Literature+Review

 toc

Background
The trend in moving classes online has shown significant progress over the years. It was reported that higher education online course enrollment from over 1,000 institutions rose by 18.2% between 2003 and 2004 (Allen and Seaman, 2006). In 2007, nearly 35% of all higher education institutions in the United States perceive online course offering can meet their strategic goals and are instrumental in their long-term plans (Allen and Seaman, 2007). By 2008, the growth rate of online enrollments has risen to 12.9 percent and surpassed the 1.2 percent growth of the overall higher education student population and almost four million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2007 term (Allen and Seaman, 2008). The impetus behind this growth stems largely from the current economic situation. Specifically, rising unemployment, economic downturn, and rising fuel cost are the major factors. In San Diego State University (SDSU), a similar trend is observed. The number of online courses offered increased from two in 2007 to 28 in 2009 and student enrollment rose from 49 to over 1,400 in the same period (Frazee & Julius, 2009). Both Instructional Technology Services (ITS) and Course Design Institute (CDI) at SDSU have been collaborating to provide support and training to assist faculty to move their classes online. Feedback from students attending SDSU online courses are encouraging. "This was the perfect online class. You really combined every method of learning to ensure that each student had a fair chance at the material," said one student. Another commented, "I have taken many online courses outside of SDSU, and I was sincerely impressed with the effort that was put into this course. Thank you for making it worthwhile!" To date, however, less than 20 faculty members are teaching fully online courses. A key reason could be the numerous challenges faced by faculty when teaching online. These obstacles, which include the need to address unique requirements of online students and promote interaction within a virtual environment, can be daunting even to experienced faculty who are used to giving instruction inside a classroom (Sugar, Martindale, and Crawley, 2007). Nevertheless, the positive responses from the students underpin a continuing need for online courses and it is anticipated more faculty will face the pressure to convert their face-to-face classes to one that is hybrid and eventually, fully online to meet the growing demand.

Back to the top

Purpose of research
This study was conceived to help SDSU faculty address some of these challenges, specifically on the design and implementation of distance education classes. The research follows a systematic approach and is guided by a framework consisting of four overlapping loci: (1) priniciples on effective online course design and teaching, (2) best practices in online course design and teaching, (3) faculty and student experiences, (4) evidence/data for evaluation. The study will examine existing principles, theories, and models to understand the elements of useful online instructional designs and implementation. Next, a review on useful approaches and tools utilzed by other higher education institutions in online courses will serve as a validation benchmark. These best practices will necessarily address the learning needs of online students and the strategies faculty can use to teach effectively. Case studies are then prepared on select online classes at SDSU to compare the delivery of online teaching and student learning experiences with these best practices. Back to the top

Outcomes of literature review
The review aims to address loci (1) and (2) of the research framework and helps to answer the following questions:


 * What are some of the most common principles, theories, models used by higher institutions to guide online course design and implementation? Why do they work? How applicable are they across multiple disciplines?


 * What are some of the useful practices recognized and tools used by faculty in higher institutions to design online courses and teach effectively? What is the context when applying them? How can we measure the usefulness of an online course?

Back to the top

Seven Principles
In 1987, there was an initiative to establish strategies that would result in quality undergraduate education. Led by Chickering and Gamson, a working framework was developed to evaluate and improve undergraduate teaching in university classrooms (Chickering & Gamson, 1991). Called Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Cross (1999) stated that it was “the best known, certainly the most widely distributed list" (p. 256) employed for assessing face-to-face instructions in the university classrooms then. The Seven Principles assert that good practice in undergraduate education (a) promotes contact between the students and the faculty, (b) encourages cooperation among students, (c) engenders active learning, (d) demands prompt feedback, (e) emphasizes time on task, (f) communicates high expectations, and (g) respects diverse talents and ways of learning (Chickering & Gamson, 1987).

