor & Miller, 2018).

External factors include taking cognisance of the socio-cultural environment, learning environment and technology.

Lecturers must be sensitive to the socio-cultural diversity as a lack of cultural knowledge may lead to confrontations and controversies among group members, which could have been avoided. The socio-cultural environment is crucial as conceptual understanding is greater when introducing interactive student participation and cooperative problem-solving via technology (Chang & Hannafin, 2015), as this environment enhances trust-building, integrity, competence, empathy and openness through the quality of interactions (Dreamson, 2017). Interactions with other students, including students from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, are important elements when considering student engagement (Dumfor & Miller, 2018). Therefore, cultural understanding is critical, and universities need to transform to function in a world characterised by multi-faceted relationships where students must possess a certain level of global competence to understand the world they live in (Shadiev et al., 2015).

The immense impact of the learning environment cannot be ignored as it is a powerful tool to master in order to be successful within the online and distance environment. I realised that knowledge of blended learning, synchronous and asynchronous methods, the flipped classroom approach, web-based learning and PBL are pedagogical keys to unlock successful learning and student performance. Within this framework, assessment practices highlight each step to be taken.

A blended learning environment can promote learning as it develops the capacity for reflection (Chang & Hannafin, 2015), keeping in mind that resources should be made available to students on an online platform where material can be shared for further enhancing authentic and effective learning (Sozudogru, et al., 2019). This learning environment should motivate learners and facilitate meaningful and worthwhile learning.

The learning design should be a well-structured process where social, technical and didactic challenges are recognised as interdependent dimensions of a good learning experience (Beckmann & Weber, 2015).

Discussion forums can also be utilised effectively (Beckmann & Weber, 2015).

Within online synchronous webinars, students can hear and see one another and they can communicate via virtual textual chat. These webinars can be recorded for asynchronous viewing in order to provide students with the opportunity to reflect, self-assess and compare various inputs (Ahmag, 2015).

It is also suggested that the classroom be flipped where there are interactive group learning activities within online webinars where the lecturer is removed to allow online peer discussions in order to prepare students for the ‘lecturer-in-class’ time (Ahmag, 2015). Within this virtual community, the class becomes the space where students are confronted with problem-solving, discussions and engaging in various collaborative assignments (Ahmag, 2015). The flipped classroom approach also allows more learner-centred experiences as they can explore and negotiate new meanings (Ahmag, 2015).

PBL can contribute to the authentic, real-time learning process and can impact on cross-cultural understanding (Shadiev et al., 2015). It can be seen as a vehicle to encourage students’ motivation as well as demonstrating what was learned (Shadiev et al., 2015). It also has a positive effect on students’ content knowledge, the improvement of collaboration, critical thinking skills as well as contributing the problem-solving strategies (Shadiev et al., 2015). Indeed, PBL captures complexities of authentic situations leading to creativity to explore new opportunities (Chuang, 2016).

Technology plays a vital role as it is a way to create a social presence where individual students should be introduced to one another to kick-start the group interaction process to reach a common goal, viz. to get to know each other and to work actively on group assignments (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). The use of virtual environments adds value to student interaction and academic performance throughout the learning process. The sense of belonging will increase communication and support between group members (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). Therefore, the teacher-student relationship in this socialising process will devoid feelings of isolation and academic failure (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). The lecturer should take cognisance of the fact that social interaction does not happen spontaneously and it should not be taken for granted (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). The choice of the virtual environment can facilitate a fluent communication process (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). Interestingly, Pukkaew (2013) indicated that online students did not care for institution-based portals, but that success was rather accomplished by using social media (such as Facebook) to chat with and message lecturers (Dumfor & Miller, 2018). Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2012) advocated a three-level framework in this environment, which includes personal information management, social interaction and collaboration (Chuang, 2016).

Assessment can consist of peer assessment, the use of e-assessment, various digital assessment techniques as well as using various apps to assist with assessment. Modelling and scaffolding can be used to provide students with critiquing peers (Robinson et al., 2017). In distance classes, lecturers may experience workload concerns. In this regard, peer assessment, where various apps can be fruitfully utilised, will give a creative flair to the student evaluation process. This can also spark critical thinking and trigger motivation (Beckmann & Weber, 2015). It is furthermore important to note that within the distance environment, there is always a social dimension where collaboration needs to be nurtured to be able to process constructive assessment that will integrate cognitive and social elements within the learning process (Hernández-Sellés & Muňoz-Carril, 2019). As lecturers, we need to access the knowledge gained by students as explained by students using various language coding processes in order for learning and assessment to become a dynamic, continuous, emergent and interconnected process (Sozudogru et al., 2019). It is also possible to incorporate various digital and evaluation techniques, but always keeping in mind that it remains a unique learning environment with unique diverse needs where established traditional classrooms practices will not necessarily work in distance programmes (Dumfor & Miller, 2018).

