OVERVIEW

by Hugh Guthrie

Computers and the internet offer exciting opportunities for learners, teachers and providers alike. Companies, too, seem to be showing an increasing interest in using online approaches to support their education and training.

In fact, the potential market for online learning and delivery is huge. Australian Bureau of Statistics data (ABS 2002) from the last census show that over six million Australians have ready access to computers and the internet, whether at work, home, or both. So it is not surprising that there has been considerable interest in the use of these technologies to deliver formal and other types of education and training programs.

For its part, the vocational education and training (VET) sector has been active in exploring ways of using these technologies to help deliver more appropriate, effective and flexible training to its clients. There has been a lot of experimentation with the online mode—and considerable funds have been provided to develop and support it.

Background

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework provides a five-year strategic plan designed to enhance the VET sector’s role in the development of the knowledge economy through the accelerated uptake of flexible learning modes. It contains a range of activities in the following five key goal areas:

• creative capable people
• supportive technological infrastructure
• world-class online content development, applications and services
• enabling policies
• problem-solving regulation.

In addition, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework has been underpinned and supported by a body of strategic research which the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has managed.

Currently nine research projects have been undertaken as part of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework research programs for 2000 and 2001. This book of readings has been assembled to provide an overview to this body of work. This is complemented by three chapters by Kearns, Candy and Schofield respectively which were commissioned for this book.

This overview chapter, and the book itself, fall into a number of ‘natural’ sections. The ‘big picture’ section examines a range of key contextual and international issues and policy approaches. The second section provides valuable insights into online teaching and assessment practices and learners’ views. The third examines the cost-effectiveness of the approach and the relationship between e-business and e-learning. The fourth looks at e-learning in companies. The final section examines online learning in regional and rural areas. This overview chapter summarises the body of work in each section as well as providing some key overarching messages and implications.

Key messages

As you will see, an important message that has emerged from this body of research is that it requires vision and leadership to successfully implement online learning. This also requires some fundamental changes to policies, as well as practices and funding approaches, so this can happen. This involves fostering vision and effective leadership across the sector—not just improved management.

This process requires the development of new outcome and productivity measures for providers as well as new ideas about measuring effective practice. To accomplish this, there may need to be a fundamental re-examination of the ways of funding providers.

Networks and partnerships need to be fostered not only across sectors of education and between providers but also between a far wider range of organisations and community groups. Relationships between providers and employers on the one hand, and with key local and regional community groups on the other, need to be developed and maintained. Enabling policy is needed— not one which is top down—but one which empowers grassroots organisations to collaborate, to transform and to innovate.

In fact, the nature of the transformation, in vocational education providers at least, may be quite significant. It will involve better market research, more effective planning and structural and operational change. It will also be more ‘whole-of-organisation’ and encompass the organisation’s human resources and industrial relations practices. This is because of the changing nature of staff’s work and the need to be flexible in the ways providers operate.

There are differences between a training institution and a company moving to adopt an e-learning approach which is ‘whole of organisation’—and it is easier for the company. This is because they have a clear strategy, explicit business imperatives, a strong sense of mission and can move quickly. This suggests that training providers need to find greater strategic clarity, which is difficult when there are diverse interests to be served.

Another recurrent theme in the body of research is the need for professional development in a wide range of areas to help teachers make better use of online learning and delivery. Professional development needs are recognised in areas such as teaching, use of technologies, seeing what others are doing, keeping up to date with new developments in a fast-moving field, resource development and, importantly, the development of adequate levels of written and other communication skills for the online environment. The research also found that teachers need training in assessment, evaluation and online facilitation, especially in the management of self-paced groups.

Identifying and disseminating best-practice e-learning and e-business approaches also need to be considered as organisations move to transform. This requires underpinning by robust research. Evaluation processes are also needed to guide and to monitor progress on new initiatives.

Finally, the work examining the use of online learning in regional Australia identifies the same sets of issues to those found in other online research. Only the extent of the issue sometimes differs. For example, the relative speed and stability of internet access is a bigger issue in regional Australia than in metropolitan areas.

Turning now to each section of the book, the following are the key points I have drawn from the respective chapters.

The big picture

We live in a time of pervasive change. Globalisation, changes in technologies and their applications, the loss of traditional jobs and the creation of new ones make it important for all of us to keep learning throughout our lives. People need new skills and new ways to learn these skills and the ability to adapt and change.

