Comparing face-to-face with online: learners' perspective.

Abstract

While universities and corporations are enthusiastically joining the networked learning environment and making more and more use of online education, very little is recorded about how this learning space is experienced by students. That is, how do students feel about electronic communication being such a significant part of their learning environment and, how students work with electronic materials. What kinds of changes to their work routines did students have to make to accommodate the transfer of information through electronic means as opposed to more traditional means such as print based distance education. Postgraduate business students were asked about their experience as they made the transition into the online environment. Although there are differences, the students are generally positive but, there are some clear pointers for course design.

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During the break between semesters in 2000, the postgraduate students of a business subject at Monash University, Australia were interviewed by telephone to fred out how they felt about learning online. The Department of Marketing at Monash University is progressively putting the Master of Marketing into a multimedia format. The intention is that postgraduate students will be able to come to on campus, face-to-face classes, or study the same material delivered online with print and CD rom support. At the time of the interviews, some postgraduate students had been studying by distance education and all had some experience of attending face-to-face classes, albeit for different purposes but, for the Retail Management unit they had just completed, all these students had studied online. There was an opportunity here to ask these students to describe their experience of online learning in terms of both their study practises and their communication with faculty and other students, with a comparison to both traditional distance education and also face-to-face teaching available.

More and more is being written about online learning: some earlier work is characterised by its enthusiasm for electronic communication (Harasim 1990; Hiltz 1989); some work focuses on how courses were set up online (Collis and Davies 1995; Mason 1998) and some work focuses on the changes in teaching practise that faculty face (Harasim et al 1995; Salmon 2000). Furthermore there is evidence all around that the Internet is a growing medium for educational exchange (KPMG 2000), so it is clear that higher education institutions have a key role to play (Green and Gilbert 1995; Gumport and Chun 1999). However, there is very little work that examines the experience of learning online from the perspective of the students (Brace-Govan and Clulow 2000; Burge 1994; Taynton 2000). A recent paper by Taynton (2000) notes the difficulties that students often face when they begin to learn online. Not only do many who choose to learn online have work and family commitments to juggle, but they also have the added burden of familiarising themselves with the requisite computer technology. Taynton suggests that these combined burdens can cause significant anxiety and feelings of isolation amongst students. A diary study of undergraduate students studying online found that shy students continued to have difficulties expressing themselves in group situations and that students, unaccustomed to distance education, were often impatient with the comparatively slow progress of asynchronous discussion forums (Brace-Govan and Clulow 2000). Interviewing the students at this transition stage about how they experienced learning online and, how they managed their time and their communication needs, could be useful in terms of finding mechanisms to suit these students and assist faculty in providing a supportive learning environment.

Method

Postgraduate students in the Retail Management unit were invited to take part in interviews as part of an evaluation of the subject and its delivery. Over a period of 16 days at the end of July and the beginning of August 2000, 16 out of a possible 23 students were interviewed by telephone. Students in this course tend to be mature aged and working in middle management with an average of 50 hours a week in paid work, some of whom are juggling work and family commitments, so it was unsurprising that seven students were unable to take part. With 11 women and 5 men responding, the ratio of females to males was close to the overall class and gave a response rate of 69%. As table 1 shows, the sample had a variety of family responsiblities where four respondents lived alone, two lived with friends, and 10 (62.5%) lived with partners. In the sample, only four of those who lived with partners, lived with children. The income distribution of this group varies quite widely and as table 2 shows, half of the sample, all female, earned under A$50,000 1 per year, 31%, all male, earned between A$50,000 and A$70,000 per year and the remaining 19%, all female, earned between A$70,000 and A$100,000 per year. Nearly all the students (13) had English as their first language, while two had Cantonese and one student had Indonesian as their first language. Although half the students had studied in the previous five years, the other half of the sample had a more varied experience. Some students had been away from study for as many as 10, 17 or 25 years. For these students (7) returning to study was a daunting experience. In general then, this sample represented many of the characteristics of postgraduate students in Retail Management education at Monash University.

The semi-structured interview focussed on two areas: communication and; the students' ways of working. There are some clear differences between classroom learning and online learning and one of these is the amount of face-to-face contact a student has with teachers and classmates. Another difference is the reliance on technology to communicate. Students were asked to think about these differences and relate what had happened when they had needed someone to talk to for study or technical reasons. In the second section the students explained how they worked and how they felt about studying online. Being a student on campus and attending lectures and tutorials, meeting up with other students in libraries and coffee shops is the traditional way of going to university. Logging on whenever, picking up materials however, and working through electronic communication is not only a more recent way to begin a course of tuition, but it is also much more self-directed. Did being an online student change the way students studied and were study habits or preferred patterns affected? Students talked about their time management and research study skills and compared their experience of face-to-face classrooms and the online environment.

