Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 (ISSN 2304-070X) Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education Terry Anderson, Lorne Upton, Jon Dron & Judi Malone Athabasca University (Canada) [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] & [email protected] Bruno Poelhuber Université de Montréal (Canada) [email protected] Abstract In this paper we present a case study of a self-paced university course that was originally designed to support independent, self-paced study at distance. We developed a social media intervention, in design-based research terms, that allows these independent students to contribute archived content to enhance the course, to engage in discussions with other students and to share as little or as much personal information with each other as they wished. We describe the learning design for the intervention and present survey data of student and tutor perception of value and content analysis of the archived contributions. The results indicate that the intervention was positively received by tutors and by the majority (but not all) students and that the archive created by the students’ contributions was adding value to the course. We conclude that the intervention was a modest, yet manageable example of a learning enhancement to a traditional cognitive-behavioral, course that has positive impact and potential with little negative impact on workload. Keywords: Social Networks; blogs; self-paced study; online education; web 2.0; enhanced learning Conceptual Framework One of the greatest benefits of distance education and especially in its latest incarnation as online learning, has been the increase in access afforded to both students and teacher. The capacity to teach and to learn “anywhere/anytime” and yet still have the option of engaging in a variety of social interactions is the most powerful affordance of the educational net. Notwithstanding the advantages of being able to shift time and space, most online learning is still confined to the commencement and completion dates dictated by educational institutions. Not only does this limit learner capacity to start a course of studies to a few dates in the year, but, as importantly, dictates a speed at which the course of study is offered. Thus typically a cohort of learners work together (even though they may be in different geographic locations) and regularly interact with their fellow students and the teacher using asynchronous and/or synchronous communications technologies. This moving ensemble supports 2nd generation social constructivist pedagogy (Anderson & Dron, 2011) and quite easily supports collaborative and other social learning activities. However, any imposed pace is too fast for some learners and too slow for others. Thus, the search for a mode of online education that allows for individual learners to control not only the geographic space, but also the commencement date, the nature of their personal relationships and the pace of their educational study. The first forms of distance education were delivered by print packages and used postal correspondence to support interaction between learner and teacher. For technological reasons, there was no possibility of and thus no learning design that could encourage student-student interaction. This led to programming based on the development and delivery of high quality content (in multiple formats including text, video and later computer based training (CBT) and a pedagogy Reception date: 30 September 2014 • Acceptance date: 16 November 2014 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.7.1.164 8 Terry Anderson which we defined as first generation, cognitive/behavioural distance education pedagogy (Anderson & Dron, 2011). This mode of distance education soon became identified as “independent” learning and it was noted that there was no logical reason why students should commence at any particular time of the year, nor that they should proceed at a pace dictated by more than their individual time availability and capacity for learning. With the development of low cost interactive technologies including asynchronous computer conferencing and synchronous audio teleconferencing, distance education entered a new era defined by Garrison and Shale (1990) as “education at a distance” not “distance education.” By that they meant that distance education need no longer be associated exclusively with independent study. New second generation social constructivist pedagogy became possible and was seen as desirable by many learners and teachers who were comfortable with this educational model, which also dominated classroom delivery. These two models of distance education have co-existed for many years and both are now supported by a variety of web technologies. With the development of connectivist pedagogy, it became possible to envision a third model of distance education in which students retained freedom of time, space and pace, yet were also able to build learning networks and work cooperatively, not collaboratively -see Paulsen (2008), with other students. Recent development of user generated content technologies drastically increase the potential for more user control and ownership of their personal learning networks (PLEs) and subsequently also increases the demand for more responsive forms of higher education. Buchem, Attwell and Torres (2011) note five dimensions of learner control while engaged in formal learning which go beyond the control of time and place to control of objective setting, tools, rules, tasks and social space. The intervention we explore in this paper is a small step that expands learners’ control of the social space by allowing the learner to control with whom they communicate and to initiate discussions and potential collaborations. Thus the intervention not only increases learners agency but potentially their engagement that “emphasizes the shift of control and ownership from the educator or the designer to the learner” (Buchem, Tur Ferrer & Holterhof, 2014, p. 15). We have expanded this discussion to include pedagogical and technical constraints and affordances of ten different components of freedom in other work (Dron & Anderson, 2014b). Assuming that we are attempting to move self-study to a more social context to benefit from new pedagogical developments and the many benefits associated with interaction educational context -for a review of these see (Anderson & Kuskis, 2007)-, it is useful to both plan, anticipate and support the most effective type(s) of social interaction. We have been writing recently (Dron & Anderson, 2014a, 2014b) about three distinct modes of social aggregation that can be used to educational advantage. The first is the familiar group, with structured and defined membership that is used in 2nd generation distance (social constructive) and classroom education today. The second is the network consisting of both weak and strong ties amongst learners. Finally, the “set” is an aggregation of those who have something in common, and use that impersonal commonality to collectively serve one another’s educational and social needs. In this case study, we have built an online social set of tools that potentially supports all of these social aggregations, including independent learners. We use this case to examine actual use in a real and emergent distance educational context. Research Questions The challenges and opportunities enabled by our social toolset led to the following research questions: Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education 9 • Would students and teachers engaged in self-paced programming designed with an independent study, cognitive behavioral pedagogy, appreciate and benefit from a connectivist social learning opportunity? • What would be the impact on teacher and student workload? • What are the perceptions of value of these interactive activities? • How can one best characterize or model the social interaction and form of social organization that arises in this self-paced context? Context of the Case This study takes place in Athabasca University, a public Canadian university that offers a wide range of undergraduate degree programs that is organized using continuous enrollment and self-paced study. Students are allowed up to six months to complete each course in which they enroll, which may (at a cost to the student) be extended by up to a further six months. The courses are designed by a team of academic experts and learning designers, and assessment and student-teacher interaction is supported largely by part time academic tutors. The case presented here is a senior level undergraduate psychology course with approximately 250 students enrolled per year. The course content was provided through textbooks, a course manual and assignment drop box delivered online through a Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). In order to both encourage and assess more cooperative engagement, a second social networking toolset was integrated into course. This system, which we christened “The Landing,” is based on the open source Elgg framework and provides a host of social tools including blogs, wikis, photo albums, polls, microblogs, etc. The site was developed in-house and access is available to all students, staff and faculty (including alumni) at the University -see (Dron & Anderson, 2014a) for a more detailed description-. Within the Landing community a closed group was created and all students in the psychology course (both current and alumni) were encouraged to join that group. A learning activity was designed by the course team that allowed students to earn 5% of their final mark by making a contribution to the course through linking to a resource (a research article, website, or learning resource) that they found on the internet or to initiate or respond to a blog conversation with other students and relevant to the course study. A rubric was created and distributed to students that assessed the value and originality of the contribution and the appropriateness of the language and organization to a senior level undergraduate course. Of particular interest in this case was the decision by the course tutors not to interact in the social networking group, though they actively assessed and sent feedback to individual students on their contributions. This meant decidedly less “teaching presence” (Anderson, Rourke, Archer & Garrison, 2001) than stressed in more constructivist learning contexts and thus is a unique context in which to explore new models of learning. Obviously the decision not to be active participants also reduced the fear of tutors of increased workload obligations related to this intervention. This also led us to inquire of students if they either appreciated or resented the absence of active presence of course tutors in the group. The course group creates a space where students recommend contributions of other students that they find of value and to search through an archive based on user-generated tags or a full text search (figure 1). Students were also encouraged (though not assessed) to use non-group features of the Landing environment including populating their personal profile, contributing to their personal blogs, photo albums or microblogs. The system allows the