the intensity of distance

Thinker: As seen at Steve's DGL blog

Abstract philosophies are one thing, but implementing them in real situations can allow a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and help us build on or overcome our own strengths and weaknesses as tutors.  In their 2009 study, Bailey and Card first isolated principles for effective online teaching from the literature, then tested how these principles were implemented in real life by interviewing a range of award-winning college instructors about online teaching practices.  After analysing these interviews under the lenses of andragogy, constructivism and transformational learning, the authors identified eight key pedagogical practices to keep in mind when designing courses, and suggested ways of encouraging tutor development to prevent burnout.

The eight practices were:

1. Fostering relationships to overcome the isolation experienced by many distance learners.  Instructors require empathy as well as passion, and in one example provided by a professor regarding potentially problematic emails, he took the view that “it’s like, wow, so what can I do here to help this person out a little bit?” (Bailey and Card, p. 154)
2. Engagement using tools such as email, discussion boards, and online group projects.  As an aside, one interesting benefit mentioned in the article stems from the nature of fragmented conversations: rather than saying “I don’t know” when asked a tricky question, the instructor has the opportunity to find an answer (possibly by Googling the question on the spot). 
3. Timelines – marking papers quickly to keep up with the flow, and tutor and learners appropriately setting aside time for classes.  The time involvement can, as will be discussed presently, lead to burnout.
4. Communication – much more than responding to emails and providing feedback on assignments.  To someone like me, who has all the tact of a muddy gumboot, this is one of the trickiest aspects of online teaching, both as learner and tutor.  Emoticons can never completely make up for the lack of vocal tone and body language to give the nuances of intention.  In this multicultural world we need to be prepared to give someone the benefit of the doubt rather than be insulted over what might seem superficially like a slight, and we especially need to be open-minded in written communications.  Keeping mindful of tone and wording when we compose our missives is one solution offered by a participant.
5. Organisation of information on websites and links, or students can get so, so lost… (No, I haven’t finished with this topic in my blogs, not by a long shot!)  One participant stressed that adult learners “want to know what’s expected of them (…) They don’t want any big surprises” (Bailey and Card, p. 154).  Rather than paraphrasing Radiohead, this interviewee’s statement reflects Knowles’ four andragogical competencies of self-directed learning, learning need assessment, creation of learning goals, and outcome evaluation (1992, cited by Bailey and Card, 2009).
6. Technology – my bogeyman – comes next, and the authors cleverly suggest mentoring of novice tutors by those with more experience.  Constructivism and the authors hint that a wide range of technologies should be implemented to give a range of experience for different learners.  Once basic competence and the confidence to innovate are covered in the course, however, I would keep in mind An and Williams’ (2010) warning that implementing too many new technologies (especially if they perform the same function) can be detrimental to student motivation.
7. Flexibility and adaptability as well as vast stores of patience for when (for eg) the website crashes.
8. High expectations of course goals, learning objectives clearly established, and above all, making sure students are aware of these expectations, which links us back to practice number 5.  Adult learners are self-directed and in need of clear goals, so this is another way of keeping up motivation.

One strength of this study's findings came in the form of a strong recommendation for institutional and peer-based tutor support.  With higher rates of burnout, this raises the issue of just how intense distance learning can get for tutors, with issues of depersonalisation.  Although the actual time involved was about the same, the fragmentary nature of online interaction gave an impression of a higher time commitment.  As one interviewee phrased it, “you have to be willing to get on to that site every single day, at a minimum, probably twice a day ideally” (Bailey and Card, p. 154). 

One participant suggested a support group for mentoring, and brainstorming with other teachers has been invaluable for when I needed to develop and share ideas or resolve problems.  Institutional support should also be present to formally develop tutors’ technological as well as pedagogical skills, but in our pragmatic world is not something to be counted on.  To enhance development of pedagogy through discussion in our far-flung teaching communities of practice (for example assessing the worth of socio-constructivism in different learning settings), perhaps social networking for tutors will become an increasingly useful tool.  Is there any reason why andragogy’s flexibility for self direction, and constructivism and transformative learning principles of creating relationships and engaging people in tasks cannot be used for both learning websites (as Bailey and Card argue effectively in their discussion) as well as online tutor networks?