ADTED 470 #2 Instructor Intervention

To teach is to impart knowledge or give instructions to the learner (dictionary.com). Compared to teaching in a traditional classroom, teaching at a distance can be challenging when instructors are not able to anticipate how students will react to what is written, recorded or broadcast via television.  Feedback mechanisms will allow students to communicate their experience and expectations but inexperienced instructors will have difficulty unless they learn how “to anticipate student responses to different events and how to deal with them” (Moore and Kearsley, 2005). To address issues on whether instructors interfere too much or do not intervene enough, we should first look at the key functions of instructors in distance education (DE) and identify characteristics of good teaching in DE.

The key functions of the instructor in DE can be grouped into types of activity which pertains to teaching, student progress, and learner support. In the teaching function, the instructor is expected to engage students by elaborating on the course content, to supervise and moderate discussions, as well as to supervise individual and group projects. Grading of assignments, providing feedback on student progress, keeping student records, helping students manage their study, and motivating students are all part of the second set of activities that pertain to student progress.  In the learner support function, instructors are expected to answer or refer questions on administrative, technical and counseling matters, to represent students with the school administration as well as evaluate course effectiveness (Moore and Kearsley, 2005).

The provision of a good online course design and instructors with good teaching skills should be able to help students increase their knowledge, comprehension and application skills for the course enrolled. Having good instructors will also reduce unnecessary student anxieties that could result from performance expectation that is not properly communicated, or lack of timely feedback on the student’s progress.

From an operant conditioning perspective, [positive] feedback has a direct effect on behavior. Feedback can also enhance performance indirectly by giving learners information about how they can improve. Motivation theorists suggest that feedback has an additional indirect effect on behavior: it enhances performance to the extent that it affirms an individual’s sense of competence and overall self-worth (Ormrod, 2008).

Clearly, when online instructors do not communicate expectations and or monitor student’s progress closely and intervene in a timely manner (before the next assignment is due), issues will arise with the motivation and performance of their students in distance education.

One DE experience I had was with a TEFL Online program. It had the basic course design in place but my student experience was not a good one (at that time) as there was no intervention in the self-paced study program. When I submitted my assignments, the tutor took about a week to provide grading and feedback. His response to some of my email enquiries took longer than the expected three business days. Although I took responsibility to plan, as well as take an active role in my learning, the anxiety level increased over a period of four months and I was not able to complete half of the course. Finally, I lost the motivation to continue with that online study. Clearly, without sufficient learner-instructor/tutor interaction and no learner-learner interaction, it was most difficult to learn a new skill in teaching English as a foreign language.

In contrast, my experience with the Penn State University online graduate course is a positive one. Perhaps it is because we are learning about DE and experiencing it at the same time. In any case, reasons for my positive experience with this online course include: good instructor facilitation that yielded high learner-content, learner-learner, and learner-instructor interactions. Contributions from both students and instructor to the discussion forum (DF) stimulated thinking. The instructor’s summary of the weekly DF is helpful and affirms her connection with the class. The schedule for the submission of written assignments and graded participation for the formal discussion are both well-paced, each once over three weeks of class.    

In response to the statement “some instructors interfere too much,” what I can think of is if an online instructor offers suggestions too often (e.g. daily basis). This can become a hindrance when students do not have enough time to explore and process additional information.

In conclusion, students who are active in the learning process, coupled with purposeful intervention from online instructors, should have a successful experience of distance education.

References

Moore, M.G. & Kearsley, G. (2005). Distance Education: A Systems View (2^nd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing

Ormrod, J.E. (2008). Human Learning (5^th ed). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall