Interaction at a Distance – An Approach for Redesigning for Distance Education

Authors: Martin Henkel

Abstract:

Different forms of interaction are an integral part of modern courses. Traditional courses held on-campus might focus on teacher-student interaction, or student-student interaction, or both. However when these traditional on-campus courses are to be held as distance courses there is a risk that these well-designed interactions will be difficult or impossible to uphold. For example, studentstudent interaction in traditional project assignments might not work well if the students are scattered across the world. Thus, even a welldesigned traditional on-site course cannot without modification be turned into a distance course. Traditional on-site courses simply have to be redesigned to become true distance courses. This paper describes a structured approach which facilitates the redesign of a traditional course into a distance course. The approach is based on that the desired forms of course flexibility are identified, and thereafter that the course activities are redesigned to facilitate interaction in a distance course. The approach is making use of known patterns of pedagogic interaction and existing guidelines for distance education design. The approach is illustrated with an example course in the field of information systems design.

Keywords: Distance education, interaction in education, course design.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1061132

References:

[1] Hrastinski, S., "Nätbaserad utbildning en introduktion," ISBN: 9789144053240, Studentlitteratur, 2009.
[2] Moore, M., "Three Types of Interaction," Editorial, The american journal of distance education,Vol.3,No2, 1989.
[3] Grandzol, J., R., Grandzol, C., J., "Best Practices for Online Business Education," International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, ISSN: 1492-3831, Vol.7, No. 1, 2006.
[4] Swan, K.,"Learning effectiveness: What the research tells us," In J. Bourne and J. C. Moore (eds.) Elements of Quality Online Education: Practice and direction, pp. 13-45, Needham, MA, Sloan, 2003.
[5] Waddoups , G., Howell , S.,"Bringing Online Learning to Campus: The Hybridization of Teaching and Learning at Brigham Young University,"International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, ISSN: 1492-3831, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2002.
[6] Anderson, T., "Towards a Theory of On-line Learning, Towards a theory of online learning," Anderson, in T. (eds.) The Theory and Practice of Online Learning, AU Press, Athabasca University, pp. 45- 74, 2008.
[7] Shachar, M., "Meta-Analysis: The preferred method of choice for the assessment of distance learning quality factors,"International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, ISSN: 1492-3831, Vol.9, No. 3, 2008.
[8] Laurillard, D., "The Pedagogical Challenges to Collaborative Technologies,"Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, Springer, Vol. 4, pp. 5-20, 2009.
[9] McKee, T., "Thirty Years of Distance Education: Personal Reflections,"International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, ISSN: 1492-3831,Vol.11, No. 2, 2010.
[10] Moore, M., "Theory of transactional distance," In Keegan, D. (eds) Theoretical Principles of Distance Education, Routledge publishing, pp. 22-38, 1997.
[11] Bernard, R., Abrami, P., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Tamim, R., Surkes, M., Bethel, E., "A Meta-Analysis of Three Types of Interaction Treatments in Distance Education," In Review of Educational Research, Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 1243-1289, 2009.
[12] Dysthe, O., "Dialogperspektiv på elektroniska diskussioner," in Dysthe, O. (eds) Dialog, samspel och lärande, Studentlitteratur, pp. 295-319, 2003.
[13] Anderson, T., "Getting the Mix Right Again: An Updated and Theoretical Rationale for Interaction,"International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. Vol.4, No. 2, ISSN: 1492-3831, 2003.
[14] Nicol, D., Macfarlane-Dick, D., "Formative Assessment and Selfregulated Learning: a Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice,"Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 31, Iss 2, pp. 119-218, 2006.
[15] Brown, A., Voltz, B., "Elements of Effective e-Learning Design,"The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol. 6, No. 1, ISSN: 1492-3831, 2005.
[16] Wettergren G., Hansson, H. Ekenberg, L., "A model for Mega online courses: Development, implementation and evaluation of an effective large scale online learning course," Proceedings of International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE'08), 2008.
[17] Endean, M.,"Learning Materials at a Distance," In Baillie, C., and Burton, L., Learning materials science and engineering at a distance, The UK Centre for Materials Education, 2003.
[18] Salmon, G., "E-moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online,"Routledge publishing, ISBN: 978-0415335447, 2004.
[19] Salmon, G., "E-tivities: the Key to Active Online Learning,"Routledge publishing, ISBN: 978-0749436865, 2002.
[20] PLANET,The Pattern Language Network, http://patternlanguagenetwork.myxwiki.org, Accessed 1 March 2012.
[21] Trindade, A., R., Carmo, H., Bidarra, J., "Current Developments and Best Practice in Open and Distance Learning,"International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, ISSN: 1492-3831, Vol.1, No. 1, 2000.