Successful online education

(1)

--- elevate / online academy that educates international health professionals, elevating professional

knowledge and improving health worldwide/ www.ElevateHealth.EU 1

Successful online education

The e-moderator / by R.M. Filius MSc

Online education offers many opportunities for (health) professionals wanting to further their knowledge, but unable to participate in traditional-, face-to-face courses. The surge in popularity of this form of education makes the role of e-moderator all the more crucial. This article addresses why this is so, and how the role can be fulfilled.

Online learning, or e-learning, is an educational experience delivered via a computer and the Internet. Coursework is conducted though digital discussion groups, quizzes, and assignments submitted online. Other learning activities comprise small group and project work, facilitated throughout the course by a professional tutor. Distinct from traditional education, participants do not have to visit an actual classroom or listen to an instructor face-to-face, but can still maintain a comparable learning experience online. E-learning is therefore a promising tool for increasing access to global health sciences and enhancing research, health policies and system capacities in addressing significant discrepancies in disease burden and mortality between low and middle income countries (LMIC), and high income countries.

'What is the best possible guidance of participants by an e-moderator during online education?' In order to answer this question, we will first reflect on the vision of e-moderating according to researcher Salmon (2011). According to Salmon, interaction between the participants themselves, and with experts, is essential for an optimal learning experience -- as is the exchange, review and reflection on each other's ideas, for constructing new knowledge.

In effect, the insights in this article have already been piloted at Elevate, an online academy for the health sciences. Elevate is fostering e-learning as in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where the academy is based, there are an increasing number of foreign participants, coupled with a lack of physical locations. The ideas of Salmon have been implemented within various e-courses at Elevate, the experiences evaluated and described in this article. The article concludes with some practical tips for e-moderators and designers of online education.

Increase in online education

The growing popularity of online education can be largely attributed to the more sophisticated technology now widely available. This includes a number of easily accessible features, such as streaming video, recording, wikis, and online test facilities, in addition to a faster and more mobile Internet, and the opportunities provided by cloud computing. Another caveat is the development of 'the new work methods', which enables an employee to work remotely, from a location of their choice, online. Likewise, the same principle makes learning more accessible, from anywhere in the world, so long as you have a mobile device and a connection to the Internet.

(2)

There is an increasing need for more diversity in learning pace and level, and more flexibility in time and location, throughout the educational system; from primary and higher education, to corporate training (Filius e.a., 2010; Johnson e.a., 2011; Steinert e.a., 2009).

People are also more aware of the fact that "contact time" with expert tutors or a professional is relatively expensive and should therefore be used as efficiently as possible. By carefully considering which activities can take place online, contact time can be better utilised, costs reduced and the quality of the course improved.

The e-moderator according to Salmon

Salmon (2011) is considered ‘the guru in the field of e-moderating’. She has been researching online learning and the deployment of e-moderators for more than a decade and recognises e-moderators as the teachers and trainers of online education. They not only provide knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange but they also guide the learning process, generally using the same competencies as the teachers and trainers in face-to-face education, but the medium is different and therefore so is the way the competencies are deployed. In many cases, the e-moderator is also the expert, but these can be separate roles. Elevate has experience with both variants, as described later in this article.

Tasks of the e-moderator

The e-moderator guides, facilitates and stimulates the learning process. Duties include: - Ensuring a safe 'learning environment';

- Helping participants to familiarise themselves with the digital environment and its possibilities; - Naming (compulsory and voluntary) activities;

- Suggesting eligible criteria for the course certificate; - Answering or referring questions from participants;

- Identifying and highlighting relevant comments from participants who tend to get underexposed; - Summarising the contributions of participants;

- Reflecting on what has been learned; - Clarifying the thread;

- Archiving of information;

- Posting messages to motivate or clarify the learning process; - Encouraging active contributions from participants;

- Transfer of learning needs / answers to questions from participants (sources, experts); - (Based on experiences of / with participants) optimising the course design.

