Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Table 1: Wholly online participants’ attitudes to
Yuwanuch Gulatee and Barbara Combes
Students online (N=41) SD D NA A SA
Missing classroom interaction 0 3 1 18 19
Percent 0 7 2 44 47
Study online for convenience 0 1 2 11 27
Percent 0 2 5 27 66
Table 2: Wholly online students, levels of frustration
Students online SD D NA A SA
Total (N=41) 3 9 3 8 18
Percent 7 22 7 20 44
While this and other studies present a consistent view of online learning experiences from the student
perspective, this research also examined the staff point of view. While not unique in its recognition of
the importance of staff in the provision of eLearning, this study certainly focused far more heavily on
the staff perspective and possible connections between their views and those of their students. This
study shows, just as with the student cohort, that staff members experience issues of isolation,
frustration and disconnectedness when teaching via the online environment. Like the students, this
response is largely due to the issue of physical separation, which in turn can lead to a lack of
motivation and commitment to online teaching and curriculum development. These issues are in
addition to the more generic issues commonly raised in the research literature such as time, workload,
a lack of professional development, and in some cases, poor technical literacy. The commentary
below clearly illustrates the staff perspective of how the physical separation imposed by the online
environment affects staff interactions with their students.
When I want to solve a problem with a student, miscommunication really makes me feel
frustrated. For online I need to do a lot of preparation. I spend more contact time with
online students. I do feel isolated from the students. The team bonding experience, not
just within the students, but also the lecturer and student relationship, makes the student
experience more enjoyable. (Staff participant ID: 4)
Recognition that the online environment is very different from the f-t-f environment is a
first step in developing materials that will cater for both and realistic time allocations for
the workload involved. (Staff participant ID: 15)
The findings of this study clearly show that in any research involving effective eLearning the
perspectives and expertise of the staff must be considered as being equally pre-eminent as those of
the students. In the past there has been a tendency for research to focus on the student as consumer
of eLearning programs. A conclusion of this research is that such a singular focus can lead to a very
one sided assessment of eLearning and its attendant issues. Providing learning programs that are
interactive and socially dynamic, inherently involves both the instructor and the learner and therefore
meaningful conclusions about eLearning must include input from both parties. This research and
others like it indicate that both students and staff want to feel connected and part of a learning
community that is a feature of the traditional classroom. The personal touch that is an essential part of
the teaching-learning experience is not readily available online, as reflected in both the student and
staff interviews. Thus, the instructor-learner dynamic that is a feature of the traditional classroom
experience, but essentially missing from the online environment due to physical separation, makes it
difficult to support and motivate students and staff when teaching and learning online.
4. Higher education and virtual worlds
Developments in technology create new possibilities for online classrooms. New methods of
communication such as interactive social networking tools, online whiteboards, both synchronous and
asynchronous tutorials, and chat room avatars provide students with opportunities to engage in a
social community which also provides a venue for collaborative learning, interactivity, and teambased,
problem–solving activities. Using animated virtual world communications provides students
with a virtual space that is familiar as it resembles the physical classroom, and is a space where
students can experience the social learning aspects that occur face-to-face (Wankel & Kingsley,
2009). In research by John, Lesley, & Leonard (2009) students reported a favourable reaction to the
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