Beyond the Basics: Building the ALN System of Tomorrow

1. Beyond the Basics: Building the ALN System of Tomorrow Research in ALN John Bourne The ALN Center Vanderbilt University

2. Outline • What do people think ALN is? • How should people think about ALN? • What is ALN research? • Perspectives on ALN Research • Critical Review of Research in ALN • The Journal, Conferences, Meetings, Discussions • How can we use research to improve ALN? • Frontiers of ALN • The art of the possible

3. Some people think of ALN as: • Learning in isolation

4. People should think of ALN as: • People worldwide connected and learning together.

5. Why do we need ALN Research? ALN • To improve ALN • To convince nay sayers of the validity of ALN • To enable the transition to the mainstream • What do we need to know? • How do we conduct studies for finding out? • Five Pillars as a guide

6. What do we need to know? • How to make students and faculty satisfied that ALN is a valid and superior learning experience • Reduce costs and improve efficiency • How to provide access to education to everyone everywhere

7. The Five Pillars of ALN • Mayadas’ proposal: • Learning effectiveness • Cost Effectiveness • Access • Faculty Satisfaction • Student Satisfaction Originally suggested by Steve Ehrmann

8. Perspectives JALN • The Journal of ALN • The Summer Workshops • The ALN Conferences • The Oakley Reports Harker Hall

9. What is the publication trend in the Journal? • 1997 – What is ALN, what are the economics, methods, prophecy • 1998 – Worries, social dimensions, libraries, scale-up • 1999 – Models, experiences, the law, scaling, conferencing, internationalization • 2000 – Learning effectiveness, faculty satisfaction • 2001 - ? JALN

10. Findings from the Sloan Summer Workshop • Faculty Satisfaction • Learning Effectiveness • Cost Effectiveness • Access • Student Satisfaction • Faculty are pleased • with using ALN • ALN works; students learn • just as well as face-to-face • ALN reduces costs • Improve Access • Improves student satisfaction

11. Trends from the ALN Conferences • 1996 – assessing need, far-from-campus,on-campus experiences, corporate, faculty development, policies • 1997 – pedagogy, scaling-up, technologies • 1998 – beginner’s workshop, disciplinary areas, access, learning and cost effectiveness, faculty attitudes, corporate • 1999 – international, government, industry, more workshops, many expanded parallel sessions.

12. Observations about the Oakley reports • Drives research from national needs • Oakley reports on findings almost daily from the press • Typical news • Various coalitions, forming, dissolving (WGU) • New technologies (chat) • Competition • Nay sayers • But, few research results

13. Analysis of Areas for Research • The wheel of ALN and what’s been done where • Self Study • Cooperative learning • The infrastructure • Pedagogy • Content sharing • Cost effectiveness

14. Computer Based Training: Simulations, Visualization, Data Access The Wheel of ALN 50% self-study Self Learning: Reading, Browsing, Test taking Conferencing: Systems like: Notes, Forums Listservs Newsgroups Synchronous: Video, Audio 50% people to people interaction

15. Components of the ALN Wheel • Self-study • Reading materials (Ubiquitous; shovelware (Frazier, 1999)) • Simulations (poor progress) • Communicating with others • Synchronous (Instant messaging has largest growth of any communications technology) • Asynchronous (Widespread use) • Where is most progress?

16. Progress Assessment by Pillar • Access – excellent progress; Internet II • Cost effectiveness • Various programs show reduction in faculty effort • Learning effectiveness of ALN • Progress not as robust as needed • Student satisfaction • Students like ALN; level and location of learner dependent • Faculty satisfaction • Faculty are pleased but frustrated with the amount of work required

17. Pedagogy • What can we do with ALN in teaching and learning that we could not do otherwise? • Active learning: Improve engagement • laptop story • Need rich learning structures: e.g., critical thinking in ALN paradigms, collaboration • Improve feedback and interaction • Build better learning communities

18. The Art-of-the-Possible in ALN Pedagogy • Better communications: instant discussions, organizations, connections to materials(Access) • Software for forming and organizing communities of learners (student and faculty satisfaction) • Removing the tired classroom lecture (Student Satisfaction ) • Reducing work: grading, organizing (Faculty Satisfaction ) • Demonstrating improved learning outcomes; “virtual hands-on”, seminars, contact with the world (LE)

19. Prospects for Research • Cohort size studies • Concepts in sizing, technology for organizing. • Cohort project and rationale • The knowbot experiments • Structuring knowledge organization, tracking (modules) • Research on Directories • New ways to improve Cost Effectiveness

20. The Cohort Idea Support Infrastructure A.K.A - "Bush Taxis" -- "Johnathan Darby, this conference"

21. How do we improve efficiency of both teaching and learning? • Teaching – knowbots as automated teacher assistants • Teachable intelligent agents • Learning – immediate feedback • Instant grading, advice-giving

22. What can knowbots do? • Automated grading • Checking homework • Reminding • Cajoling • Record keeping

23. Slide of knowbot results

24. Frontiers of ALN Research • What works and what doesn’t? • Differences in types of learners and organization of learning • Knowledge organization • Determining proper mix of materials and methods. • The role of feedback, speed and type of feedback • The role of collaborative efforts and organizational strategies

25. What can technology-related-research do to help ALN move to the next level? • Provide seminar experiences • Online critical thinking paradigms • Organize knowledge • Reduce workload of facilitators/faculty • Improve access • Determine how to be more cost-effective

26. Modularization of knowledge • Libraries of content modules • Build courses from modules, including questions/answers, evaluation • IMS presentation at this conference • Taxonomies of knowledge • How to represent ALN knowledge best? • Study granularity • Directories

27. Ideas for Cost Effectiveness Research • Content • Sharing content reduces work; what are best ways to share? IMS project is an example. • Pedagogical Methods • Platforms for cooperative learning organization • Improving online knowledge organization via conferencing • Knowledge Management Systems • Automation of evaluation • Knowbots • Test making • Grading

28. Next steps • Add data collection to ALN implementations; useful for accreditation • Create knowledge bases and data warehouses of ALN information • Create think tanks/conferences/discussions and projects to help realize advances in reducing cost, improving efficiency, improving learning, improving satisfaction. ...and above all ->

29. Publish, publish, publish Journal of ALN JALN • Finally, we view the Journal of ALN as the premier mechanism for dissemination of knowledge about ALN, especially new finding and data! Hence, please publish your findings in the journal!