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Time Management Skills 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 11 5 4 Advice for New Students 3 2 2 2 Ti m e Check-in Quiet Space Instructor Technical Supplies Ask for Help Lack Management Skill Skills Interaction Frequent Check-in Set up Quiet Workspace Figure 6: Advice for New Students Determine Instructor's Skill Level Before Enrolling Prepare for Technology Skills Required Buy Good Printer, Paper, Toner Cartridges 1 Ask for Help When Needed Be Aware of Lack of Interaction 11 5 4 3 2 2 2 1 Additional Data As the team was concerned about the extent to which the proposed online course might deal with technology issues, they interviewed two members of the NCSU Learning Technology Services which specializes in assisting instructors in putting their courses online. Both were asked, "What do you see as the biggest problems new online learners encounter?" They listed several of the s pecifics noted by the instructors, such as saving files, installing plug-ins, and configuring browsers. The biggest problem, in their estimation, is that many students just seem to have a psychological block when it comes to new technology: "They don’t try to figure things out, click on the buttons, go to th e links, experiment and test; I'm especiall y surprised tha t we see so much of this fro m graduate students." They also mentioned s kills such as using e-mail and attachments, but stressed that some skills are disciplin e-dependent: where students in the humanities may need little more than e xperience with word processing, students in geography might have to post a map to the web, and those in business fields mi ght need to be proficient in Excel. The respondent added that because of this, “The instructor may have to take over the first week of class and help their students with these specific skills” rather than try to incorporate everything into a single orientation course for new online learners. Summary of Findings The point on which respondents clearly agreed was the need for online learners to understand the time commitment required of an online course and possess or develop strong time management skills. Both students and instructors hinted, or wrote directly, that online learning was simply not for everyone and students should make an honest assessment of their interests, commitment and abilities before enrolling in an online course. The point on which 97
espondents differed most was the proficiency level and necessity of technology skills: where instructors found these skill deficits to be a large problem, students reported that bigger issues for them were unclear instructor expectations and, again, time management concerns. Of the particular technologies specified in both student and instructor responses, the most frequent was the use of the discussion forum, both in terms of actual technical competency as well as understanding how to compose messages and when to post privately versus publicly. Finally, though most students described having some problems during their initiation to online coursework, few indicated that they would enroll in a 1-credit-hour 'orientation to online learning course' even if it were offered for academic credit at no cost. Implications of Sample size Due to the small sample size, there is a limitation to generalizing the findings of this study. A low response rate raises questions about several aspects of the study. First is the notion that those people who returned the instrument may be different from those who did not return it. This is called non-response bias (Hawkins, Best, & Cooney, 1992; Jobber & O’Reilly, 1996; O’Rourke, 1999). If the response rate had been higher, there would have been a better representation of the sample. This lack of representativeness does not ensure biased results, but it does allow for greater potential for bias (Bachman, 1999). It is possible that respondents were more interested in the study. This could cause them to be more motivated, interested or opinionated than those of non-respondents. It has been shown that people who have highly critical or favorable opinions are more likely to respond to a survey (O’Rourke, 1999). The low response rate also restricts aspects of the analytical techniques used to analyze the data. Overall, it reduces the power of the statistical testing (Jobber & O’Reilly, 1996). Low response rates limit the probability that anything other than the strongest differences are detected (Hollman & McNamara, 1999). As a result of the low response rates, the results of this study cannot be generalized to the populations from which the samples were drawn. However, the study does provide insights about the perceptions of those people who returned the instrument. Therefore analyses were run, results were aimed at, and implications directed to only those people who responded to the survey. Task Analysis Duties / Task List A job analysis was conducted to obtain a detailed listing of tasks necessary to perform the job of "online learner." Team members used their own expertise as online learners to identify key duties and tasks associated with the job, acting as Subject Matter Experts (SME). Additionally, feedback from surveys was analyzed to determine other key duties and tasks. The tasks identified in this analysis will become a source for identifying the knowledge, skills and attitudes an online learner must posses for success in an online course. Tasks are identified beneath the corresponding duty. Duty 1.0: Adapt to the online learning environment 1.1 Prepare for online learning 1.2 Prepare for online course Duty 2.0: Establish technical resources for online learning 2.1 Obtain hardware resources for online learning 2.2 Obtain software resources for online learning 2.3 Access support resources for technical resource troubleshooting Duty 3.0: Access course web site 3.1 Log on to university course listings web site 98
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Journal of Educational Technology &
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Guidelines for authors Submissions
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Higher education staff experiences
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