I n this section some important lessons for design ing extramural e-learn i ng systems as learn i ng environments are discussed i n the framework of the literatu re reviewed .
3 . 6 . 1 Prioritisi ng the stu dent i nterface
In this chapter it has been emphasised th at there are special user requ i rements for computer-based extra mural study that cannot be subsu med u nder those for e-learning in genera l . lt is especially important that all the system's learning fu nctions are usable and accessible by an extramural student studying in less than ideal circumstances, e.g.
an inexperienced computer user working from home in a remote district with su bsta ndard telecommun ications. Developers of any com puter-based learning must consider students both as learners and as users, that is, they must design both for form and content (S m u lders, 2003) .
Poor usability inhi bits learning and m a y prevent i t altogether. A review o f the l iterature on computers and ed ucation supports the assessment that interface issues have received limited recent attention from educational software researchers. 3 Research has been focussed u pon the student as learne r, at the expense of the student as user, for a range of reasons. These reasons i n clude researchers' focus on the learning process and on deve loping and evaluating learning theories, a nd an assu mption by e-learn ing researchers that interface design is a solved problem and therefore less important than the learning technology itself. lt has been reinforced by the emphasis of courseware on the authoring a nd management req u i rements of educational and tra i n ing providers as the front-end of the system. In this sense, courseware emphasises reusability over
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usability.
Other factors inhibiting usability include the interface limitations and the complexities of the web b rowser enviro n ment itself, and a more general design problem of software engineers' interfaces tend ing to emphasise their own domain (i.e. how the system works) over the e nd u ser's task domain (i.e. what it actually does) (Gentner et a l . ,
1 990).
The dominance of the e-learning field by web-based cou rsewa re flows from its uti lity as a practical cou rse a uthoring and management tool for instructors. Its strength lies in its holistic (whole cou rse) and reusability approach to computer-based education , in contrast to the m o re restricted domains and one-off character typical of the more ada ptive a nd interactive systems.
H owever, courseware's limitations in meeting the functionality, usability and accessibil ity requirements of extram u ral study, make it less than ideal as a candidate for replacing traditional correspondence-based courses. While a number of these limitations have been at least partly addressed at the research level, the results from this research have yet to be successfu lly integ rated into real courseware products. Moreover, some of the concerns seem inseparable from the technologica l limitations flowing from the m u lti-platform , thin-client arch itecture of the Web itself. The ubiquity of the Internet has encou raged researchers to accept the graphica l browser i nterface as the basis of the inte rface between the learner and the learning system . In seeking to meet the req uirements for extram u ra l e-learning, therefore, it may be necessary to look beyond the technology of the World Wide Web.
N ielsen (200 1 ) emph asises that on line learn ing is inherently not very motivational and not as effective as studying on cam pus, and that a textbook works better than a computer for presenting larg e amounts of information for students to read . Com puter based extra mural learning should complement the textbook a nd extend the teacher, a nd add new multi-d imensional capabilities a book cannot provide. lt does not need to replace them . Extram u ral study is an adjunct o r extension to a university - with its "bu ildings a nd g rounds" a nd its "body of students and faculty" - rathe r than an a lternative to it.
The introduction of inte rn etworked persona l computers has shaken up education in all its forms, and will continue to do so. Learning theory research which seeks out new
3 For i nstance, of the more than 220 papers accepted for two 2001 conferences on computer-based
learning, only one is focussed u pon the issue of the design of the learner interface ( Lee, 2001 ; Ki nshuk, J esshope and O kamoto, 2000)
Chapter 3 : Web-based cou rseware 6 1
ways that com puters can improve lea rning outcomes i n comparison t o conve ntional teaching methods a re an important area of scientific endeavour. Extra m u ral e-learning researchers, however, d o not need to be that ambitious. Their goal need not be to outperform the classroom , but only to find ways to o utperform correspondence-based and courseware-based study. From this perspective it is an advantage if a system su pports a more pragmatic and flexible approach that can accommodate m u lti ple learning parad igms and styles.
