Understanding the context of distance students: Differences in on- and off- campus engagement with...

Understanding the context of distance students: Differences in on- and off-campus engagement with an online learning environment

Associate Professor Stuart Palmer@s_palm .

Institute of Teaching and LearningDeakin University, Australia

Introduction

Distance education continues to thrive!

In part due to a complex relationship with online technologies

Much online learning research ignores the influence of demographic characteristics of system users

There are very real differences in demography, technology experiences and reasons for study between on- and off-campus students

Context – Deakin University

Approximately 40,000 students

Approximately 30% off-campus

Mature and large-scale OLE implementation providing support to both on- and off-campus students

Previous investigations identified differences in the perceptions and use of elements of the OLE between on and off-campus students

Methodology

DSO = Deakin Studies Online

In 2011 all coursework students were surveyed about:• demographic and background information;• place and mode of access to DSO;• perception of importance of, satisfaction with, and

frequency of use of, a range of DSO functions;• a number of overall DSO satisfaction measures; and• open-ended written comments about DSO

Response rate & demographic informationPopulation Sample

Number of respondents 22760 1322

Gender

Female 59.5% 67.8%

Male 40.5% 32.2%

Faculty

Arts and Education 30.4% 30.1%

Business and Law 36.9% 28.6%

Health 19.8% 22.9%

Science and Technology 12.9% 16.9%

Other - 1.5%

Campus

Geelong – Waurn Ponds 12.1% 14.1%

Geelong – Waterfront 5.8% 7.5%

Melbourne – Burwood 50.3% 43.5%

Warrnambool 3.2% 3.5%

Off-campus 28.6% 31.4%

Mean enrolment duration 2.24 years 2.42 years

Place of access to DSO

Primary place of access Other places of access

17.0% 0.2%

82.3%93.6%

0.7% 6.2%

On-campusstudents

Off-campusstudents

On-campus

22.8%17.1%20.5%

On-campusstudents

Off-campusstudents

On-campus

Mode of access to DSO

Primary mode of access Other modes of access

0.6% 0.1%

Desktop

Laptop

Tablet

Smartphone

Other †

25.4%30.5%

5.9% 5.9%

1.8% 1.1%0%

On-campusstudents

Off-campusstudents

Desktop

Laptop

Tablet

Smartph.

Mean importance and satisfaction ratings for DSO functions

1. Accessing unit guide and other unit information 11. Submitting assignments

2. Accessing unit lecture, tutorial or lab notes etc 12. Receiving feedback on assignments

3. Interacting with unit learning resources 13. Working collaboratively in a group

4. Using the unit calendar 14. Reviewing unit progress

5. Reading unit announcements 15. Using the e-portfolio

6. Contacting teachers via internal unit messaging 16. eLive synchronous communication tool

7. Contacting students via internal unit messaging 17. iLecture class lecture recording

8. Reading contributions to online discussions 18. Other iLecture recoding (eg podcasts etc)

9. Contributing to online discussions 19. Deakin’s social software

10. Completing online quizzes/tests 20. Turnitin plagiarism/originality assessment

Importance:1 = not important; 3 = neutral; and 5 = very important

Satisfaction:1 = not satisfied; 3 = neutral; and 5 = very satisfied

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

♦ N.S.D. • On-campusOff-campus

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

3.00 3.25 3.50 3.75 4.00 4.252.5

Satisfaction

Mean frequency of use for DSO functions

1 = never; 2 = less than once/week; 3 = once/week; 4 = once/day; and 5 = multiple times/day

1 2* 3 4* 5* 6 7 8 9 10* 11* 12* 13* 14* 15* 16 17 18 19* 20*

DSO Function

On-campus Off-campus

2* 4* 5* 10* 11* 12* 13* 14* 15* 19* 20*

DSO Function

On-campus Off-campus

2. Accessing unit lecture, tutorial or lab notes etc

4. Using the unit calendar

5. Reading unit announcements

10. Completing online quizzes/tests

11. Submitting assignments

12. Receiving feedback on assignments

13. Working collaboratively in a group

14. Reviewing unit progress

15. Using the e-portfolio

19. Deakin’s social software

20. Turnitin plagiarism/originality assessment

Overall satisfaction with DSO

StatementOn-campus

Off-campus Significance

DSO enhances my learning 4.25 4.33F1314 = 2.34p > 0.12

DSO is reliable and available when I need it 3.93 4.21F1314 = 23.85p < 2x10-6

I am satisfied with the level of support I received in using DSO in my studies 3.82 3.93

F1314 = 2.95p > 0.08

1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neutral; and 5 = strongly agree

Conclusions

In some ways, on- and off-campus students are becoming more alike …

Conclusions

… but, there were still significant differences between on- and off-campus student engagement with the OLE

Conclusions

These differences challenge the institution to understand the reasons for them …

Conclusions

These differences challenge the institution to understand the reasons for them …

… and also challenge the value of one-size-fits-all institutional policies and templates for the use of OLEs

Thank you for your time

Presentation: http://myqr.co/IvMW

Understanding the context of distance students: Differences in on- and off- campus engagement with...

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