Theory and Practice of Online Learning V I E W I N G O P T I O N S View as a single page View as continuous facing pages Open bookmarks This book and the individual chapters are copyright by Athabasca University. However, to maximize the distribution and application of the knowledge contained within, the complete book and the individual chapters are licensed under the Creative Commons License. In brief, this license allows you to read, print and share freely the contents in whole or in part, with the provisions listed below. •Attribution. You must give the original author credit. • Non-commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Use for educational purposes by public or non-profit educational institutions is permitted. • No derivative works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. The formal, human-readable deed that outlines the license is available at http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0 The license in more formal legal language is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nd-nc/1.0/legalcode Athabasca University may be interested in expanding licensing provisions beyond the limitations above, but permission to do so must be negotiated by contacting the editors, Terry Anderson, terrya @ athabascau.ca, or Fathi Elloumi, fathie @ athabascau.ca. Editors: Terry Anderson & Fathi Elloumi Managing editor: Gilda Sanders Copy editor: David Evans Visual designer: Ian Grivois Web site: Ian Grivois & Audrey Krawec Printed at Athabasca University, 2004 Athabasca University 1 University Drive Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3 Canada Enquiries: Toll free in Canada/U.S. 1-800-788-9041 askau @ athabascau.ca www.athabascau.ca Colophon: Text: Sabon Numerals: Hoefler Text Headings: Monotype Lydian Paper (text): Becket Concept, 24 lb. writing, glacier Paper (flysheet): Via Vellum, 80 lb. text, sunflower Paper (cover): Productolith Dull, 80 lb. cover ISBN: 0-919737-59-5 Editors: Terry Anderson & Fathi Elloumi cde.athabascau.ca/online_book Athabasca University Theory and Practice of Online Learning CONTENTS Contributing Authors / i Foreword / ix Dominique Abrioux Introduction / xiii Terry Anderson & Fathi Elloumi 1 Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning / 3 Mohamed Ally 2Toward a Theory of Online Learning / 33 Terry Anderson 3Value Chain Analysis: A Strategic Approach to Online Learning / 61 Fathi Elloumi 4 Developing an Infrastructure for Online Learning / 97 Alan Davis 5Technologies of Online Learning (e-Learning) / 115 Rory McGreal & Michael Elliott 6 Media Characteristics and Online Learning Technology / 137 Patrick J. Fahy Part 1 – Role and Function of Theory in Online Education Development and Delivery Part 2 – Infrastructure and Support for Content Development 7 The Development of Online Courses / 175 Dean Caplan 8 Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online / 195 Deborah C. Hurst & Janice Thomas 9 Copyright Issues in Online Courses: A Moment in Time / 241 Lori-Ann Claerhout 10 Value Added—The Editor in Design and Development of Online Courses / 259 Jan Thiessen & Vince Ambrock 11 Teaching in an Online Learning Context / 271 Terry Anderson 12 Call Centers in Distance Education / 295 Andrew Woudstra, Colleen Huber, & Kerri Michalczuk 13 Supporting Asynchronous Discussions among Online Learners / 319 Joram Ngwenya, David Annand & Eric Wang 14 Library Support for Online Learners: e-Resources, e-Services, and the Human Factors / 349 Kay Johnson, Houda Trabelsi, & Tony Tin 15 Supporting the Online Learner / 367 Judith A. Hughes 16 The Quality Dilemma in Online Education / 385 Nancy K. Parker Part 4 – Delivery, Quality Control, and Student Support of Online Courses Part 3 – Design and Development of Online Courses 8 CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS Mohamed Ally, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University. He teaches courses in distance education and is involved with research on improving design, development, delivery, and support in distance education. Vincent Ambrock works as a Multimedia Instructional Design Editor in the Athabasca University School of Business. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Alberta and has worked extensively as an editor and writer on an array of electronic and print-based publishing projects. Terry Anderson, Ph.D. (terrya @ athabascau.ca), is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Distance Education at Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University. He has published widely in the area of distance education and educational technology and has recently co-authored two new books: Anderson and Kanuka, (2002), eResearch: Methods, Issues and Strategies; and Garrison and Anderson, (2002), Online Learning in the 21st Century: A Frame- work for Research and Practice. David Annand, Ed.D., M.B.A., C.A., is the Director of the School of Business at Athabasca University. His research interests include the educational applications of computer-based instruction and computer-mediated communications to distance learning, and the effects of online learning on the organization of distance-based universities. Dean Caplan is an instructional designer at Bow Valley College in Calgary, Alberta, with a special interest in the design, development, usability, and usage of multimedia in computer-mediated communi- cations. He was, until 2002, employed as an instructional designer at Athabasca University. Mr. Caplan recently designed and oversaw development of a Web-based course helping older adults learn to use the Internet. i Lori-Ann Claerhout (loriannc @ athabascau.ca.), is Copyright Officer