Effective extramura l e-learning does not req u i re the wholesa le development of new technologies. At a m i n imum it means finding workable ways of utilising existing technolog ies so that they a re usable by, and accessible to, the extra m u ral student. lt means recogn 1s1ng that, while meeting the learn ing needs of the student are paramount, this will not be possible without also p rioritising the req u i rements of the student as a u ser. Fro m the standpoint of the extra mural learner, the student view is
the learning system.
3.6.2 Adaptation in a learn i ng environment a pproach
A learning environ ment approach t o computer-based distance education implies that the system can provide some level of adaptation to the individual learning task a nd/ or student. Some of the a reas in wh ich individual isation may be appropriate include:
• The adaptation of content to the individual lea rner e . g. what topics and sub-topics are presented to the student, and at what level of complexity.
• The adaptation of the form in which the content is presented to the ind ividual
learner e . g . as a lecture , tutorial, or a text to be read.
• Support to the student i n terms of help and tra i n ing in the use of the system itself, help in understand ing the subject matter; and assistance in sea rch ing the entire network for related subject matters.
However, it may not a lways be desirable or feasible to individ ualise learn ing mate ri a l . A considerable portion of conventional university ed ucation is, as Callear ( 1 999) put it, coarse-grained and aimed at the average student. And the desig n should accommodate the point made in Vassileva (200 1 ) that, from a pedagogical point of view, sometimes the learner should adapt i n order to facilitate col laborative work and discussion between students.
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3.6.3 G u i d e l i nes for desig n i ng extra m u ral e-learn ing environ ments
The fol lowing pri nciples for designing computer-based distance learn ing systems as interactive and collaborative learning environments have been synthesised from this review of computer-based learning research :
1 . Identify the users clearly. Systems with a focus on ease of course administration , on supporting internal papers, o r provid ing in-house training, m a y have quite different req u i rements from those o riented to supporting un iversity-level dista nce learn i n g .
2 . Prioritise interface design. Desig ning as a multi-d imensional learning environ ment means focussing upon the conte nt, interactions, styles, and user support at the student interface . Treat the student view as the front end of the system and design from there. This req uires desig ning the i nterface as a learning envi ron ment, rather than as the student interface to a teach ing application. A learn i ng enviro n me nt integ rates a l l the functions and features that support the student's learn i ng tasks. A specia lised interface may be more effective for learning than a general purpose one.
3. Recognise the university itself as the most important learning community. The goal should be to extend the reach of the university as a commun ity of learning rather than replace it, simulate it rather than compete with it. This means emphasising collaborative , interactive and m ulti-d imensional learning fu nctions, which complement the roles of the teacher a nd the textbook rather tha n replace them. 4. Design as an information system. A computer-based distan ce learning system
should not be conceived of as a single piece of software but as an information system inco rporating the users and their requirements. In an information system approach , a utomation (computerisation) is not assumed to be better. A decision is made on what to computerise and what not to. Some aspects of a cou rse may be better i mplemented u sing alternative tech nologies or a human teacher.
5 . Design for reusability on three levels - the programmer, the course author, and the
student. For an extramural e-learning system to provide a practical alternative to
the existing cou rseware prod ucts, it must match their utility for a uthoring, managing a nd delivering mu ltiple courses of study. In addition, it should be able to readily integ rate new a nd improved learn ing technolog ies.
6. A void making presumptions about implementation technologies. Information
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a nd supporting internal university courses may not best meet the special req uirements for extramura l e-lea rning. Other possibilities besides the ubiquitou s web browser should also be considered as the basis o f the stude nt interface .
7 . Enable adaptation to the individual /earning task and/or student. This includes how mate rial is presented , help in the use of one or other system features, q uerying of subject matter, and assista nce in locating supporting mate rial. However, it may not a lways be desirable or feasible to individualise learning materi a l . Provid ing a n online h u man tutor may be preferable . And sometimes t h e learner should adapt to faci litate collaborative work and d iscussion between students.
8. Evaluate for functionality, usability and accessibility. All the system's functions a nd features should not only work on h ig h-speed u rban commun ication networks , but should be accessible, a nd tested , in worst case scenarios like that of the farm based rural student. Multidimensional features should be prioritised ahead of mu lti med ia ones. For the distance student, multimedia enhancements may be noth ing more than a form of bloatware , which inh ibits accessibility.