With the growing demand for online courses, there is interest to examine if the Seven Principles also extend to distance education. Taylor (2002) surveyed 500 instructors country-wide teaching in fully online undergraduate courses across multiple disciplines to evaluate the quality of teaching based on the Seven Principles. She concluded that all the principles, except for time on task, were implemented frequently by the respondents. Batts, Colaric and McFadden (2006) extended this study by comparing the instructors’ responses with the responses of their students. 548 students and 31 instructors in online undergraduate courses in Education from two public universities were surveyed. The study showed the application of the Seven Principles was evident in online undergraduate courses and both the students and instructors agreed on the perception in the use of these principles. In another study, Batts (2008) further proved that there was consistency in the incorporation of the Seven Principles in undergraduate online technology courses. The Ohio Learning Network, a premiere e-learning education web site that encourages the use of technology to improve teaching and learning in higher education (among others) in Ohio, also support the use of these principles. It formerly recognizes the Seven Principles as the "foundation to high quality distance delivery methods" (The Ohio Learning Network, n.d.) which have proven over time to be very successful. (lead in to next para)

Back to the top

Roles of a virtual instructor
Another perspective in ensuring quality online teaching focuses on the various roles instructors need to take on. Berg (1995) postulated instructors enact four different roles when teaching online courses: a pedagogical role, a social role, a management role, and a technological role. The pedagogical role centers around the instructor's responsibility as an educational facilitator by initiating discussions on key concepts, principles and skills through well designed questions. Creating a friendly and cohesive environment exemplifies the social role of the instructor. This is crucial to promote learning and encourage team work. The instructor must also enact a management role. This entails organizing information, managing expectations, and providing directions throughout the course. The technical role is one in which the instructor ensure the use of technology does not impede or discourage learning. This will allow the students to concentrate on the learning content rather than being distracted by technical issues.

Coppola, Hiltz, and Rotter (2002) support the idea roles instructors enact can impact the ways students learn in an online environment. They posited that online instructors enact three different roles - cognitive, affective, and managerial. These roles mirror closely to those proposed by Berg (1995), with the exception of the technical role. The cognitive role relates to mental processes of learning, information storage, and thinking. For the affective role, it includes instructor behavior to influence and promote social interaction with the instructor and with other students and the online environment. In the managerial role, the instructor engages in course planning, organizing, leading, controlling, and student monitoring.

Back to the top

The Cybergogy for Engaged Learning Model
Mirroring the tenets of the Seven Principles, the Cybergogy for Engaged Learning Model highlights the significance of three inter-dependent domains (cognitive, emotive, and social) that enable a successful online learning experience (Wang & Kang, 2006). The cognitive domain concerns with the instructor designing materials and learning activities that relate to learner's prior knowledge and experience, ease of goal attainment, and learning style, to help them achieve the learning outcomes. The instructor will also need to motivate learners through the emotive factor. This pertains to learner identity and how he or she associates with the learning community, and the general attitude toward learning. Within this community, the instructor should encourage learners to socialize, share, and communicate with one another. Realizing this social domain will allow learners to collaboratively create a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meaning. Encompassing these three domains is the online environment. Wang and Kang assert that the instructor needs to cater a virtual learning space that is conducive and support the learners in meeting the various demands and challenges in an online course.

Back to the top

Evaluating online teaching
In 2002, California State University (CSU), Chico introduced a set of guidelines for designing and evaluating quality online instruction. Known as the Chico Rubric, it is one the most prominent model used by SDSU to help faculty develop and assess their online courses. It addresses six areas: (1) learner support and resources, (2) online organization and design, (3) instructional design and delivery, (4) assessment and evaluation of student learning, (5) innovative teaching with technology, and (6) faculty use of student feedback (CSU, Chico, n.d.). Learner support and resources relate to empowering students with information about the online course through multiplie channels. Online organization and design pertain to the effect of the online interfaces used on learner experience. Interaction and addressing diverse learning needs within the course are addressed through instructional design and delivery. For assessment and evaluation of student learning, an online course needs to provision multiple opportunities for a variety of assessments modes and timely feedback. Innovative teaching with technology refers to the effective use of technology to engage and enhance student learning. Finally, faculty use of student feedback requires the instructor to leverage mutliple feedback channels to improve the content, technology used, and help online students succeed in achieving their academic goals.