E-moderating can be both synchronous and asynchronous. In the first case, all participants are logged in at the same time and communicate with each other, for example through video conferencing. In the second case, participants communicate with each other at different times, to their own convenience. This communication might take place through messages posted on a virtual learning environment, discussion forum, blog or wiki.

(3)

The e-moderator has various ways to contact the participants, but mainly using either the virtual learning environment, or by e-mail. An example of a message from the e-moderator to all participants: “There may be things that you’d like to tell the e-moderator, but don’t immediately want to make public. Feel free, therefore, to send the e-moderator personal messages via e-mail.” By doing so, the e-moderator lowers the threshold to make contact and contributes to a safe learning environment.

Salmon’s five step plan

Salmon (2011) has developed a five-phase plan (see Figure 1) that gives an overview, per stage, on the role of the e-moderator and the kind of technical assistance required.

Figure 1: five stage plan Salmon (2011)

During the first phase ('access and motivation') the e-moderator provides support in accessing the learning environment to ensure that participants feel welcome.

During the second phase ('online socialisation') the e-moderator aims to create a constructive and safe learning environment where participants know how the course contributes to what they want to learn. Participants introduce themselves, get to know each other, and become familiar with the ways of working online together. In this period, the e-moderator acts as host, monitors proceedings and asks participants if necessary, how they are getting on:

"Thanks for accessing the course and for your participation. According to my information, you have not submitted any assignments -- is that correct? Please let me know if you need help with something.”

(4)

During the third stage ('information exchange') interaction between the participants increases, encouraged by the e-moderator. The e-moderator leads the participants, asks questions, takes notes, and points out relevant sources, taking into account different learning styles. An example of a message from the e-moderator in this phase:

"Dear all, we are half way through this week. If you have completed learning unit 2 early, I recommend you look back at the contributions of other participants after your own submission -- you might want to respond again! "

The fourth phase ("knowledge construction") sees participants continuing to exchange knowledge with others but also then combining this information with their own prior knowledge and the new ideas stimulated as a result. The e-moderator plays more of a facilitating role, encouraging participants to identify and explore different perspectives. They summarise and blend various issues and visions together so that the group will oversee the thread of the discussions, but with the ability to intervene and resolve any questions or problems, if necessary. As the course progresses, the interaction and initiative of participants will increase. The e-moderator will slip into the background.

The communication structure between participants and the e-moderator in this phase is flatter and can therefore be regarded as innovative compared to face-to-face teaching (Collis and Moonen, 2005). Participants are not waiting for "the e-moderator as an expert with the right answers”, but rather they exchange

information among themselves and create new knowledge together.

During the fifth and final stage ('Development') participants take full responsibility for their own learning. The e-moderator serves as a guide. Participants are able to look at their own learning process on a meta-level, reflecting and evaluating their own, and each other's, thought processes. Through meta-cognition, they are capable of learning to integrate and apply their knowledge. E-moderators facilitate the process by setting exercises to give critical thinking and constructive feedback on each other’s contributions.

Experiences at Elevate

The vision of Salmon for online education, as described above, is applied at Elevate, in collaboration with the Julius Center -- a division of the University Medical Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Together they provide education in the field of healthcare (http://www.msc-epidemiology.nl Elevate started a year ago with the preparation, implementation and evaluation of different online courses. There are now three courses, provided completely online, which have been accessed and evaluated by 112 participants. The offering of online courses has slowly expanded. The course design is described first, followed by the evaluation results.

E-course design

Each learning unit of an e-course has a description of the learning objectives, the resources available and the activities to be carried out. Available resources include web lectures, articles, books, assignments and (self) tests. Some activities are performed alone, while others involve interaction or collaboration with others. Individual learning activities include: watching web lectures, reading literature, and doing assignments and tests. Interactive and collaborative learning activities include completing group assignments in a wiki, posting contributions in discussion forums, web conferencing and posing questions in the ‘questions and answers' section of the learning environment.

