The secret is the teacher: The learner's view of online learning

The aim of this research was to investigate the meaning of ‘quality learning’ from the perspective of vocational education and training (VET) online learners. The study used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods to elicit the views of students and VET organisations on what constitutes a quality online learning experience. This report describes the factors which emerged as important, and provides some suggestions for organisations wishing to provide quality online learning for their students.

Six different methods have been used to understand what constitutes good quality in online learning. Three methods involved the online questionnaire which provided open-ended questions, a Likert-type scale of responses ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’ and a Gap analysis which determined the importance of various aspects of online learning to students, including a rating of their experience. The other three methods involved the collection of data through focus groups, interviews and case studies.

Quality of online learning

Seventy-one per cent of all students responded that they believed they were receiving a high-quality online learning experience.

The positive attributes of online learning can be summarised as follows and are given in descending order of importance in terms of responses by students:

• flexibility (24%)
• responsive teachers (15%)
• materials and course design (14%)
• access to resources (9%)
• online assessment and feedback (7%)
• increase in information technology (IT) skills (6%)
• learning style (6%)
• interaction with other students (5%)
• communication (5%)
• ease of use (3%)
• hybrid mix of face-to-face and online learning (3%).

The positive aspects of online learning far outweighed those the respondents considered to be its negative attributes which were, again in descending order of significance in terms of responses:

• access and technology (25%)
• self - related to their motivation levels, lack of time, self-discipline and problems with the learning approach (9%)
• assessment (9%)
• lack of teacher responses (8%)
• confusion (5%)
• resources (5%)
• lack of support (4%)
• need for a help desk (4%).

Learning online

The students were very positive about the flexibility, freedom and convenience of the online environment, but quite clear that they did not prefer it to face-to-face classes. There was no consistent opinion from students concerning which form of education took the most time; for educators however, online education is considerably more time-consuming than face-to-face teaching. Students indicated that they were not studying online merely because they could not get to class; the online model in many instances presented a much more convenient option for them. While students did not miss the discipline of getting to class, they recognised that they needed to be more organised to study online than in class. Hybrid or blended delivery was seen very positively, offering flexibility together with the benefits of both face-to-face teacher-supported instruction and online learning.

Students appreciated the other skills gained while studying online: their IT skills and ability to use the internet were enhanced. They noted that they needed strong personal skills, especially motivation and time-management skills.

Flexibility

Flexibility was the most important and significant factor in high-quality, online learning, being the most common indicator of quality as defined by the students. Students strongly indicated that they relished the freedom of learning online and that online learning was more convenient than having to attend classes.

Good teachers, good teaching

The importance of good teachers, facilitators and tutors cannot be underestimated. The essence of good-quality online learning lies with the teacher. Online education is not concerned with replacing teachers with online content. Quality online learning relies on the work of good teachers. Responsive, helpful, knowledgeable teachers facilitate an effective online learning experience. However, without clear standards and expectations regarding the level and nature of teacher interaction online, the workload for teachers is untenable. A crucial aspect of this issue is the expectation of prompt responses from the teacher. Just what is ‘prompt’, and when and how often can a teacher be expected to be at the end of the line? Student expectations online are very different from those in face-to-face situations: they want responses the moment they request it, having no concept of waiting their turn as they would in class.

Communication

From the students’ perspective online communication is not a strong feature of online learning at present. They saw email contact with their teacher as fast and efficient, but they did not interact more with other students online than they did in class. There was no indication that learning communities were developing online. The principal relationship for students was with their teacher, whom they wanted to be accessible and available to help them as needed. These responses would indicate that the community-building aspect of online communication is in its infancy in the VET sector and certainly has not reached its potential.

Online resources

Online interactive materials were very important to students and they accessed more learning resources online than when studying in class. Print-based materials presented online were assessed as not appropriate, but the provision of well-designed course materials which were interesting and stimulating received very positive responses. Students generally found their materials easy to follow, easy to understand and more up to date than class materials. In some cases, however, lack of adequate instructions was an issue. The wealth of resources accessible online was a very positive factor as were the links to other sites. One of the students noted that one of the very positive aspects of studying online was the high quality of course material online with hyperlinks to other sites.

Assessment

Online assessment was important to students. They appreciated computer-generated feedback, but wanted a more rapid turnaround from teachers. The greatest problems with assessment related to understanding what was expected of them. Furthermore, many students noted the technical difficulties encountered when downloading assignments and submitting work. Validity of assessment and cheating online were not raised as issues for either students or educators.

Support

Students did not indicate that they needed a lot of support to study online. They believed that induction was important, but reported that no one had checked their skills before they started. Since they did not have ready access to online help they wanted a real person to help them, rather than a computer screen. This was one of the greatest areas of difference between students and teachers. Teachers thought students would need more support than the students acknowledged they needed. An online help desk was one area of common agreement—preferably offering support 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Induction and instructions

The technology, the course materials and the requirements for assessment often confused students in the study. Induction and clear instructions are essential. Organisations must build into their online provision, a gentle but comprehensive introduction to the technology, to the online course structure and to studying online. They must also be clear about what they expect of students and what students can expect of the organisation.

Technology

Somewhat surprisingly, students’ attitudes to the technology were predominantly positive. While respondents experienced problems with technology, only 25% reported these difficulties. While these complaints were loud and clear, it is worth remembering that the other 75% of the sample were accepting if not enthusiastic about the technology.

Respondents overall were positive rather than negative about their access to the internet and the associated technology. Access, speed and reliability are essential and are crucial to the success of online education. Students did not find getting into the system so difficult as to deter them from online learning nor were they annoyed with the length of time taken for web pages to download. The technology was not confusing. Online links did not always fail. They had easy access to the hardware and software and satisfactory access to the internet. However, clear instructions on how to use the technology and, in particular, how to download and submit assignments and other activities are critical to successful online study. When the technology does not work well, the quality of the learning experience suffers. When it is working, it is invisible.

Structure of report

The first chapter provides an introduction to the report, a brief outline of the methodology and an overview of the key findings from the research. A literature review surveys the current literature relevant to this research project and explores its contribution to the project. The literature review examines both the VET and higher education sectors. The following chapter describes in detail the methodologies adopted for this project while the subsequent chapter examines the demographic span of data utilised in the research project. The results of the national survey and outcomes from the focus groups and case studies are presented in the following chapters of this report while the concluding chapter summarises the principal messages emerging from the research. The appendices provide details of the questionnaire analysis, the results of the national survey and information relating to the case studies.