ED-MEDIA 1999 Proceedings Book - Association for the ...

Learning in Safety and Comfort: Towards Managing On-Line Learning Transactions
by
Dianne L. Conrad (dianne.contrad@ualberta.ca)
and
Heather Kanuka (heather.kanuka@ualberta.ca)
Abstract: How can the teaching-learning process serve distance learners as well as possible This paper presents a
framework for accommodating learners’ transitions through the developmental stages associated with the introduction
of technologies in learning.
Introduction
Although in the last few years we have witnessed tremendous growth in increasing access to higher education learning opportunities, there are still many populations that are educationally
marginalized. Individuals in these areas experience situational barriers that prevent them from accessing higher education - most notably, geographic isolation, weather, course and program
scheduling, family commitments, employment and financial responsibilities. For the past 15 years, the University of Alberta's Faculty of Education has delivered a single-point outreach Bachelor
of Education in Adult Education program to meet this need through a combination of print, on-site delivery, and audio-conferencing.
As the demand for undergraduate and graduate programs in adult education for geographically dispersed learners continued to rise, the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University
of Alberta was granted approval to expand the Bachelor of Education (Adult Education specialty) and the Masters of Education in Adult and Higher Education to a multi-point delivery system.
Extending the university's reach to a wider geographic audience required intelligent choices of available technological software and hardware. As McCullough & McCullough (1994) so aptly
stated: "Finding a suitable match between the capabilities of the technology and the needs of learners is the key challenge" (p. 29). A decision was made to use a combination of web-based
instruction, video or audio conferencing, and computer conferencing for a multi-point delivery program.
While the integration of technologies to the outreach program supported the activities that traditional, on-campus classrooms supported, it was not without its own problems, the most notable of
which was helping learners achieve a high level of comfort with the Internet as a learning environment. As we began delivering programs using the mixed technologies, among the many
problems that became apparent was learner resistance to using the Internet in a way that constructively supported a community of learners.
This paper will examine distance learning experiences in terms of learners' learning styles, the strategies they developed to accommodate their learning tendencies, their motivation levels, and
their communication processes.
Learner Resistance: Shock, Surrender, and Success
As institutions of higher education explore the use of technologies while implementing new distance learning programs, they find that the learning curve for adults is a steep and slippery slope.
Although there has been enormous advancement in making Internet software user-friendly, research conducted on the use of technologies in the teaching-learning process reveals that using the
Internet as a learning environment continues to trouble more adult learners, and a recent poll indicates that the Internet ranks one of the least favorite ways to learn (Daniel, 1996). And while
"online education offers a means to educators in assisting people in overcoming situational barriers... the very technology that has allowed us to overcome those situational barriers may form the
basis of a dispositional barrier, namely computer anxiety" (Lauzon, 1991).
Woods (1994) observes that students forced to take major responsibility for their own learning experience some or all of the steps that psychologists associate with trauma and grief: shock,
denial, strong emotion, resistance and withdrawal, surrender and acceptance, struggle and exploration, return of confidence, integration and success. Not surprisingly, traditional students using
computer technologies experience the same pattern that Woods describes in his article, "Traditional students in a nontraditional class: A painful odyssey." Using Woods' model, following is a
brief description of each stage that we observed in our program.
1. Shock: I don't believe it! She really thinks she is going to make us use the computer for this course!
2. Denial: She can't be serious! No way am I going to do it. She can't make me. This is not the way we do these courses. She doesn't understand how we do things. There is no need to
change the way we do things. She can't be serious...
3. Strong emotion: Wow, she is serious! I can't do it. I don't know how to install the software. I can't do group work using the computer. I can't type well enough. I'll fail this course. I
can't do it. I'd better drop the course. She can't make me do this. I'm going to complain to someone above her.
4. Resistance and withdrawal: OK, I need this course. I can't drop out. But I am not going to do it her way. I will do it my way. No way is anyone going to make me use the
computer. I will get someone to print out all the information. I will either mail in or fax my assignments. I will do this-but it will be my way!
5. Surrender and acceptance: OK, so I can't get through the course without having to do things her way. This is really stupid, but if I am going to do this course, I'll have to use the
computer. I'll probably get a really bad mark-but it is a bad course with a bad instructor.
6. Struggle and exploration: Hmmm, others seem to be doing fine. Maybe I can do this too. My colleagues at work think that it is sort of neat that I am using the Internet for my
course. Maybe this isn't all bad. Maybe I need to try a little harder.
7. Return of confidence: Hey, am I good at this or what! I had no idea how easy the computer is to use. I might even do well in this course.
8. Integration and success: Using the computer for this course was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had! I don't know why I thought I would have a problem learning
this way. It's been a great experience!
Based on our instructional team's observations, interactions, and participants' learning journals, research showed that learners adapting to new technologies and methodologies experience
resistance. This is in agreement with much of the literature that states most adult learners experience resistance based on their expectations, their learning histories, and their predisposition to
learning (Garrison and Shale, 1990; Garrison, 1989). Moore and Kearsley (1996) claim that as many students have little experience learning at a distance, they may be apprehensive about taking
distance education course. This apprehension is further confounded when the Internet is integrated into their learning environments.
Instructional Strategies to Overcome Resistance
Without the support provided by an instructor's physical presence and the comfort of a classroom, what should instructors know that can assist learners in making the transition through the
developmental stages associated with new experiences: from initial shock through the reluctance of surrender to ultimate integration and success (Woods, 1994). A number of strategies that we