in Educational Media Development at Athabasca University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (English) degree from the University of Calgary, and is currently working toward a Master of Arts (Humanities Computing and English) degree from the University of Alberta. Lori-Ann has been active in organizing other copyright professionals from western and central Canada. Alan Davis, Ph.D., was Vice-President, Academic, at Athabasca University from 1996 to 2003, and before that he directed programs at the BC Open University. His original discipline was Chemistry, and he received his doctorate from Simon Fraser University in 1980. He has special interests learning assessment and accreditation, the management of e-learning, and virtual university consortia. Dr. Davis is now Vice-President, Academic, at Niagra College. Fathi Elloumi, Ph.D. (fathie @ athabascau.ca), is an associate professor of Managerial Accounting at Athabasca University. His research focuses on corporate governance, and covers all aspects of effective governance practices. He is also interested in the strategic and managerial aspects of online learning research from two perspectives. The first perspective deals with the strategic decisions of online learning, trying to use the value chain, balanced scorecard, and performance dashboard frameworks to optimize online learning decision initiatives and tie them to organizational vision. The second perspective deals with the operational aspects of online learning and mainly focuses on the internal processes of the online learning institution. Subjects such as strategic costing, value chain analysis, process re-engineering, activity-based management, continuous improvement, value engineering, and quality control are the focus of his research program related to online learning. Patrick J. Fahy, Ph.D. (patf @ athabascau.ca), is an associate professor in the Centre for Distance Education ( CDE), Athabasca University. His career has included high school and adult education teaching, and research from basic literacy to graduate levels, private sector management and training experience, and private consulting. Currently, in addition to developing and teaching educational technology courses in the Master of Distance Education ( MDE) ii program, Pat coordinates the MDE’s Advanced Graduate Diploma in Distance Education (Technology) program and the CDE’s annual Distance Education Technology Symposium. He is Past-President of the Alberta Distance Education and Training Association ( ADETA). His current research interests include measures of efficiency in online and technology-based training, and interaction analysis in online conferencing. Colleen Huber has worked at Athabasca University since 1994, when she was the first facilitator in the Call Centre. Since then, she has moved to the position of Learning Systems Manager where she is responsible for the systems used to deliver courses and manage information within the School of Business at Athabasca University. Now that these systems are available, Colleen spends a great deal of time presenting them to the Athabasca University community and running workshops to train staff on their use, as well as presenting papers and workshops to other educational communities. Dr. Judith Hughes, Ph.D. (judithh @ athabascau.ca), Vice-President, Academic, first came to Athabasca University in 1985, when the University was moved from Edmonton, Alberta, to the town of Athabasca, 120 km north of Edmonton. Judith’s history is rooted in adult education, in teaching and research, as well as administrative positions. She has lived in a variety of places in Canada, having completed her bachelor’s degree at Carleton University (Ottawa), her master’s degree at Queen’s University (Kingston), and her Ph.D. at University of Alberta (Emonton). At Athabasca University, Dr. Hughes oversees all graduate and undergraduate academic units within the University, including academic centres, library, educational media development, counseling and advising, and other student support units. She previously served as Vice-President, Students Services, at Athabasca University for seven years, overseeing the development of student support resources on the Web. Dr. Hughes also served as Vice-President, External Relations for a brief period, when she was responsible for executive communi- cations outside the University, international collaborations, university development, fundraising, corporate partnerships, etc. iii Dr. Hughes’s research interests include the school-to-work nexus, in which she conducted research at Queen’s University in the 1980s; access to university education, in which she first undertook research at the University of Alberta, and in which she continues to work at Athabasca University; intellectual honesty as institutional culture, in which she is now working at Athabasca University; and the use of technology in addressing equality of access to university education, in which she is conducting research with partners from institutions such as Indira Gandhi University and the University of the Arctic. Deborah C. Hurst, Ph.D. (deborahh @ athabascau.ca), is an Associate Professor with the Centre for Innovative Management, Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada. Her area of specialization is the study of cultural organization change, with an interest in knowledge work and development of intellectual capital through on-going competency development and virtual learning. Her work is a balance of applied and academic research that draws from a diverse background in her pursuit of this specialization. Her current research program is