students to expose any content they contribute to the psychology group members only, or to all members of the University community or to the open Internet including search engines. It was hoped that some students would find value Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 10 Terry Anderson Figure 1: Screen Shot of the Course Group in the wider social networking context provided by the Landing to develop their web presence and engage in the kind of serendipitous interaction that can and often does occur while engaged in campus-based university study. Method The case study employed a pragmatic, mixed method and design-based research methodology. We used a researcher-designed web-based questionnaire to query the current and recent graduates of the course. We also used content analysis of the student contributions, analyzed the course structure and interviewed the faculty and tutors involved in design and implementation of the course and the intervention. The qualitative interview transcripts and content submitted to the group were analyzed using a constant comparative methodology (Dye, Schatz, Rosenberg & Coleman, 2000). Results Survey results We designed a short, web-based questionnaire and an invitation to complete the questionnaire was sent in March 2014 to the 279 students who had enrolled in the course between October 2012 and September 2013. Most of these students had either completed the course, were in progress or dropped out at the time the questionnaire invitation was mailed. A total of 39 (14%) of students completed the questionnaire. As is common in many upper level courses at this University, 38% of the students were program students expecting to graduate from this university. While 61% of the students were visiting students that were enrolled in other university programs and using the course credit earned towards a degree at another university. This detail of the case may have a significant influence in that many of the visiting students may have less desire for social interaction with other students than program students since they have access to student community at their “home” institution. Also, not unusual for this university and subject, 79% of the respondents were female. Students were required to post at least one text discussion or comment and one resource (file or bookmark). 21% of the students did only this, thus meeting minimal expectations. Interesting was that 56% of the students reported contributing 2–4 resources and 29% reported contributing more than 4 comments. The participation rate was “bursty” with students reporting a varied number of visits from zero to six times or more (table 1). Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education 11 Table 1: Number of student contributions How often did you check out resources or links contributed by current course participants (likely because you received an email notification?) Answer Count Percentage Never (A1) 3 7.68% 1–2 times (A2) 11 28.28% 3–5 times (A3) 13 33.33% 6 times or more (A4) 11 28.28% A slightly lower number reported searching through the archive (table 2), though a significant percentage of the respondents reported visiting the archive more than 5 times. Table 2: Use of the Student generated archive of comments and resources How often have you searched through the older resources for interesting files, blogs or bookmarks? Answer Count Percentage Never (A1) 10 25.64% 1–2 times (A2) 13 33.33% 3–5 times (A3) 9 23.08% 6 times or more (A4) 6 15.38% Over half (57%) had explored the Landing features beyond those accessible in class group but most of these had not participated in a significant way in the larger university community on the system. Respondents were asked to assess the value of the intervention along seven dimensions, using a 5-point semantic differential scale. The scale was converted to numeric ratings where 1 indicates no value and 5 very useful. Table 3 shows the perceived value by all students. In addition we differentiated the program from the visiting students and found a significant difference in the mean rating in combined valuations (T=.015, DF). The program students valued the contributions of others more than visiting students in all 6 items, and there was significant differences in 3 items. Table 3: Perceived value of the components of the social network intervention. Value of the contributions by others for: Avg.1–5 Program Visiting TTest Students Students Enriching the course content 3.6 4.07 3.36 .059 Finding resources of use outside the course 3.4 4.0 3.14 .036* Reinforcing content from the text 3.2 3.64 3.04 .099 Helping me connect to other students 3.1 3.28 3.04 .617 Helping me write term papers for this course 2.4 3.07 1.64 .012* Helping me study for exams 2.2 2.9 1.7 .009** * sig. at <.05; sig ** <.01 Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 12 Terry Anderson Figure 2: Students perception of amount of grade for activity The students were asked about the appropriateness of the amount of their final grade (5 percent) allocated to this social networking task. The large majority (84%) thought the mark was about right, 16% thought it was too little but none indicated that five percent was too much (figure 2). Student open-ended comments on this question were inclined to support more emphasis on the activity such as one who remarked “Increasing the value of using the activity would encourage students to explore it more and therefore see how valuable it really is.” Or another who commented: “It seemed like more of an annoyance for so little percentage. If it was worth more (say 10 or 15%) then I think I would’ve taken it more