Back to the top

Best practices on online course design and teaching
Higher education online courses have been exercising best practices predicated on the Seven Principles to implement effective online instruction and course design. Studies have also revealed that these successful approaches are applicable across multiple disciplines. Taylor (2002) found that the use of the Seven Principles was evident in disciplines pertaining to online courses in Engineering, Business, Computer, Social Sciences, Communication, and Humanities/Literature, among others. This observation is also shared by studies done by Batts, et al. (2006) and Batts (2008) in which the research participants were in online undergraduate courses in Education and Technology respectively. The table below lists the best practices based on the Seven Principles and are collated from sources in the academic setting (The TLT Group, n.d.; Morris & Finnegan, 2008) and the corporate environment (ASTD Techknowledge, 2009; McKinnie, 2008). It is organized to show the approaches and online resources and tools to use throughout the conduct of a course.
 * **Principle** || **Time-frame** || **Approaches** || **Online tools/resources to use** ||
 * Encourage contact between students and faculty || Before course || * Be familiar with the online communication tools used in the course and within the virtual classroom.
 * Plan for online office hours outside of class time to address any issues students may have. || * Email/Listserv
 * Web-based voice/video conferencing software
 * Learning Management System (LMS) that support detailed user profiling
 * Online chat
 * Instant messaging
 * Blogs
 * Annotation tools supported by the virtual classroom.
 * Emoticons and feedback tools supported by the virtual classroom. ||
 * ^  || During course || * Encourage the use of online communication tools to send feedback and encouragement to students individually and collectively, acknowledge the challenges they will face throughout the course, and to facilitate interaction.
 * Make known online office hours outside of class time to address any issues students may have. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Encourage the use of video communication or displaying of digital photo to bridge the virtual distance between the faculty and students, and among the students.
 * Express excitement about the content and technology used in the class through both visual and vocal communication. This will lead students to feel energetic as well.
 * Tell brief anecdotal stories or use analogies to demonstrate a point.
 * Limit lectures and encourage more interaction.
 * Maximize the use of annotation tools, such as a marker to highlight a portion of the shared screen, to support instruction.
 * Inform students on what to expect when the information and material changes on the screen.
 * Show students how to use emoticons and feedback tools such as laughter, applause, agree and disagree icons, and encourage their use.
 * Solicit comments and inputs from all the students through specific questions and providing direction on how they should respond.
 * Allow and inform students on the use of the private and public messaging options during class. ||^  ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on the degree of interaction with the instructor and with other students and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||
 * Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students || Before course || * Design group projects and assignments to leverage multiple student inputs and comments.
 * Plan for group presentations, brainstorm ideas, and group discussion.
 * Set expectations on student participation and individual contribution for group work evaluation.
 * Be familiar with online collaboration and social networking tools. || * Online discussion board
 * Webquest
 * Online break-out rooms
 * Wiki
 * Peer appraisal
 * Social networks ||
 * ^  || During course || * Foster collaborative learning and sharing of resources.
 * Encourage students to form their own support group to learn from one and other.
 * Use group projects and assignments to leverage multiple student inputs and comments.
 * Get students to evaluate each other on participation and individual contribution for group work. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Allocate virtual space for group presentations, brainstorm ideas, and group discussion.
 * Have students lead discussions and share learning experiences. Instructor should impress upon the students that they need to take some ownership in the knowledge transfer. ||^  ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on the degree of cooperative learning and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||
 * Use active learning techniques || Before course || * Design reflective and open-ended tasks that focus on application of theory to practice.
 * Locate relevant online resources to support the course. || * Electronic Course Reserves
 * Library
 * Online simulation programs
 * Relevant online multimedia resources ||
 * ^  || During course || * Encourage students to find material relevant to course content and share them online.
 * Use reflective and open-ended tasks for students to apply what they have learned.
 * Have students read an article and argue for one of the perspectives and have them comment on other positions. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Introduce online applications which allow students to manipulate data and observe outcomes to gain deeper understanding of the content. This can enhance their attention and motivation. Instructor will need to rehearse prior to the class to ensure the demonstrations run smoothly. ||^   ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on the degree of active learning and its influence on course success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||
 * Provide prompt feedback || Before course || * Create self-graded practice quizzes that give immediate individual feedback based on the student's answers.
 * Allocate sufficient time to grade assignments and give feedback.
 * Be familiar with the polling and/or online assessment tools used in the course.
 * Be familiar with online communication tools used in the course. || * Hand-held Personal Response System or Clickers
 * Twitter
 * Online discussion board
 * Email/Listserv
 * Online assessment tools ||
 * ^  || During course || * Summarize the teaching points and concerns students have and post them online immediately after the class is over.
 * Use self-graded practice quizzes to give students immediate individual feedback.
