The Relationship Between Online Course Organization and Learner Outcome

Online education, sometimes referred to as distance education, is a fast growing delivery mode for course content. Students are accustomed to learning online. Their expectation is that educational opportunities are available to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This expectation grows out of modern busy schedules that include the pressures of childcare, and jobs that require travel or odd hours. Some students cannot attend school and pursue a degree if this mode of delivery is not available. The online learning environment facilitates participation in education because it is practical to the users. It provides instructors with unique opportunities in presenting course material. Educational institutions can enjoy the reduced stress online education places upon their physical facilities. For these reasons and more one can expect online distance education to grow. So if this mode of instructional delivery is so desirable and widely available, then why do many students who take online courses drop out?I taught online classes and assisted faculty in designing online classes for over 8 years. It is a challenging process due to constant changes in technology. However, despite improvements in technology one common reoccurring issue that faces faculty and administration is the retention of students. It is observed that online students drop out at a higher rate than do students taking traditional courses. Why is this so? This article is a single case and will examine the relationship between the structure of the online course and the learner’s experience in an attempt to answer this question. It is assumed that if the student has a more positive experience, then retention rates for online courses can increase and individual students will gain more from their online learning experience.The observation setting is the an “Orientation to Online Learning” online classroom. The participants in this classroom were professional teachers looking for credits that allow them to move up in their pay scale. This course was a prerequisite for a 15-credit certificate program. Completion of the 15 credits awarded the participants with an “Online Teaching and Learning” certificate. The online classroom was designed using WebCT 4.1, which served as the course management tool. The course was an accelerated two-week course. An Internet connection and a browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Netscape was required for students to participate.A volunteer was selected from this group of students. The volunteer had to be willing to install (CamStudio) recording software on his or her computer. This recorded the volunteer’s navigation steps within the course using the recording software and a webcam to record facial expressions. The volunteer also had to be willing to install Skype for the interview process.Spradley (1980, p. 48) warns us not to jump into challenging situations until we have learned the lessons about “gaining access.” Based on this, Ms. H. was selected to participate in the current study because she was highly motivated to learn new online techniques. She was willing to download new software on her computer to record the sessions. Ms. H. is a single working mother in her mid-40s. She has taken classes online before and has solid computer skills. From June 15-19, 2007, four 10- to 15-minute sessions of her online course navigation were recorded. The sessions captured her experience with the course in real time. She recorded her online navigation using a webcam and the CamStudio program. These experiences were used to structure a follow-up interview. On June 22, 2007, she was interviewed (using Skype) concerning her experience navigating through the above course. The interview was recorded using Power Gramo online recorder.As Glesne (2006) states, “you need to clearly define your research roles” (p. 46). In this study the researcher’s role was that of an observer. The researcher was hidden from the subject and did not drive the direction of the study participant (Merriam, 1998). The observation was conducted using a webcam and recorded with CamStudio software (see Figure 1 for a snapshot of the video taken during observation). The think aloud session was later transcribed and analyzed by the researcher.Ms. H. started navigating the course by clicking on the Welcome button. This gave her a positive feeling and she became excited when she heard the instructor’s voice. She listened to the message carefully and repeated the important information out loud. She then navigated to the course information and looked at the syllabus. Here she read the content and made mental notes of what was important. She was pleasantly surprised to discover that office hours are available online and that she did not have to drive to campus. After looking through the syllabus she then navigated to the activity checklist and carefully analyzed it. Ms. H. has taken at least 20 online courses and seemed to know her way around an online course. She can be considered an advanced user. Ms. H. found this course fairly easy to navigate. However, the audio clip that welcomed her to the course was a new feature for her. She was excited and pleasantly surprised by it.Her navigation from one screen to another was smooth. She did think that the communication tools that grouped mail and discussion board may be confusing for first time users. However, she commented that the course would lose its overall intuitive quality by changing it.The interview reviewed the experiences captured in the