seriously and put more thought into it.” We also asked if the activity had led to any other interactions with students. Slightly more than half of the respondents reported not having further interactions. However a significant minority of the students noted that the interactions in the form of reading or creating comments was both useful and enjoyable, as illustrated by a student who remarked “I felt I was not alone as a mother-student wanting to move towards a career... I was excited and inspired that I was ahead of the game in many aspects and perfect towards my goals. I felt I had similar challenges about family involvement and direction.” However, others found that the activity to be superficial as shown by a student who commented: “I found this social networking activity not to serve its purpose...mandating interaction in such a limited way seemed to result in students making the minimum possible contribution to discussion...it was about getting the assignment done rather than engaging in an ongoing or very helpful way with the course content.” Next, the questionnaire invited students to comment on the notable absence of the tutor (less teaching presence) and if this was a positive or negative feature of the activity. Of the 30 responses, 12 expressed a desire for more presence from the tutors citing need for constructive feedback and a desire to make a more personal connection to the tutor through engagement with their contributions. However a slightly larger number of comments (16) expressed a desire to not have more presence from the tutors, arguing that the posters and their contributions were more free with less fear of judgment or public tutor assessment. One student also noted that: Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education 13 “I like that tutors were not active in the group site, as it gave students the opportunity to lead the discussions while not subconsciously looking for reinforcement, of approval, from the tutors. It is also nice to have fellow students explain concepts, as this is a valuable part of the learning process and keeps students engaged and interactive.” Figure 3: Recommended use in other university courses The final survey item asked students if they thought this type of activity and the Elgg-based social system should be used in other Athabasca courses (figure 3). Five students (19%) would not recommend this noting the challenges of navigating a new interface, challenges of information overload and concerns about privacy, time requirements and the persistence of comments beyond the course. Another 5 did not have opinions. However, the majority of students were positive with 21 of 31 (69%) students indicating support for increased use. A typical comment from those supporting more use was: “Using the Landing for online courses is very helpful and I’d say it is almost necessary. Studying online without the benefit of classrooms and interactions makes it more difficult. Having the Landing allows connections.” Student Contributions—Book Marks Many of the students chose to create a bookmark that linked to a site or a resource on the Internet that they felt enhanced the course. During the one-year period ending in February 2014 there were 79 separate bookmarks posted. Slightly more than half (44) of the bookmarks elicited comments from other students and 20% of the bookmarks received 2 or more comments (ranging from 0–5 comments/post with an average of 1.1 comments/bookmark). A number of students had previously noted the value they place on other students comment on their contributions. The contents of the bookmark annotations and related comments were analyzed using the Leximancer concept mapping tool (https://www.leximancer.com) to produce the concept map shown in Figure 4. Concept maps, which combine both qualitative and quantitative data in graphical presentation have been shown to be an effective way to summarize and identify relationships between emergent variables in complex data sets (Burke, O’Campo, Peak, Gielen, McDonnell & Trochim, 2005). Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 14 Terry Anderson Figure 4: Concept Map of Bookmarked Annotation and Comments These concept maps demonstrate that that the main ideas discussed were relevant to the course— therapy, theory, research, information and health. We also coded the bookmarks using open coding to extract major themes. As expected with a contributed bookmark, the most common theme that emerged from the student annotation of the bookmarks related to their relevance to the course content and learning objectives. Comments such as “This article relates to our readings on Ethical Issues” or “This video is useful in understand the topics of unit two” or “These podcasts discuss several of the theories we learn about in this course.” Many of the annotations will be useful for further revision of the course as indicated by a student who before adding their own recommendation noted that “many of the theoretical resources we have available in this class require supplementation with very practical, situation-specific resources.” The second most common theme was of the students making a critical comment on the bookmark resource which we defined as one supported by facts/references or experiences, rather than a simple judgment. For example a student brings in their own relationship to the resource “It reminds me that, as I study to become a counsellor that my transparency and vulnerability is something Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 Social Interaction in Self-paced Distance Education 15 that needs to be challenged, as well. In order to build