concerned the experiences of contingent knowledge workers, the development, retention and valuation of intellectual capital, the use of virtual learning environments to enhance intellectual capital, transmission and alignment of cultural values, and the de-institutionalization of the psychological employment contract. For more information regarding Deborah’s work or background check the Athabasca University Centre for Innovative Management Web site. Kay Johnson (kayj @ athabascau.ca), is Head, Reference and Circulation Services at the Athabasca University Library. Kay received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History from University of Ottawa and her Master of Library and Information Studies from McGill University. In addition to providing reference and instructional services to Athabasca University learners, she has been actively involved in the development of the digital library at Athabasca University, and serves as a consultant for the Digital Reading Room project. Kerri Michalczuk has been with Athabasca University since 1984. For the last five years, as Course Production and Delivery Manager, she has managed the day-to-day operation of the School of Business iv [...]... of online learning collaborative and independent study— are considered, along with a brief discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each Finally, the chapter discusses the emerging tools of the Semantic Web, and the way they will affect future developments of the theory and practice of online learning Chapter 3 discusses the value chain framework in online learning It presents the online learning. .. wednesday/taylor_keynote.pdf xxiv Theory and Practice of Online Learning Introduction xxv xxvi Theory and Practice of Online Learning PA RT 1 Role and Function of Theory in Online Education Development and Delivery 2 Volume 1 Theory and Practice of Online Learning C H A P T E R 1 F O U N DAT I ON S O F E D U C AT I ONA L T H E O RY F O R ON L I N E L E A R N I N G Mohamed Ally Athabasca University Introduction There is ongoing... value chain perspective to understand how we have organized the themes in this book will help the reader focus on the strategic activities of the online learning institution Part 1 provides a foundation to educational theory for online learning, to prepare the ground for discussing the different components of the online xviii Theory and Practice of Online Learning learning logistics, logistics, learners... Control, and Student Support of Online Courses Delivery, collaborations, and marketing Service “Part 1: Role and Function of Theory in Online Education Development and Delivery” provides the theoretical foundations for this volume Chapter 1 presents the foundation of education theory for online learning It opens the debate by discussing the contributions of behaviorist, cognitivist, and constructivist theories... equitably the gifts we receive from our planet home We hope especially that this text will be incorporated into the syllabi of the growing number of programs of distance education study that are being offered by both campus and distance education universities throughout the world In the words of Sir John Daniel, xvi Theory and Practice of Online Learning former Vice Chancellor of the Open University of the. .. subsumes the knowledge and practice of pedagogy, of psychology and sociology, of economics and business, of production and technology We attempt to address each of these perspectives through the words of those trained to view their work through a particular disciplinary lens Thus, each of the chapters represents the specialized expertise of individual authors who address that component piece of the whole... of team dynamics and communications, and accomplishing team project work, in an online environment In describing aspects of teaching and applying team dynamics online, the authors highlight the unique values and capabilities of an online learning environment “Part 4: Delivery, Quality Control, and Student Support of Online Courses” is concerned with the last two parts of the organization’s online learning. .. cultures, styles, and motivations Chapter 2 presents a general assessment of how people learn It assesses the unique characteristics of the Web to enhance these generalized learning contexts, and discusses the six forms of interaction and their critical role in engaging and supporting both learners and teachers The author presents a model of online learning, a first step toward a theory in which the two predominant... form of technology (usually a computer) to access the learning materials, that the learner uses technology to interact with the tutor or instructor and other learners, and that some form of support is provided to learners This paper will use the term online learning throughout There are many definitions of online learning in the literature, definitions that reflect the diversity of practice and associated... sum, the book is neither an academic tome, nor a prescriptive “how to” guide Like a university itself, the book represents a blending of scholarship and of research, practical attention to the details of teaching and of provision for learning opportunity, dissemination of research results, and mindful attention to the economics of the business of education In many ways the chapters represent the best of . to the global extension of our mission. xi Foreword xii Theory and Practice of Online Learning INTRODUCTION Terry Anderson & Fathi Elloumi The Online. of the main advantages of digital content is the ease with which it can be adapted and customized. Nowhere is this more true x Theory and Practice of Online