recording of the four segments of live online work or interaction with the course. It was a surprise to discover that Vygotsky’s communication theory or inner speech was captured in the recorded observation.As a result the interview covered several topics that focused upon the intuitiveness and flow of the course. The interview started with a brief coverage on overall ease of navigation and course organization. It then evolved into a discussion on specific topics. It appeared that Ms. H. was using her prior knowledge at times “I guess I can click on the browse button and click it …” and at times she was using the computer as a tool to guide and learn “OK” in the pop up window I recognize the first name, in there is my instructor.” Ms. H. discussed the value of the home page’s organization and how the syllabus clearly sets the course expectations. The use of the icons on the home page also made it easier for her to figure out where to start (see Figure 2 for an example of the home page). The select use of icons and the syllabus helped her stay on track and progress through the course in a logical fashion. Specifically she discussed how the opening of one icon led her to then open another in a logical and guided progression. Additionally, she discussed how the audio greeting found on the home page provided her with a sense of having received a personal touch from the instructor. It gave her a sense that the instructor was available to her.Ms. H. was asked about potential changes to the course. She did not have anything specific to add. She was satisfied with the course structure. She stated that in her past experiences with online education she had to search for information because her instructor did not create links and provide clear references. Having easy access to resources was a clear incentive to taking another online course. Therefore the current course overcame these objections. A complete transcript of the interview is found in Appendix A.Carswell and Venkatesh (2002) conducted a study on web-based methods of instruction. Specifically, they investigated learning outcomes associated with the asynchronous distance education format. They gathered quantitative data and augmented it with qualitative data. The study made use of two theoretical perspectives from the technology literature and from the education literature to predict student reactions to this learning environment. The study included approximately 1,800 part-time graduate students that yielded 540 useful responses. The results from the qualitative portion of the survey were disappointing in that they did not reach statistical significance. This may have been due to inadequacies in the learning outcome measures they selected.However, the results from the qualitative portion of the survey were interesting. They found that if students are willing to use online learning technology, then the use of various forms of technology does not create an issue for students. A student’s sense of satisfaction and performance is not altered if they are willing to make use of the technology. To students the issue is not so much the course learning environment, but rather the way the course is organized and taught. They want a course that is intuitive and where the resources for their success are readily available. Also, the instructor needs to be seen by the students as providing additional value. The instructor should not be seen as a taskmaster who merely asks for assignments to be completed, or a parrot that repeats the readings.Carswell and Venkatesh organized student comments into five categories. These five categories provide the students’ insights into what makes the online environment effective and are described below.Carswell and Venkatesh’s categorization of student comments is especially interesting because of their relation to the comments made by Ms. H. during the course of her interview. She specifically commented on the following:Four of the five Carswell and Venkatesh categories were spontaneously discussed by Ms. H. The only one she did not discuss was the availability of other students to interact with and facilitate the learning process (see Table 1). Ms. H.’s issues concerning an online course is aligned with those students who participated in the Carswell and Venkatesh study.Clearly the present investigation is a case study that includes only one subject. The results may tell us more about Ms. H. than about other online learners. However, insomuch as her general topics parallel those made by subjects in a larger study there is reason to lend credibility to her insights. The case study approach allows us to probe and study course design specifics in detail to further uncover how to best facilitate user intuitiveness by improving course design, increasing the perception of instructor availability, and making better use of student learning styles. Since this case study was done at the beginning of the course, the data are lacking. There needs to be further observations at midpoint and at the end of the course to provide an overall picture of the course’s design. Therefore, further research needs to be conducted.A portrait of a woman above text identifying Vartouhi Asherian, Senior Analyst and Instructional Designer at the College of Southern Nevada, with her Las Vegas address, telephone number, and email inside a bordered rectangle. Senior Analyst, Instructional Designer, and Instructor, College of Southern Nevada, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146. Telephone: (702) 651-7396.Interview transcriptMs. H interview for Pilot study 6-22-07 by Vartouhi Asherian