How will e-learning affect my students?

"the views and experiences of the students should be the ultimate indicator of success", Lazenby, p.306.

They may have problems reaching a 'comfort zone'

Comfort with a different way of communicating?

"Publishing a message and knowing others read it, but don't comment is like talking into a big empty space and being ignored!" (Student message to an H802 conference).

• Students "did not feel a concern about lack of personal contact after five months of experience" of the new approach at the University of Twente. Collis & De Boer found in a pre-course survey that 20% (N=45) of on-campus students and 23% (N=25) of off-campus students were concerned about a possible lack of personal contact(p.356).  Five months later only 4.2%(N=25) of on-campus and 7.1% (N=15) of off-campus students were similarly concerned.  This reduction possibly reflects the implementation strategy which was planned to emphasise the bond between student and teacher.  Although there were only eight lectures in four months students were expected to spend the time between these engaging in activities such as submitting small assignments to a shared resource, contributing to FAQs and commenting on model answers and on each other's work. 
• But "there are cultural differences in student comfort expressing ideas on bulletin boards and via e-mail" (Brown, p.375) While some practitioners argue that asynchronous conferencing can encourage shy students. others have found that students are reluctant to expose their thoughts publicly and prefer to lurk and learn by reading what others have written rather than posting contributions themselves.  Initial ice-breaking activities and exercises in Netiquette and how to participate in an online discussion are recommended (Brown, p.376) and Fisher points out that her students started to feel more comfortable when they became aware that "someone was there to help them get through the activities" (Fisher, p.324).

"Good online teaching means person to person interaction. Just like real life", (Azevedo, 1999) .

Comfort with a different way of learning?

"Top Class has been really an important and helpful part of the course.  It allowed us to share and discuss our ideas and beliefs . . . we have learned a lot from each other", (extract from student journal in Foley & Schuck, p.129).

• "instructors have observed that there has been strong enthusiasm among the students who actively participated in online learning" (Fisher, p.322). All the Special Issue authors agree that a learner-centred approach which focuses upon collaborative learning via computer conferencing results in  higher order learning as evidenced by an increase in creative response, reflective thinking and awareness of multiple perspectives. Models which require students to submit electronic portfolios, mind maps, group reports, etc., are found to be particularly useful (Bonk & Dennen, p.408).   The Special Issue article 'Curriculum & Learning-Resources Issues Arising from the Use of Web-Based Course Support Systems suggests many ways of creating WWW-resources which encourage co-operative tasks based on constructivist learning principles  (Oliver & McLoughlin, pp.419-435) . 
• But some students are less happy.  Foley & Schuck (1998), in their report on a study also discussed by Alexander,  found that 51 out of the 82 (62.2% students who responded to the question about difficulty with collaboration reported some sort of dissatisfaction with the process.  "Group assignments suck!" was one student's response (Foley & Schuck, p.132 ).  Authors suggest that students may need a course on  'learning how to learn'  to wean them from passive teacher-led modes of instruction (Oliver & McLoughlin p.424;) but also warn against a 'one size fits all' mentality and suggest that not all students will want to learn in the same way and should be provided with a variety of options (Collis & De Boer p.353; Alexander, p.290)

Comfort with the technology?

When I first attended the online class, I was scared, since my level of knowledge and interest in the technology is minimal.  It was as if I was learning to drive a car: afraid of an accident and getting lost . . . (Student quoted by Fisher, p.325).

• Problems that students have with the technology are discussed on the Technical Issues page and should not be dismissed as trivial.  Authors predict that this may be a short-term problem that will disappear as the world becomes more wired.  At the same time issues of the exclusion of students who have no access to the technology because of disability or poverty (personal or regional) should not be overlooked. 

Or they may lead the way . . .

" . . .  it is sometimes a wonder that our students learn anything at all", Goodyear, 1998.

• Authors have noted that once students have experienced one online course they demand that the facility be extended to future courses they take (Lazenby p.304-5,  Fisher, p.314). ).  This has been experienced by the author of this web site and is likely to mean that teachers who respond to their students' needs will be drawn into the e-learning environment.