Academic Staff Perceptions of the Value of the Elements of an Online Learning Environment

1. Academic Staff Perceptions of the Value of the Elements of an Online Learning Environment Dr Stuart Palmer and Dr Dale Holt Institute of Teaching and Learning Deakin University Australia

2. Introduction Academic staff play a fundamental role in the use of online learning by students Yet, compared to the number of studies reporting investigations of student perspectives on online learning, studies investigating the perspectives of academic staff are much more limited in number, and those that exist are often limited in sample size, and quantitative investigations are the least common of all

3. Context – OLEs at Deakin University Eventually settled on WebCT LMS Branded as DSO – ‘Deakin Studies Online’ 2003 – trialled 2004 – all online activity moved to LMS 2004 – all taught units to have a basic online presence 2004 – all programs to contain one wholly online unit

4. Methodology The DSO evaluation survey sought responses from staff relating to: • demographic and background information • perception of importance and satisfaction with a range of OLE elements • a number of overall OLE satisfaction measures • open-ended written comments about the OLE.

5. Response rate and demographic information

6. Mean importance and satisfaction ratings from session 1 and session 2

9. Using chat and/or whiteboard Using calendar

10. Accessing lecture/tutorial/lab notes Reading online discussions Accessing unit information

11. Managing assessment items Submitting assignments Receiving feedback on assignments

12. Mean responses for the satisfaction measures from the two academic teaching sessions

13. DSO evaluation survey Item 31 – DSO enhances learning by my students Item 30 – DSO enhances my teaching ρ30,31 = 0.902 – session 1 ρ30,31 = 0.804 – session 2

16. Observations – academic staff perceptions The most used and valued OLE elements were core functions, including accessing unit information, accessing lecture/tutorial/lab notes, and reading online discussions The OLE elements identified as most needing attention related to online assessment: submitting assignments, managing assessment items, and receiving feedback on assignments

17. Observations – academic staff perceptions Staff felt that using the OLE enhanced their teaching (and improved student learning) when: • they were satisfied that their students were able to access and use their learning materials, and • they were satisfied with the professional development they received and were confident with their ability to teach with the OLE

18. Thank you for your time