Is Learning Online ‘Cool’?

What’s the ‘cool factor’ for Online Learning?  As educators, teachers and instructional designers should we even care?  The answer is unequivocally yes.  But, the problem goes beyond the ‘cool factor’ – online learning has an image problem, a big problem. As educators I think it’s time to figure out what to do about it. How is online learning perceived?  In K12 education, higher education and in corporations, I’ve heard these words expressed that capture the impressions collectively – ‘sub-standard’, ‘ineffective’, ‘not social’ or how about this one – ‘boring’.  I’m sure you’ve heard all of these and probably more, whether from the students’ perspective, faculty, or potential learner. What we can do about this image problem? How can can we change perceptions and even make online learning seem ‘cool. I have a few ideas:

Image via Wikipedia

Some facts: online learning
Let’s frame the problem. According to Sloan Consortium the growth rate for online enrollment is slowing, even plateauing (I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, 2011). In fact  the growth of online enrolments in degree granting instructions fell from 21% in 2009 to 10.1% in 2011 {this surprised me}. In contrast, there were 845 million active Facebook users at the end of February 2012 [400 million in 2010], and 50 million Twitter users, of which over half log on each day. Granted Facebook and such platforms are not directly related to online learning, but there are significant parallels; the delivery method, the Internet, now accessible 24/7 given the proliferation of mobile devices, and the asynchronous aspect (not in real-time) are the same.  Why is online learning with its ability to connect learners with learning 24/7 at a place and time that is convenient for the learner not experiencing the same growth?  Hold that thought, we’ll come back to it.

How do college age students perceive online learning
I found this interesting – several research reports showed that though students like the flexibility of online learning, they still aren’t completely convinced online learning is at least as good as face-to-face learning. One paper, Students Perceptions of Distance Learning, Online Learning and the Traditional Classroom (O’Malley), drew this conclusion,

“Our research indicates that students perceive that OL has a significant relative advantage to traditional methodologies. These advantages include saving them time, fitting in better with their schedules, and enabling students to take more courses. They do not believe that they learn more in OL courses and have concerns related to being able to contribute to class discussions. Interestingly, the students seem to be ambiguous when comparing OL to traditional methodologies. They prefer traditional courses to OL courses although they want more OL courses.”

Students aren’t the only ones who are still apprehensive about online learning. Though acceptance is increasing, faculty at higher education institutions are still wary. In 2011, faculty acceptance rates are as follows: 56.5 % have neutral feelings about online instruction, 11.5% disagree with it, and 32.4% agree with online instruction (I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, 2011). We still have some work to do.

Why the ‘bad image’?
Looking back to early programs of online learning we can determine where the problem began. Early attempts at online instruction for most institutions were simply adaptations of classroom-based courses. Content was uploaded to a learning management platform  and professors checked in every once in a while, and hoped for the best. Gradually institutions began to see that this method does not work – pedagogical principles that worked in the classroom do not translate well to the online delivery method – and [fortunately] institutions are realizing that the development and delivery of online education is complex and requires a different and unique skill set.

What we can do?
There are obvious answers including improving the quality of the instructional design process, addressing the uniqueness of the teaching method, and educating instructors in the skills necessary for this ‘new’ environment.  Though we need to move beyond the basics, and begin to address the image of online learning and discuss where online learning fits into the educational strategy within our organizations.

Fortunately, there are some great examples of what higher education institutions and K12 are doing in an effort to change the image of online learning. Below are a few [impressive] examples.

1) The Wall of Cool (Celebrating Outstanding Online Learning) : Created by the Cal Poly Ponoma Faculty  – this awesome website is designed to a promote e-learning and showcase successful instructors and best practices. Faculty are featured in brief video clips sharing their successes and strategies. The site is ‘cool’ – and worthy of a visit.

2) Cool School: Online Content Management site: A Canadian organization, COOL School specializes in the development of  web-based resources to be used in learning management platforms like Moodle and Blackboard.  I like how this organization puts great effort into making learning resources that are engaging for the student and recognizes the uniqueness of, and embraces the online format.

3) The Manifesto for Teaching Online
The idea for writing this post came to me after reading this post about a manifesto for teaching online. Created by students and scholars at the University of Edinburgh the goal (besides as a learning assignment for a student) is to challenge educators to think differently about online education, assessment methods, development, and “In short, we’re trying to contribute to a conversation about what a generative and exciting vision of online education should be.” There has been some criticism, and much discussion since the manifesto hit the web. Worth a quick click to check it out for yourself.

To wrap up, I hope I’ve left you thinking about the image you have of online learning, and perhaps what you might be able to do to challenge and take online learning to the next level.  I really like the idea of marketing the image of online learning – even presenting an image of ‘cool’ to the under 25 learner. Seeing what other schools and organizations are doing to differentiate their online learning programs has expanded my views on what can be done to promote online learning, and to present a program in its best light – one that is vibrant, high quality with tremendous potential for a rich  learning experience (and maybe even a little bit cool).

Keep Learning 🙂

References
I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman. Going the distance – Online education in the United States, 2011. (2011), Babson Survey Research Group and Quahog Research Group, LLC.