 * Encourage students to become involved in the feedback process by specifying the type and person they want feedback from. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Use polling to initiate discussion and solicit comments. Thereafter, present the results to keep the students engaged in the discussion.
 * Constantly scan and acknowledge new questions or comments on the screen.
 * Have a moderator or co-instructor for a large group to tackle multiple issues that may arise during class.
 * Hold complicated or tangential questions for comments later so that they do not distract the class. ||^  ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on the responsiveness of feedback and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||
 * Emphasize time on task || Before course || * Locate relevant material and readings that support the course.
 * Factor in time for students to revise and consult materials after class when planning for assignment deadlines.
 * Plan for estimated time needed to complete a task, during or outside class, so that students can manage the time given to complete the task.
 * Be familiar with the LMS organizational tools, such as calender and reminders, used in the course.
 * Be familiar with the tracking tools supported by the LMS.
 * Be familiar with the technology used in the course.
 * Locate relevant resources to help students who may face informational technology/technical issues || * Hyperlinks to relevant resources
 * LMS note taking, calendar and reminder functions
 * LMS tracking tools
 * Job aids/performance support tools for technology used ||
 * ^  || During course || * Provide access to relevant articles and readings to save students' time to search for materials.
 * Upload read-ahead class notes and summary of key points from previous lesson for student review, thus saving time for the instructor to cover the material during class.
 * Manage assignment deadlines and post reminders to inform students.
 * Orient students to the technology used in the online classroom and provide assistance or guide students in resolving potential information technology/technical issues to reduce student downtime.
 * Track student online activities, frequency and time of access to determine course norms for successful students. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Prepare agenda with cues for demo, slides or multimedia ready, demonstration application windows open and ready, and run through the materials to verify everything is where it should be and functioning.
 * Manage the time required to cover the critical parts of the content to limit off-topic online conversation. agenda.
 * Optimize teaching environment by having working head-set, speakers, etc. before class. It is a common practice to have another computer to monitor what students will see during class. ||^  ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Evaluate effectiveness of technology used to support teaching.
 * Aggregate and analyze data to determine course norm for student online activities.
 * Solicit student feedback on their perception on instructor's emphasis in managing time on task and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^  ||
 * Communicate high expectations || Before course || * Set high expectations by linking objectives to real world standards.
 * Develop standards to communicate the expectations of exemplary work.
 * Upload exemplary student work for reference.
 * Consider the use of a learning contract to allow students to have ownership over their learning objectives and course deliverables.
 * Locate appropriate online resources to publish students' work.
 * Design end-of-course online survey to solicit feedback.
 * Be familiar with using online survey tools. || * Rubrics
 * Learning contract
 * Web-based educational hosting sites
 * Web-based survey services ||
 * ^  || During course || * Use standards to communicate the expectations of exemplary work.
 * Let students have ownership over their learning objectives and course deliverables.
 * Promote value in student projects by having them upload online for public viewing or use.
 * Emphasize course goals repeatedly in the beginning of the semester to allow students time to internalize the information. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Provide clear and detailed orientation of the course to mitigate confusion about the course structure and expectations. ||^   ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on instructor communicating high expectation and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||
 * Respect diverse talents and ways of learning || Before course || * Find out student's prior academic experiences to make sure they have the pre-requisite knowledge.
 * Design projects that allow students to determine the content topic of their choice.
 * Plan to allow multiple ways for students to present their work, such as demonstration, visual aids, audio aids, multi-media, etc.
 * Plan to leverage technology to address the needs of students who have disability.
 * Design different kinds of assignment to appeal to various student learning styles.
 * Create self-assessments for students to discover their strengths and focus them on their weaker areas.
 * Plan for multiple online communication means to allow students the flexibility to interact with each other and with the instructor.
 * Be familiar with LMS archive function used in the course.
 * Be familiar with online communication tools used in the course. || * Webquest
 * LMS archiving function
 * Voice recognition software
 * Online assessment tools
 * Email (listserv)
 * Web-based voice/video conferencing software
 * Online chat
 * Instant messaging ||
 * ^  || During course || * Provide academic assistance within and outside of the online course to help students with lower grade point averages succeed.
 * Allow students to determine the content topic of their choice when working on projects.
 * Allow multiple ways for students to present their work, such as demonstration, visual aids, audio aids, multi-media, etc.
 * Deploy technology to address the needs of students who have disability.
 * Facilitate group forming based on students' learning styles and abilities.
 * Use self-assessments for students to discover their strengths and to identify weaker students.
 * Use multiple online communication means to allow students the flexibility to interact with each other and with the instructor. ||^  ||
 * ^  || During online class || * Archive online sessions and all presentation material for students who could not attend the class or require them for subsequent reference. ||^   ||
 * ^  || End of course || * Solicit student feedback on their perception on instructor addressing individual needs and its influence on their success to aid course redesign. ||^   ||

Back to the top

Conclusion
Back to the top