quality relationships, with friends, family, clients, my vulnerability is key to their success and my fulfillment.” Or “This is possibly the most apt description of depression I’ve ever read, and in blog/cartoon format. For counsellors and/or clinicians who would like a more subjective and phenomenological description of what depression feels like for clients.” Finally the third most common theme extracted from the bookmark annotations related to advice-giving from one student to another. This advice had one of two focuses—how the resource bookmarked could be used as a learning resource in the context of the course and secondly how the resource could be used in a professional context that the student was familiar. Thus, it demonstrates the important application of learning to both the course, but equally important to professional lives for which these students are currently engaged or preparing. Student Contributions—Discussions In addition to posting bookmarks, we analyzed student discussion and blog posts to assess student participation and interaction. Analysis of student posts and comments indicated that students used the discussion and blog features in much the same way without making a clear distinction between the two media. For this reason, we have combined both the discussion and blog post data. During the one-year period under study, students created 49 posts that generated 107 comments. The posts ranged from 69–1240 words with an average of 400 words per post. The posted comments ranged from 7 to 679 words for an average of 442 words per post. 62% of the posts received at least one comment and 54% receiving two or more comments. The total number of comments per post ranged from 0–17 with an average of 2.7 comments per post. The contents of the discussion and blog posts were also analyzed using the Leximancer concept mapping tool. In the concept map shown in figure 5, we find the central themes centering on key terms such as therapy, therapist, clients, counselor, and work. Emerging from the concept map of the discussion and blog data (figure 5) is an indication that students discussed themes relevant to the course, but that the focus of discussion tended to gravitate toward work- or career- related topics. This visual representation of the data is consistent with the pattern of themes emerging from qualitative coding. Both discussion and blog posts were coded for major themes. Codes were further organized into two emergent theoretical constructs or categories: immediate and long range learning goals and concerns. Immediate goals and concerns were those that focused primarily on the discussion and analysis of course content, including specific questions related to understanding course concepts or concerns related to course outcomes. Long range learning goals and concerns included topics beyond the analysis of course material and assignments, such as practice and professional competency related themes. Themes centering on immediate learning goals and concerns ranged from discussion of assigned readings and important concepts and ideas. Students often directly referenced the text, providing comments to support critical reflections, often testing assumptions presented by theorists: “While Corey focuses on just the personal characteristics of good counsellors, Bernes takes a broader approach by describing 5 conditions that are critical to a counsellor’s success: history, personal characteristics, cognitive ability, rigorous quality academic program and major field exposure.” This type of content-specific reference was encountered frequently in the discussion. Students frequently made connections between schools of thought and key theoretical concepts presented in the course readings. Moreover, student expressed understanding of theoretical concepts and their relevance to specific work related contexts. In addition to drawing inferences and making Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23 16 Terry Anderson Figure 5: Concept Map of Discussion/Blog Posts and Comments connections, students also shared in both personal and the collective construction of metacognitive awareness—an awareness of themselves as learners navigating the course material and developing a deeper appreciation of a complex theoretical tapestry: “This course is helping me see the bigger picture in a lot of ways that I missed before, or at least overlooked. How Adlerian theory grew out of psychoanalytic therapy and where Jung fits into the picture.” “The resources posted and subsequent comments also indicate awareness of and appreciation of others in the course- something denied to independent study models of distance education. In a small way students shared struggles and triumphs of formal study with others.” Moving beyond analysis of their personal learning experiences, students extended their personal metacognitive awareness to an even larger context that included visualizing the integration of learned concepts into to formal practices: “Looking forward, discovering that there are many more overlapping elements within these schools of thought will ultimately make it easier in the attempt to develop a unique therapeutic style. I think realizations such as this will aid in understanding the fluid and dynamic nature of therapy itself, regardless of perspective.” In the discussion and blog spaces, students demonstrated willingness to critically analysis concepts and share understanding; however, in addition to these immediate goals and concerns, a consistent and dominant theme related to more distal goals and concerns emerged. Open Praxis, vol. 7 issue 1, January–March 2015, pp. 7–23