Aside from the learning activities, there are other ways to communicate, such as chat, video conferencing, and by posting messages in the learning environment, and through e-mail.

(5)

The e-moderator adds most value during group assignments, such as the wiki and the discussion forums; this is explained in more detail below.

Group assignments

Participants will be divided into small groups, working in a wiki, which is classified per assignment, into three tabs:

1) Instruction 2) Results 3) Discussion

The first tab might, for example, consist of a research article to be downloaded. The instruction for the task might be for participants to defend the pros and cons of a proposition based on this article. Half of the group will extol the pros, while the other defends the cons. The discussion about which argument is the most important or meaningful will be conducted in the third tab. The results of the discussion are described in the second tab. The e-moderator may give interim feedback based on the discussion in the third tab and give an assessment based on the second tab.

Discussion forums

Elevate uses discussion forums in each of the three courses. In two of these, contributing to the forum is required to be eligible for a certificate.

Evaluation Results

Experiences in practice have been evaluated by participants, e-moderators and teachers. The results are explained below.

Role of the e-moderator

In one course, the e-moderator was both an expert and a lecturer; in two e-courses these roles were

separated. In the latter case, the web lectures included the expert and contributions from others made during discussions or questions. The advantage of this approach is that the e-moderator doesn’t have to be a content expert and the implementation of a course is less dependent on the availability of specific experts. The e-moderator serves in that situation as a facilitator and intermediary between students, and between students and the expert. At those moments where the e-moderator has indicated that questions or discussions require the attention of the expert, they will ask for their contribution. Participants need to be aware there are continuously available experts that they can direct questions to and who occasionally read along during discussions. "We follow this course because we all want to know about the topic, and therefore none of us are experts and we need the experts to check whether we are right," said one participant. In practice, at least 80% of the questions and discussions could be managed properly without the intervention of experts.

(6)

Social interaction

The contribution of the e-moderator fits well with the social constructivist view of learning from Elevate. Social constructivism is a learning theory that emphasises how ideas arise from social interactions. To take full advantage of the courses, participants must do more than just read and exchange information, and must instead aim to refine their knowledge. From that point of view it is important that participants are not limited to reading the information they think they should know. Of course, a participant may also learn from reading a web page or listening to a lecture, but there are greater possibilities to deepen their knowledge when participants interact with each other.

In the e-courses, participants have the opportunity to share and discuss each other's ideas and reflections. This very open way of learning has its advantages, making participants more aware of their own positions. New ideas and approaches can be explored, increasing the knowledge of participants, and helping them to expand their networks through more informed views.

The value of interaction is not immediately obvious. Participants often think that online education is just another word for self-study, but via the internet.

During the first online course, a participant sent this e-mail: "Why should we discuss with each other during this course? I'm doing this course next to my work and I have no time for discussion. I do not want to discuss, I just want to learn. "

This statement lead Elevate to clarify more explicitly both the social constructivist principles and the requirements for participants, in terms of activity, and time.

More recent evaluations have found that students find the interaction with other participants and the moderator to be very valuable; one writes: "I must say that prior to the course I was very sceptical about the whole concept of online learning, especially considering my experience as a trainer. I did not believe that this could be a substitute for face-to-face contact, or the dynamic that develops between groups of participants. But now that I have followed two e-courses, I realise that the different ways in which participants are asked to communicate, can have as much value as the communication within regular courses. "

(7)

At Elevate we notice that most participants prefer asynchronous communication (where participants log in at different times and are not dependent on each other's agendas). Only a small number of students used video conferencing, with the chat function not being used at all.

The preference for asynchronous communication in these courses has not been studied, but it is probably due to the way the course is designed and the target audience.

During the group assignments, the discussion may reveal interesting new insights. Where in the regular face-to-face courses, participants often form groups based on external characteristics, participants in online education will usually never see each other. This might lead to working with participants from different backgrounds, therefore offering an alternative perspective. One participant described interaction during the group

assignment: "During the group assignment I completely disagreed with someone from my group, but learned to appreciate the fact that two people can look very differently at the same subject. This also reinforced and made my own vision clear. Eventually we agreed on the fact that we disagreed. "

During evaluations participants indicate that they find the discussions to be ”concise and compact” because the lack of small talk compared to face-to-face training. Discussing the approach in a broader sense can be difficult, but the advantage is that it is easier to get to the heart of the matter.

One of the disadvantages of interaction in group work was found to be the interdependence between

participants. Participants find it frustrating having to repeatedly ask their peer for their contributions, which in some cases is of insufficient quality anyway. This feeling is shared in group assignments in face-to-face courses; the difference online being that the use of a wiki is often closely monitored by the e-moderator. It is easy for the moderator to see which group members contribute to both the process and the end result. The

e-moderator may therefore guide learning processes a little closer and tell participants that their work is insufficient, which may count towards their grade.

The discussion forum works well as items are clearly defined and participation levels are good, although at the start of the course, participants can be reluctant to respond to the discussion. The e-moderator may motivate participants to contribute and respond to each other by saying, for example: "Have you seen the comment of Peter in learning unit 1.3? If so, then can you also imagine situations where this is not the case?". And: "Suzan wonders in learning Unit 3.2 what a good example of a test is, which is also an intervention. Who has

suggestions? "

The e-moderator directs and encourages, for example by commenting on the quality of a particular contribution and by ending contributions with a question mark.

As the course progresses, participants usually interact more with each other. The role of the e-moderator is reduced, shifting from that of 'facilitator' to 'guide' and 'expert'; summarising contributions and indicating what is right, what is wrong, what is still missing and in which sources the evidence can be found. The e-moderator can inspire and challenge participants to make greater efforts to gain new insights.

The biggest challenge in this process is for the e-moderator to ensure that participants not only answer questions, but actually ask questions, retrieve additional information, relate this with other evidence, add new insights to existing knowledge and thereby create new understandings . At this stage participants need to

(8)

be working off their own initiative. The e-moderator must resist the urge to immediately respond or indicate what the right answer is, but instead confirm assumptions and encourage.

In this process it is important the e-moderator needs to have a good feel of when to offer participants the opportunity to explore and exchange ideas with each other, and when to intervene. Interventions could include: asking questions to participants, summarising contributions, providing substantive answers to questions from participants (whether asked or not), highlight specific contributions of participants and invite them to respond to each other. The competencies required for this, are no different to the core competencies of good teachers. But because the medium is different, the skills used are also variable.

Once a discussion is complete, the e-moderator formally closes it: by issuing a short summary and then a message that it is done. This prevents stale discussions and informs participants that they don’t have to re-open the discussion item to look for any new posts to read. It also gives participants the opportunity to follow the thread and to root the content.

Box 1 provides practical advice for the e-moderator, based on evaluations of Elevate’s e-courses.

Practical advice based on experiences with Elevate’s e-courses

- Spend much time in the design process of the course to avoid unnecessary operations of the e-moderator and questions from participants as a result of poor instructions. The e-e-moderator can easily fill days with facilitating and encouraging interaction between participants. The efficient use of available time is therefore of great importance.

- Archive email messages from the moderator to the participants, including when a message is placed. The next time the course is given, the e-moderator can re-use these messages. Also save some screenshots.

- Bundle similar tasks of the e-moderator and do it all at once, rather than working on them in a fragmented way throughout the day. For example, create a rule in the mailbox for all messages about a specific course to fall into the same folder.

- Define clearly prior to the course the expected activities, the workload, deadlines, and how interaction takes place.

