October 2006 Volume 9 Number 4

Cost-benefit
One distinct benefit of online courses is their scalability in terms of access, and therefore the ability to ‘teach’
increasingly larger class sizes with little additional development cost. Although scalability is an important
consideration in assessing cost-effectiveness of online course developments, the fixed costs for course
development have to be met regardless of class size.
The case example courses were developed within the author’s earth sciences specialism with its small student
numbers, ranging from 30 students in Geohazards to 90 for the interfaculty HKNE broadening course. By most
standards, these developments are small-scale and therefore are likely to present the least-favourable cost-benefit
circumstance. That said, all three courses were established ground up for a modest total expenditure of around
USD50,000 demonstrating that small-scale developments are viable and that the cost of establishing and
maintaining online environments need not be prohibitive.
The author’s department, the Department of Earth Sciences (DES), is the only tertiary department offering an
Earth Sciences degree programme in HK. With an annual freshman enrolment of less than 30 students, it is too
small to feasibly offer the desired range of specialist courses for an integrated and comprehensive curriculum
internally. In the case of both Geohazards and Volcanic Processes, international collaboration importantly
allowed for development of desired expert content at a slight fraction of the otherwise untenable cost of regular
internal employment of such specialists.
Generalisability
While both enrolment numbers and the centralized University end-of course ‘student evaluation of teaching’
(SET) scores demonstrated the popularity and acceptance of the example case courses, the author’s post-course
surveys indicate that this does not extend to a carte blanche affirmation of online learning as an alternative to
traditional lecturing.
There is, however, a consistency in students’ determination of those general categories of courses to which an
online learning component would be suited. Typically greater than 80% of students identify ‘broadening
courses’, ‘summer study modules’ and modular courses (like Geohazards) as suitable for online learning
components. It could be inferred that such support reflects the students’ perceptions of the inherent benefits in
terms of time and place constraints. ‘Language courses’, with their strong interpersonal and verbal components
are universally identified as inappropriate for online methods. ‘Interfaculty electives’ are more mixed, with
generally around 50% identifying these as appropriate for online learning development.
Full semester core courses as a category typically find favour with less than 30% of respondents. There is,
however, a great diversity in the nature of full semester core courses, and therefore perhaps a consequent
unwillingness to assign all such courses as collectively suitable or unsuitable. Interrogation by specific course
title yields a consistent picture. When asked to categorize a listing of other core Earth Science courses as to
appropriateness for online learning, third year Earth Science Geohazards students have, over the last three years,
consistently and dominantly (greater than 80% of respondents) graded the same three core courses as appropriate
for online learning development, whilst deeming the remaining almost universally as inappropriate. It may well
be a case of ‘customer knows best’, and it may be that student commentary on pedagogical design is undervalued
and under-utilized.
Feasibility of online developments given HKU’s current institutional status
The extent to which the institution currently meets the requirements for the successful development and
implementation of online learning is examined in terms of the determinants identified in Figure 2, which are
knowledge (technical competency and pedagogy), reluctance or ‘culture’, i.e. the teaching and learning culture
within the institution, and resources (provision and access).
Knowledge
It is apparent that in HK there is a high level of computer literacy, and student knowledge does not hinder the use
of online learning. In the author’s post-course surveys, students reiterate that training is not required for them to
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