Keeping up to date increasingly requires higher levels of traditional literacy skills and being able to find and marshall information; that is, be information literate. It also requires the new information and communication technology (ICT) literacies. Individuals now have to take increased responsibility for this learning.

Becoming more information- and ICT-literate

To be information-literate a person needs to be able to recognise when information is needed. He or she needs to have the ability to locate it from a variety of sources, and to evaluate and use it effectively. Some would argue that this is one of the strengths of online learning as it can so readily involve learning tasks which help to build skills in information literacy. While information literacy might be considered to be a ‘generic’ skill, it has elements which are influenced by personal needs, context, the nature of the subject matter and the forms that the information takes.

As Candy points out, information literacy is coupled with information and communication technology literacy: the knowledge and research skills to find information sources, the technological skills to exploit them and the skills to communicate using them. It is about using digital technology, communications tools and/or networks to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information in order to function in a knowledge society (Information Communication Technology Literacy Panel 2002).

While it is the clear responsibility of each person to develop and maintain these skills, they need help. This help can come from educational institutions, their employers and from community-based sources such as libraries. However, those whose role it is to help develop these skills in others may not have the skills developed at sufficient levels themselves. Both Candy and Kearns also point out that not everyone has equal access to opportunities for acquiring these literacies. As a result, special provision is needed to help those who may be disadvantaged—whether through geographic location, language skills, technological facility, physical disability, income and employment status and other forms of disadvantage. This will help to avoid, or at least limit the growth of, what is termed ‘the digital divide’.

Many young people have skills in using the computer and other technology. However, these skills do not necessarily mean that they have the information and communication technology literacy needed for effective online learning. Likewise, older people who have not grown up with this emerging technology may need special help to meet their information needs to enable them to participate as fully as possible in society.

The policy framework

Kearns notes the wide range of policy on information and communication technologies. While some countries had restricted their policy considerations just to the schools sector, Australia’s is distinctive in that it runs across all three of its major education sectors: schools, VET and universities. However, the message Kearns delivers is clear, and is that cross-sectoral perspectives are needed. What is more, connections to initiatives in sectors outside education need to be made, developed and maintained. The secret to realising the full potential of information and communication technologies as a tool for learning lies, as Kearns says, ‘in finding creative and innovative ways to build partnerships and coalitions to support a shared vision and objectives’. This is ‘the partnership challenge’.

Kearns notes that some countries are now examining ways of moving beyond the current mainstreaming and integrating phase of online learning to one which involves transforming the way learning takes place. This will also involve a transformation in the physical and operational set-up of learning institutions and the way they work with, and relate to, their clients and the ‘communities’ they service.

A general policy thrust is needed which moves away from ‘top down’ and ‘imposed’ policies, to ‘grassroots strategies’ which stimulate and support creativity and innovation at the local level, and the building of partnerships and networks to drive the desired objectives. This ‘energising’ of the grassroots is also seen as a way of bringing about the cultural change needed to support the aspirations of a learning and knowledge society. Teachers, institutions and communities need to be restructured and empowered to use information and communications technologies in creative ways as a tool for continuous learning and for building a learning and innovative culture.

Teaching practice and learner views

Kearns notes that British further education colleges had been encouraged and driven to change by a mixture of ‘carrots’ and ‘sticks’ by the funding agency. However, he reports that the British Educational Communication and Technology Agency had concluded that exemplary strategies all started from a strong teaching and curriculum focus and had a clear vision of how technology could and should serve learners, teaching and learning. Weaknesses resulted from colleges having no educational or teaching vision for their information and learning strategy. This conclusion is also relevant to VET in Australia.

As such, the thrust of much of the research sponsored as part of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework has been concerned with teaching approaches and issues of quality and student support, particularly from the learners’ perspectives. Brennan’s chapter outlines a set of effectiveness indicators for teaching and learning. These make good sense and accord well with some of the key features of good online learning and assessment identified by Cashion and Palmieri and by Hyde, Booth and Wilson respectively. In addition, Choy, McNickle and Clayton look at the support learners need before and during online learning, as well as the technical support they require.

Quality features in learning, assessment and student support

From the perspective of the learner, the most highly valued quality feature is flexibility. However, the indicators of teaching and learning effectiveness include such key quality features as teacher skills and responsiveness, and communication and interactivity between staff and learners, and between the learners themselves, in order to make the learning a more social experience. The research has also identified that an important success factor for staff in online learning is developing strong rapport with the students: knowing them, their progress and their interests intimately in order to help to enrich their learning experiences. Feedback to learners is also very important. It needs to be rapid, informative and comprehensive, but expectations about how much will be provided to learners need to be made clear at the start of the program.

