Wiping the Blackboard
I came across this report from Blackboard Learn via Stephen Downes. The report is based on research Blackboard did in the US. I had to pinch myself to check I was reading it right.
Amongst the conclusions or findings were:
[direct quotes]
- When students take a class online, they make a tacit agreement to a poorer experience which undermines their educational self worth.
- Students perceive online classes as a loophole they can exploit that also shortcuts the “real” college experience.
- Online classes don’t have the familiar reference points of in-person classes which can make the courses feel like a minefield of unexpected difficulties.
- Students take more pride in the skills they develop to cope with an online class than what they learn from it.
- Online classes neglect the aspects of college that create a lasting perception of value
I do not think this is inevitable with online courses or teaching online, rather it represents a failure to understand that the ‘L’ in LMS is usually subservient to the ‘M’. I suspect many of these points apply to online material as part of residential courses, too. Getting the online bit right requires large investment of academic staff time. I do not see how you can do it well without increasing costs — at least in the short term.
Mike Caulfied has some useful points to make on this report here
“I actually believe that we need domain specific online learning environments that cater to the pedagogies appropriate to different disciplines.” Mark Smithers
As compared with the LMS as all about management and and not much about learning.
What ties universities to the modern LMS’s is this link to the bureaucracy, first, and pedagogy last.
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