SLOAN-C WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS SHARE RESEARCH AND PERSPECTIVES ON ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING NETWORKS

SLOAN-C WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS SHARE RESEARCH AND PERSPECTIVES ON ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING NETWORKS

This month’s issue has a sharp focus on a recent invitation-only workshop sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) held on September 24 - 27 in Lake George, NY. Called the Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALN) Workshop 2002, this gathering was hosted by the State University of New York Learning Network, and it featured presentations centered around Sloan-C’s five pillars of quality online education: learning effectiveness, faculty satisfaction, cost effectiveness, access and student satisfaction. In attendance were more than 40 leaders in higher education online learning and teaching from colleges and universities located throughout the county.

An asynchronous learning network (ALN) is defined by Sloan-C as "people networks for anytime - anywhere learning. ALN combines self-study with substantial, rapid, asynchronous interactivity with others. In ALN, learners use computer and communications technologies to work with remote learning resources, including coaches and other learners, but without the requirement to be online at the same time. The most common ALN communication tool is the World Wide Web."

Presentations about ALN were given by Brigham Young University, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Michigan State University, Monroe Community College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Southern Regional Education Board, SUNY Learning Network, University of Albany, University of Calgary, and University of Maryland University College.

Following is a small sample of some quotations and excerpts that came out of this ALN workshop. More specific and detailed articles related to several of the workshop presentations are highlighted on pages 3 - 5.

For the complete scope of the Sloan-C workshop, final edited versions of all the presentations will be compiled inside the fourth volume of the Sloan-C series, titled "Elements of Quality Online Education," slated to be published in Spring 2003.

Learning Effectiveness

"We really do know that ALN learning can be just as good as face-to-face learning. We have a tremendous amount of research that shows this. What we really need to know is what makes it good and how can we make it better?"

— Karen Swan, Associate Professor of Instructional Technology at the University of Albany

"We have to be better about not just borrowing concepts from other fields but coming up with an integrated, theoretical model of learning in ALN that can tie together different studies and different findings. Secondly, we have to know a lot more about how collaborative learning works well or not works well online, and how it is related to learning effectiveness. Number three, we have to do a lot better at methods of measuring learning effectiveness itself. If we don’t have valid, reliable measures of how effective learning is, how can we come to any conclusions about what makes it better in ALN, or if ALN is better, the same, or worse than in a traditional classroom?"
Roxanne Hiltz, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Information Science
New Jersey Institute of Technology
"Not only do I think that asynchronous online learning can present a rich cognitive presence, but I think it is uniquely suited to create a cognitive presence for higher order learning."

Randy Garrison, Director of The Learning Commons
University of Calgary

Faculty Satisfaction

"Faculty satisfaction results when those teaching in online programs receive the personal rewards, institutional support and professional recognition they need to feel positive about what they do and to do their jobs well."

Melody Thompson, Director of Planning and Quality
Penn State World Campus

"One of the top areas of concern for first-time online faculty (and some experienced faculty) involves responding in a timely manner to student questions, and to appropriately managing the large numbers of discussion postings in an online course."
Marie J. Fetzner, Assistant to Vice President of Educational Technology
Monroe Community College
Cost Effectiveness

"Research now shows that online offerings can result in significant positive learning outcomes. Much of that research also offers evidence that online courses can help control institutional costs as well as help reduce costs to the students. . . Higher education institutions now need to determine how to leverage the available technologies to improve both traditional and online student learning."
Tana Bishop, Associate Dean for Administration
Graduate School of University of Maryland University College
"Most cost studies on online learning make distinctions between the different technologies used in course delivery. Few, however, differentiate between pedagogies used in online courses. Yet, different approaches, such as lectures or group projects, can have significant impacts on how faculty spend their time developing and teaching a course, on how much up-front media production is required, and the technology features needed to support the course."
Christine Geith, Director, MSU Global Institute, MSU Global Online Connection
Michigan State University
Access

"There is strong evidence that advances in technology are aggravating the social and economic divisions that already exist regionally, nationally, and globally. This division, often referred to as the ‘digital divide,’ results from a complex interaction of several factors - factors that have continually worked to depress the quality of life of certain populations time and time again. While rooted primarily in economic disparity, the divide also stems from longstanding differences in educational access and socio-cultural tradition. Given the power and opportunity that technology can provide, unequal access to digital material and differences in technical skill will allow the ‘haves’ to increasingly outpace the ‘have nots’ in quality of life. Access to powerful information and learning tools, as well as an awareness of the opportunity they can provide, must be expanded to all citizens."
Bruce N. Chaloux, Director
Electronic Campus, Southern Regional Education Board
Student Satisfaction

"A substantial body of student satisfaction research has verified that there are many learners who have been satisfied with their online courses, programs, and learning experiences. Further studies are beginning to explore and uncover the sources of student satisfaction on a more granular level throughout the entire range of the online learning experience. As with any expanding universe, the need to broaden and deepen our knowledge of satisfying students is growing in all directions. There is a lot of good work being done; more good work is needed, and the experiences of researchers and practitioners need to be shared with others."

Joeann Humbert, Director of Online Learning
Rochester Institute of Technology
& John Sener, ALN Consultant