Results

Communication Comparison

At the outset it needs to be made clear that the students were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences of online education. In general they were enthusiastic about the time flexibility that this mode of delivery created for them with asynchronous access invaluable due to their work commitments. The online delivery gave six of these students the opportunity to study a course of their choice, even though they lived in another State. However, the interviews asked that they constructively critique their online experience in order that developers might better understand student needs.

The clearest difference in communication online as compared to face-to-face classrooms was in the means available for social interaction and this had an impact on the social presentation of individuals. Socially some students felt that there were elements of what they called `impression management' evident in the online forum that would not have been present in a tutorial. As this student explained:

   Impression management comes through quite strongly (online). Messages are
   very academically orientated as opposed to people offering opinions or
   feelings about things ... a text book orientation of what the tutors are
   looking for so they make sure this is sort of intelligent stuff. Dorothy
   13/lines 78 to 81

Another student expressed the same concern for a slightly different reason.

   It (online) is a lot more formalised, like pen to paper, you are putting
   your name to a hard copy and I think that formalises things a little bit
   more. Face-to-face is less formal and you can say `What the hell (sic) does
   this mean?' Online is all very polite and professional, and so it should
   be, but you also need the casual which you only get through a phone call.
   Andrew 15/lines 116 to 120

Here, although students were comfortable with the means of communication and found the experience to be valuable, some of them perceived the interaction online to be more reserved and guarded than in a classroom.

Continuing in the spirit of constructive criticism some students found the technology frustrating in comparison to the tutorial, or classroom. For one student face-to-face contact was an opportunity to `brainstorm' and doing this verbally was much faster than online (Harriet 3/lines 70 to 72). Another student was `frustrated' by the time delay (Tanya 5/lines 62 to 64), while another looked for the `immediacy' of personal contact even though the `computer is a wonderful resource' (Barbara 7/lines77, 78). One student found learning the software for online interaction `stressful' especially with the `pressure of time' and the cost of the Internet (Alice 4/lines 85, 88). Overall then, while most students were comfortable with the discussion forum, there were some issues around the separation of interactions and the need for software familiarity that arose from the technology.

Generally the students found that the discussion forum was a useful support to their learning. In comparing face-to-face with online they remarked that the online space required that they were more precise in their wording and that they had to be more careful in articulating their ideas than they might have been in a classroom. For example one student remarked:

   I had to be more articulate in my questions (online). I had to type it four
   or five times to get a question right. To word it right and come across
   clearly. I'm used to this at work because we use email to the USA a lot and
   understanding is important. It is very important because there is no tone.
   Bronwyn 2/lines 68 to 70

This student is suggesting that this difference between face-to-face and online is in the articulation of ideas, whereas other students had missed the spontaneity of `brainstorming' in class work, and some had noted the socially more `formalised' presentation of ideas. While the immediacy of response is desirable, as is social interaction amongst learners, the need for a more considered and carefully crafted reply would suggest that there are educational benefits to online delivery. Although this style of interaction between students may not be one that is especially familiar to some students, or even their personal preference, online, text based communication requires that students formulate their ideas more fully prior to presentation to the group.

Overall then, the students offered several insights into the experience of learning online. Socially the environment does not feel as spontaneous or as warm as the classroom and that learner support for these cultural specificities is needed (De Fazio et al 2000). Technically there is an element of stress involved in becoming familiar with the software which can lead to feelings of `cognitive overload' (Taynton 2000). Educationally there is a need to be more diligent about the expression used to convey ideas. However, for all the criticism the foregoing comments might suggest, when asked whether there was the right amount of communication, the students all responded positively.

Comparison of Study Patterns

In many respects it was difficult for the students to make a comparison

between their study patterns for face-to-face and online. For some it had been quite some time since they had studied, several others had been studying though distance education in print, and for others there had previously been no work commitments to juggle with study requirements. Generally though, for these students their experience of education was clearly influenced by their full time employment. Balancing priorities and managing their time effectively was important for them all. One of the advantages of face-to-face class is that it creates de facto deadlines and imposes a timetable for study. However, for students with so little time to spare, like the participants in this study, fitting into this kind of timetable is very stressful, which is why they enjoy the flexibility of online learning. Some students, echoing a distance education model, remarked on the need for self-discipline (Barbara 7/line 145), or how work intruded and they fell behind with their study schedule (Harriet 3/lines 135 to 137). Most were managing their studying even though they described it as either intrusive or a `sacrifice'.