I cannot agree more with Vonderwell and Turner (2005), who point out that students want clear and effective communication within the distance mode of delivery. Most importantly, communication must be timeous and the delay factor and lack of interaction in asynchronous communication can negatively influence student learning (Robinson, et al., 2017).

Based on the above, I compiled a five-step framework to assist distance lecturers in this virtual environment:

Step 1: Construct your thinking

Prior to module planning, you need to think of your learning design where social, technological and didactic challenges are recognised as interdependent dimensions of a successful learning experience.

Step 2: Plan the framework of your module

The learning environment that you need to create should motivate learners and facilitate meaningful and worthwhile learning.

Step 3: Collaboration

During this step, you need to think about your assessment strategies, the interactions you want to focus on, group activities and assignment, as well as specific house rules for students to adhere to. Here you need to provide a roadmap for the semester for the students where all your activities, assignments, formal (and informal) opportunities for meetings and what do you agree on regarding group activities.

It is strongly recommended that the house rules are clear to give direction to all on contact times and deadlines.

Step 4: Technology

Decide on the technology you are going to use to assist you in this semester. Within my university environment, I suggest one within each category:

1. The platform used by the institution, e.g. SAKAI, Moodle

When setting up your page on the platform, only add tabs that the students will use, and only make them visible for students when there is information within those tabs. Tabs that are suggested include announcements, study guide, resources, assignments, mark book and chatroom.

 

2. A video resource platform, e.g. Panopto

It is recommended that you use the same video resource platform throughout. You must be able to embed your video on the platform on the institution; it must be easy to download and cost-effective.

 

3. A meeting platform, e.g. Zoom or Teams

Within this virtual platform you can invite all your students in order to open up informal conversation. Students who are exposed to meaning collaboration and informal conversations acquire a deeper thought development and knowledge construction (Robinson et al., 2017). The idea is that students should meet each other, start forming groups and interchange information. You may need more than one introductory session in order to create a more relaxed conversation environment. Plan similar meetings two or three times a year, just to create ongoing connectivity with students. Lecturers should take cognisance of the fact that online group activities do not necessarily result in collaborative interaction or learning (Robinson et al., 2017).

 

4. A social media platform, e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook, Chatbot

At this stage, students will engage with each other and will feel more comfortable to work in groups. It is suggested that the groups be set up in, for example WhatsApp, to stimulate further conversation and work engagement. It is suggested that groups should consist of three to seven members at the most.

Step 5: Introductory video

It is suggested that you record a video (not longer than six minutes), where the lecturer introduces him-/herself, gives an overview of the module and provides protocol for further discussions.

This essay provided tips for distance education to assist lecturers who are new in this mode of delivery. It supports research in this field and provides guidelines for a learner-centred approach and to create opportunities for the learner to enhance spontaneously in the online environment. It also dealt with managing student expectations and understanding the learning needs and environment of the learners. It is hoped that this essay will encourage further research within the field of distance education.

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Amhag, L. (2015). Learner centered experiences with flipped classroom and mobile online webinars in distance higher education program. 11^th International Conference Mobile Learning. 99-103.

Beckmann, J. & Weber, P. (2015). Cognitive presence in virtual collaborative learning: Assessing and improving critical thinking in online discussion forums. International Conference e-Learning, 51-58.

Chang, Y.E. & Hannafin, M.J. (2015). The uses (and misuses) of collaborative distance education technologies: Implications for the Debate on Transience in Technology, 16(2).22-92.

Chuang, H. (2016). Leveraging CRT awareness in creating web-based projects through use of online collaborative learning for pre-service teachers. Education Technology Research Development, 64:857-876.

Dreamson, N. (2017). Online Collaboration in Design Education: An experiment in Real-Time Manipulation of Prototypes and Communication. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, 36(2), 188-199.

Dumfor, A.D. & Miller, A. (2018). Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement. Journal Computer in Higher Education, 30, 452-465.

Hernández-Sellés, N. & Muňoz-Carril. (2019). Computer-supported collaborative learning: An analysis of the relationship between interaction, emotional support and online collaborative tools. Computers & Education, 138:1-12.

Jin, S. (2017). Using visualization to motivate student participation in collaborative online learning environments. Education Techology & Society, 20(2).51-62.

Robinson, H.A., Kilgore, W. & Warren, S.J. (2017). Care, Communication, Learner Support: Designing Meaningful Online Collaborative Learning. Online Learning Journal, 21(4),29-51.

Shadiev, R. Hwang, W. & Huang, Y. (2015). A Pilot study: Facilitating cross-cultural understanding with project-based collaborative learning in an online environment. Australasion Journal of Educational Technology, 31(2), 123-139.

Sozudogru, O., Altinay, M., Dagli, G., Altinay,Z. & Altinay,F. (2019). Examination of connectivist theory in English language learning. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 36(4).354-363.

Vonderwell, S. & Turner,S. (2005). Active learning and pre-service teachers’ experience in an online course: A case study. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 13, 65-84.