High-quality learning materials not only provide learners with the opportunity to interact with the information but also highlight additional pathways for them. These online materials can also open further pathways by linking to the potentially vast array of other resources available electronically and thus help to foster the development of key information literacy skills needed. The effectiveness indicators look for teaching approaches which challenge learners and develop their cognitive and other skills. The resources also need to encourage deep learning which enables learners to move from areas and tasks that are already familiar to new areas—achieving this in ways most suited to them.

Both Brennan, and Cashion and Palmieri identify a number of learner characteristics as prerequisites for effective e-learning, including high levels of independence, motivation, persistence, literacy, computer skills and experience, and time management. These ideals are not confirmed by current experiences reported by either teachers or students. Thus, as both Cashion and Palmieri and Choy, McNickle and Clayton point out, there is a need for induction programs at the beginning of the course and a measure of ongoing support to help to address any deficits learners may have. However, the biggest problem learners encounter relates to technology and access through the internet. Helpdesks and other support are needed to ensure that learning is the focus of their online experience—not wrestling with technology and access issues.

As Hyde, Booth and Wilson point out, assessment is an integral part of learning. Assessment, particularly formative assessment used to judge progress, is being used in teaching and learning online. But more extensive use could be made of the online environment for all forms of assessment—not just for formative quizzes and true/false questions. Summative or final assessment processes used to judge competence are less well-developed in the online environment and are mainly confined to using email to submit assignments and receive feedback. Their research identified promising developments in relation to the use of project-based assessment, case studies, simulations and chat and bulletin boards for both individual and group assessment.

Changes in teachers’ work and their professional development needs

The chapters by Kilpatrick and Bound and Horton and Osborne as well as a number of the others note that online learning changes the nature of teachers’ work significantly, even when it is part of a mixed-mode approach. Many teachers are now working in new and often unfamiliar ways which, in turn, may not be understood by their organisation’s administration. The online environment brings its own set of teaching and learning issues and teachers need to develop new ways of building relationships that rely more on emails, chat rooms and other devices. These require high-level information literacy, written and other communication skills which the teachers themselves may not possess.

The studies found that most teachers were enthusiastic about online teaching, finding it challenging, enlivening, rewarding and enriching. Their concerns centred on the fact that the changes it demands of teachers’ working patterns are not recognised in budgets, working conditions or state reporting requirements. There is a need for greater staff availability throughout the day and across the week, an issue which has industrial relations ramifications— including more flexible views about the nature, hours and place of their ‘work’. Recognition of these changes is necessary if the requisite transformations in organisations and practices are to be widely adopted.

The research also found that teachers need to master the range of technologies being used and know intimately the content, learning resources and the learning options available to the students. They cannot depend on their students being at the same stage at the same time, especially when the program is self-paced. Because students may be working at any time of the day or night, providing continuity of support is a challenge, especially given a teaching workforce which is becoming increasingly part time or casualised.

Operational issues

The cost-effectiveness of online approaches

Much of the VET sector’s offerings is still reliant on classroom-based approaches, but the need to deliver to wider groups of people and in a variety of new locations has led to a range of options being adopted, including online approaches. Adopting new and more flexible approaches invariably raises questions about their cost-effectiveness.

Curtain’s chapter presents six case studies comparing the costs and outcomes of online approaches with those based on traditional classroom delivery. He, like others before him, has found it difficult to isolate the true costs of establishing, investing in and meeting the recurrent costs of online and flexible approaches.

In general Curtain found online programs cost more to develop, and their recurrent costs could be higher, particularly when the level of learner support is significant. On the face of it however, online approaches have a lot going for them, especially when combined with other modes of delivery. They appear to have significant benefits over traditional distance education approaches.

As Cashion and Palmieri suggest, online learning is not a cheap option. In this context, Curtain examined ways of improving cost-effectiveness. Costs can be reduced through looking into new work roles for staff, by addressing issues caused by inherited organisational structures and by introducing new and better integrated work systems. Increasing volumes while maintaining costs is another strategy. Like Kearns and Mitchell, Curtain proposes a transformational approach and one which is ‘whole-of-organisation’ in its basis.