With regard to actual study practices, all but one of these students printed out materials they were required to study and read from a paper copy. Only one student read from the screen. The students said that they liked to make notes in the margins and mark up sections for closer scrutiny later, once they had a sense of the overall piece. For their research, six students used only electronic resources such as the Internet or library connections for articles and nine students had sourced articles from electronic journals. Another six students had only visited libraries in person and did not use electronic resources apart from those provided through the subject. Most of the students commented that the study they did for assignments, or to respond to questions in the discussion forum, had not changed very much from the way they studied before online was available to them. As one student said `There is no big difference at all except access to the library' (Shane 12/line 116). However, some students were managing their study load in 10 hours a week while others said that they spent nearly 20 hours a week on their study. Much of this time was spent reading and reacting to the discussion forum with some students online for over two hours a day. Other students were trying to read all the journal articles listed with the topic for the week. Overall this suggests that while the study process has changed in a relatively limited way, students continue to need general guidance on how to select and prioritise reading material, as well as advice on how to manage a discussion forum involving quite complex interaction.

Concluding Remarks

The evaluation interviews aimed to have students describe their experience of online education in terms of communication and study practises. Even though the students had been very positive in their evaluation of the online learning environment, they were encouraged to critique the processes. Their constructive criticism raised several issues when they compared their online experience with a face-to-face classroom including:

   * a more restrained environment;

   * the time lag in interaction;

   * the need for care in crafting a response; and

   * the effort required to learn the software.

These observations suggest that it would be helpful for these students to be encouraged to contact each other privately for more informal exchanges which could be facilitated through private email or telephone contact. In addition, it seems important to manage student expectations about the speed of communication in a discussion forum and to expect `crafted' responses. Alternatively faculty leading the discussion can make it clear that formality is not important and direct student contributions to be of the `brain storming' type. Finally a space, or a time slot needs to be allowed for the students to familiarise themselves with the particular software and library search tools they will need to facilitate their learning in this electronic environment.

Apart from these changes, time management and guidance on reading effectively remains a valuable support to student learning. However, students find it difficult and inconvenient to read from screens so a useful support for these students is to provide printed readings. For their time management, it is helpful to keep regular contact with students ensuring that they are interacting in the forum and, if they are absent for a pre-specified length of time, to get in touch with them and ascertain why. A calendar, or regular reminders on the discussion forum is also useful for students.

However, the underlying message from these interviews is that computer mediated communication is not necessarily transparent, but requires familiarisation and practise. Moreover, the issues are not simply educational, but also linked to levels of comfort with the software and with the interaction styles that are available. Although some aspects of learning remain constant, other aspects, in particular the social and technical aspects of communication, alter quite significantly. Taking into consideration the fact that the students choose the online option because of their lack of time, a module that familiarised students with the online environment in a focussed and time efficient way would be very useful. Students could practise how to present themselves in a friendly but clear manner. They could become familiar with the software before study deadlines take over, and begin to build a rapport with their fellow students before the need to demonstrate their understanding of subject materials becomes a necessity. A short, specialised module could give students advice on how to read selectively and prioritise their work appropriately, as well as instructing them on how to research material online, while concurrently familiarising them with the software and online environment. It would orientate students to the virtual learning environment in a general way thus easing the process and ensuring a positive start to online study.

Notes:

(1.) Amounts are in Australian dollars

(2.) Pseudonyms have been used. The reference gives the Pseudonym, the number of the interview and then the line numbers in the interview transcript.

References

Brace-Govan, J. & Clulow, V. 2000, `Varying expectations of online students and the implications for teachers: Findings from a journal study', Journal of Distance Education, 21, (1), pp. 118-135.

Burge, E. J. 1994, `Learning in computer conferenced contexts: The learner's perspective', Journal of Distance Education, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 19-43.

Collis, B. & Davies, G. (eds.) 1995, Innovative Adult Learning with Innovative Technologies, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

De Fazio, T., Gilding, A. & Zorzenon, G. 2000, `Student learning support in an online learning environment', paper presented at ASCILITE conference, Coffs Harbour, Australia, December, available at http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences.html

Greene, K. C., & Gilbert, S. W. 1995, `Great expectations: Content, communications, productivity and the role of information technology in higher education', Change, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 8-18

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Harasim, L. (ed) 1990, Online Education: Perspectives on a New Environment, Praiger, New York.

Harasim, L., Hiltz, S. R., Teles, L. & Turoff, M. 1995, Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Hiltz, R. S. 1989, `Collaborative learning: The virtual classroom', T.H.E. Journal (Technological Horizons in Education), vol. 17, No. 1, pp.59-65

KPMG, 2000, Knowledge Management Research Report, available at http://www.kpmgconsulting.com/kpmgsite/othermedia/kmreportfinal.pdf last visited 26 November 2000

Mason, R. 1998, Globalising Education: Trends and Applications, Routledge, London.

Salmon, G. 2000, E-moderating. The Key to Teaching and Learning Online, Kogan Page, London.

Taynton, Y. 2000, `Online learning: A student perspective', paper presented at ASCILITE conference, Coffs Harbour, Australia, December, available at http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences.html

Jan Brace-Govan (PhD) is a research fellow with the Department of Marketing. One of her roles involves the evaluation of electronic communication and learning. Val Clulow (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the School of Business. She has worked with off-campus marketing students for many years and has researched their transition to online education.