- Ask participants of their expectations and desires. Some participants do not need a certified course; they just want access to the study without having to participate in group activities. This has consequences for the structure of group assignments and so early notice will avoid disappointments. - Make instructions clear and concise. Facial expressions and intonation cannot be well articulated

online, so explicitly digital instructions are essential. Remember that reading long texts on screen is more difficult than on paper, so keep instructions short. You might want to divide instructions into small pieces. Use colour and design to prioritise and structure the instructions.

- Make a distinction between 'compulsory' and 'optional' learning activities.

- Mention the expected study time for each learning activity. This is especially helpful for participants who need to plan their time carefully to consider whether they have sufficient time to start learning a new activity). This is a typical characteristic of a participant of an e-course, compared to a face-to-face course.

(9)

- Provide feedback carefully and base it on arguments or evidence. Written feedback can appear more critical compared to verbal feedback. Grading without feedback usually has a negative effect. - The feedback that you give to participants should be based on both quantitative data (login time,

number of responses) as well as qualitative (level of responses and commands).

- Read each participant's contribution carefully several times. The nuances of written contributions differ from verbal contributions. By responding quickly to written submissions, you might miss the nuances.

- Respond quickly to questions from participants. Try to provide responses to questions within 24 hours (preferably faster).

- Don’t tell participants too often to go to the "frequently asked questions". Identify the right answer. - Evaluate each course both in writing and (selectively) orally, if possible. For courses primarily given

in writing, oral evaluations can offer a more valuable insight.

Box 1: practical advices for the e-moderator

The value of the e-moderator in online education

This article addresses the question: 'How can the e-moderator of online education courses offer the best possible guidance to the participants?' and a vision on e-moderating has been described, based on the value of the explicit exchange, review and reflection on each other's ideas to construct new knowledge, and secure optimal academic success. It has been described how this vision on e-learning has been implemented in practice at Elevate and the recommendations and advice of those that have participated.

Based on the results of the evaluations of Elevate’s participants, it is apparent that online study suits a particular group of students better than face-to-face courses. This group generally comprises people combining their studies with their busy job, family life or while working on a thesis. The added value of this type of education is mainly:

• the possibility to control your learning pace and level, aligned to your individual needs; • contact and interaction with an e-moderator and co-participants;

• flexibility in time and location.

However, these participants are not looking for self-study courses. Contact and interaction remains of great importance and evaluation results underline the relevance and appreciation of role of the e-moderator in guiding the group process, being approachable with any questions, and encouraging active contributions and speed of response.

Guiding the online learning process is not easy, but it is getting better as more experience is gained. The biggest challenge is often to stimulate knowledge creation among participants with each other within the (limited) time available. If successful, it is very satisfactory. And the demand for e-moderators is expected to grow in the future.

(10)

- Collis, B. en Moonen, J. (2005). An on-going journey: technology as a learning workbench, monograph on occasion of their retirement from the University of Twente, NL. Online:

http://bettycollisjefmoonen.nl/rb.htm (accessed January 2012).

- Filius, R.M. en Kresin, F.J. (2010). ‘ICT als ondersteuning van onderwijs, opleiden en leren: wat staat ons te wachten?’ Handboek Effectief Opleiden, 7.10, pp. 9.3-9.36. Online:

http://www.juliuscentrum.nl/Julius/Portals/4/UploadFiles/HEO53_hfdst_7.10-9.pdf (accessed January 2012).

- Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A. and Haywood, K. (2011). 2011 Horizon Report. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium Online: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/2011HorizonReport/223122 (accessed January 2012).

- Steinert, Y., McLeod, P.J., Boillat M.N., Meterissian, S, Elizov, M., MacDonald, M.E. (2009). ‘Faculty development: a field of dreams?’ Medical Education: 43:42-49.

- Salmon, G. (2011). E-moderating: the key tot teaching and learning online. Routledge, New York and London. Third Edition.

Author:

Renée Filius works as a programme manager of Elevate, an online academy that educates international health professionals, in order to elevate professional knowledge and improve health worldwide. Comments on this article are welcomed at [email protected]. Follow Renée on Twitter @ReneeF.