Improving teaching and learning or offering more options is often where the journey towards adopting online approaches begins. It may even be just as simple as wanting to try something new—whether new technologies or learning approaches. But this is really only one side of the story. The research has found that online approaches are but one of a range of ways that can be used to deliver learning. Flexibility is the key. Online learning is one means of achieving this flexibility.

E-business and whole-of-organisation approaches

Once there is improved service and flexibility at one level, it soon becomes clear that it is possible to broaden the nature of online use and integrate it with approaches in other areas. For example, an online approach which started with ‘teaching and learning’ subsequently moves to one concerned with a broader range of functions, such as student support. Online learning therefore becomes part of a wider approach to doing business. It becomes part of an ‘e-business’ solution.

Much of the research reported in this book shows that adopting online approaches has ramifications for the whole of the organisation. What is needed are better ways of integrating the back and front office components of what more successful providers do. Mitchell’s chapter in this book does just this. It describes a more holistic and customer-oriented approach to providing and supporting vocational programs. This is called e-business, and e-learning is seen as one of its components. It is concerned with conducting business electronically, both within the business and outside—with clients, partners and the broader community. In the past, these two activities, e-business and e-learning, have evolved largely separately, but integrating them presents significant opportunities.

Moving this way means that business processes need to be redesigned—and the organisation needs to be transformed—in order to achieve business goals such as improving efficiency, reducing costs, increasing speed of transactions, expanding markets, enhancing business partnerships and, most importantly, providing additional value for clients. The chapter provides examples of practice both in Australia and overseas and documents the barriers and benefits of moving to a total e-business approach.

E-learning in companies

In her chapter Schofield draws on findings from four preliminary case studies of ‘icon’ companies and examines their opinions and use of e-learning. This provides a broader perspective than the provider-based focus which dominates the body of the research commissioned under the auspices of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework. It is also an important recognition of the role that employers play in skills formation and learning.

This research suggests that e-learning should not be considered as a standalone initiative but seen within broader corporate and human resource contexts. The link to corporate strategy is the key. The study suggests there are two overarching enablers of successful and sustainable e-learning. First, there needs to be a demand for high-performance/high-skills work organisation and this needs to be reflected in an explicit corporate strategy which is widely understood throughout the company. Second, there needs to be a high level of sensitivity amongst human resource development people to that strategy. When these enablers exist, they provide an overarching framework for e-learning and give focus and direction to its implementation. Size may be important also, and it has been suggested that the approach may not be suitable for organisations with under 400 staff.

E-learning enables a strategic repositioning of the training function by providing an opportunity in corporate human resource development to have new conversations with business units about training. These ‘conversations’ help to raise their awareness of its value. The training process can also be reengineered because the systems that underpin e-learning can be used to make the administration of training far more efficient. In this way it is seen as adding real value. In addition, e-learning systems can provide data useful in raising corporate and business unit awareness of workforce development.

Schofield has also reported that cost savings are frequently presented as a key driver of e-learning, yet none of the four companies studied saw cost savings as the primary factor in their decisions about e-learning. Rather, she found the overarching drivers for the introduction of e-learning were speed, access for staff, consistency and customer service.

E-learning is also being used as a tool to support value chain integration by taking training upstream to suppliers, across to partners and downstream to distributors such as agents and, in some instances, company clients. As work organisation continues to change rapidly, and outsourcing continues to be a strategic choice of many firms, new concepts of networks, clusters and skill ecosystems are merging with the more established concept of the value chain. This raises the potential of using e-learning to help companies build on existing competitive strengths through collaborative relationships and training partnerships.

Online learning in regional and rural Australia

Two of the chapters in this book of readings deal with the issue of online learning in regional and rural Australia. The clear question raised in commissioning such projects is whether or not there are issues which are unique to learners, teachers and institutions in these areas, or whether their issues are similar to those encountered in metropolitan Australia. What is clear is that the teaching and learning and organisational issues identified are the same. There may be differences in degree, for example, the relative speed and stability of internet access.

Those in regional and rural Australia are particularly concerned that their young people will not have the educational options available to those in the cities. They also wish to support and maintain their communities and their infrastructure, and so having education and training options available to them which obviate the need for excessive travel is very important. Online delivery is one way in which this can be done so that the range of learning options and programs available is as broad as possible and meets local needs.

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2002, Census of population and housing: Selected social and housing characteristics, Australia, 2001, ABS Australia, cat. no. 2015.0, Canberra.
Information Communication Technology Literacy Panel 2002, Digital transformation: A framework for ICT literacy, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ.