Web-based learning - local and offshore perspectives

Author: Andrew Finegan

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School of Business Information Technology, RMIT University, Australia.

Keywords: Online learning, issues analysis, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM).

Article style and source: Peer reviewed, original ultiBASE publication, paper originally presented at RMIT Forum, June 2002

Contents

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Soft Systems Thinking - The analysis of complex situations
• Applying the Model - Issues Analysis

• Applying SSM - Building a model
• Conclusion
• References

Abstract

This paper examines some of the practical issues that are associated with development and delivery of an undergraduate business degree using web-based online learning. The study is based upon a real situation at RMIT University, and incorporates opinions, concerns, and viewpoints of the staff and students - both local and offshore - that represent some the major stakeholders in this project. There is considerable complexity associated with this topic, especially with regard to the variety of stakeholders. Therefore, study applies Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), a "systems approach" that is suited to the analysis of issues and stakeholders in complex and 'messy' situation.

Introduction

Web-based online learning is a technology that has been progressively introduced and integrated into the delivery of degree programs at RMIT University. The study is based upon the observations and reflections of students and staff who have applied this technology, in the traditional classroom, and in the context of an Hong Kong-based accelerated program. This is a topical and interesting topic that has its parallel in many university organisations. However, it is a rather complex, confusing and messy situation, with many different issues, influences and agendas. Therefore this study takes the form of an investigation that utilises a "systems approach" that is suited for the analysis of such complex and 'messy' situations. back

Soft Systems Thinking - The analysis of complex situations

Soft systems thinking seeks to explore the messy problematic situations that arise in human activity. However, rather than reducing the complexity of the "mess" so that it can be modelled mathematically (hard systems), soft systems strive to learn from the different perceptions that exist in the minds of the different people involved in the situation (Andrews, 2000).

This action research-based, interpretive approach is strongly influenced by Vickers' (1968, pp.59,176) description of the importance of appreciative systems in dealing with human complexity. Checkland (1981), and Checkland and Scholes (1990) have attempted to transform these ideas from systems theory into a practical methodology that is called Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). It is further developed, in the context of information systems, in Wilson (1990). The premise is that systems analysts need to apply their craft to problems of complexity that are not well defined, and that SSM attempts to understand the fuzzy world of complex organisations. This is achieved with the core paradigm of learning (Checkland, 1981, p.258) and the cycle of action research (Checkland & Scholes, 1990, p.21).

Soft Systems Methodology, in its original and idealised form, is described as a logical sequence of seven steps (Checkland, 1981, pp.162-183). These are illustrated in (Figure 1).

It is most important to note that the sequence is not imposed upon the practitioner, a study can commence at any stage, with iteration and backtracking as essential components. Checkland (1981, p.163) observes that "... in fact the most effective users of the methodology have been able to use it as a framework into which to place purposeful activity during a systems study, rather than as a cookery book recipe." SSM encourages investigators to view organisations from a cultural perspective. Therefore the essential characteristics of organisations are determined by the component parts that are human beings. These "people-components" can attribute meaning to their situation and define their own purpose for the organisation. back

Applying SSM - Building a model

This analysis will be conducted following the steps shown in Figure 1. This will be done rigorously for Step 1 through to Step 4, which produces a conceptual model of feasible and desirable activity. The final three steps of the methodology will be incorporated into the discussion that follows (Part 4 - Applying the Model - Issues Analysis).

Step 1 - The Problem Situation

This step of the analysis is an unstructured narrative about the situation, and what makes it problematic. So, the narrative begins:

Within the Faculty of Business there is strong pressure from both the University Chancellery and the Dean's Office to undergo course renewal of all subjects. In practical terms this has been translated to mean that all subjects are to be repackaged and delivered online over the Internet. This process commenced in May 2000.

Interested academic staff members have been recruited as Technical Skills Mentors to assist other staff members undertake this task. Academics are instructed to 'go online' before the next scheduled delivery of their subject. This allows most academics between six weeks and seven months to undertake this task for one or more subjects, depending on the timing of subject delivery. Academics are offered a choice of approved software tools to use, including Dreamweaver, WebObjects and Frontpage. Adoption of a particular tool is often either a personal preference, or the recommendation of the Technical Skills Mentor. There is no attempt to standardise to a specific tool with any study program

From the start of Semester 2 (July 2000) subjects taught in the faculty of Business began to become available online. However, not all subjects have a web-presence, and there are different styles of presentation and web-page design. The approach ranges from single web-page sites consisting of a table of hyperlinks to subject resources (usually PowerPoint slides and Word documents), to complex hierarchies of pages that provide information pages and links covering all parts of a subject.

The response by students is enthusiastic, but varied and often conditional. The following is a summary of feedback from two groups of the investigator's students, studying the same subjects in Melbourne and in Hong Kong. These are the responses to the question - what are the best and worst features of having material provided online?

Table 1: Feedback from students - delivery of subjects online

Furthermore, many academic staff are dismayed by the pressure placed upon them. They are concerned not only with the workload, but they also fear losing ownership of the material, and are concerned that assessment will be 'dumbed-down' to fit into the online environment.
This concludes the narrative and Step

Step 2 - The Rich Picture
A key goal of this stage is to achieve a structured representation of the problematic situation in as neutral a way as possible. This is achieved by building a Rich Picture (Figure 2). This is a pictorial representation of the structures, processes, situation, relationships and issues. back

Step 3 - The Root Definition of a desirable and feasible system

Before creating a model, this step seeks to define appropriate system to improve upon the situation is a way that is desirable and feasible. This is achieved by constructing a root definition. The mnemonic CATWOE is used to check that all the components are in the root definition.

C Clients, customers (or victims) of the system.
A Actors who carry out activity in the system.
T Transformation - being the conversion of the inputs into a changed form.
W Weltanschauung (or constraining worldview) that makes this definition meaningful. This is often not stated within the actual root definition, but underlies it.
O Owner, the person with the power to start or stop the system.
E Environment - world surrounding the system, that provides the external constraints.

It is important to appreciate that the CATWOE is only a component checklist. It has no ability to validate the relevance, quality or accuracy of each part. The "goodness" or appropriateness of a root definition can only be evaluated through the dialectic process of examination, debate and argument. In this context of debate, it is important also to examine the conceptual model derived from the root definition. Therefore, Steps 3 and 4 are presented together in this study (Figure 3). back

Step 4 - The Conceptual Model of the system named in the Root Definition

Based on the root definition, a model is drawn of the theoretical or conceptual construction. This model will show the minimum necessary activities that exist in the system to achieve the transformation described in the root definition. Verbs are used to describe each component or activity in the conceptual model. The conceptual model should only include activities that can be directly carried out. Therefore abstract activities such as "to succeed" should be avoided. Note that the formulation of root definitions and conceptual models is an iterative process of trial, debate and argument, and modification. There should never be the expectation that a root definition or conceptual model can not be improved upon.

Online Learning Case - Steps 3 & 4 Root Definition and Conceptual Model
A system managed and implemented by the University executive and supported by infrastructure providers and lecturers, that uses experience, existing teaching resources, and appropriate technology to develop and deliver online business degree that meet the needs of current and future students. That successful adoption to online learning technology is essential for the future success of the university, where we are faced with globalisation, cost recovery and profit, diverse student needs, and the maintenance of educational standards	C Students. A Lecturers, students, University executive officers, Agents and Brokers, Infrastructure providers. T That by using experience, existing teaching resources, and appropriate technology, to develop and deliver online business degree that meet the needs of current and future students. W That successful adoption to online learning technology is essential for the future success of the university. O The University in partnership with infrastructure providers E Globalisation, cost recovery & profit, & diverse student needs, & the maintenance of educational standards.

Figure 3 Root Definition and Conceptual Model back

Applying the Model - Issues Analysis

The conceptual model illustrated in Figure 3 provides a set of activities that can be used as a framework to learn more about the situation, and in this case provides an alternative form of issues analysis.

Activity 1 - Know what the capabilities of the technology are.

The first activity is concerned with acquiring knowledge of technology capabilities. As the case study shows with reference to web page creation tools, there are always choices with technology, and better choices can be made if relevant knowledge is acquired. Torrisi-Steele and Davis (2000) comment on the importance of selecting web-authoring technology. In particular, skill development in web authoring and online course design can be both demanding and difficult. However, these skills are essential to realise the full potential of online learning.

Other technologies to investigate include computer supported collaborative learning tools (CSCL) and computer mediated communication (CMC) environments. These are examples of information technologies used to encourage student-to-student and student-to-tutor collaborations (Wilson & Whitelock, 1998).

Activity 2 - Know the resources and experience that is required, and the financial requirements

The second knowledge activity appears to be problematic in the case study as it obviously requires collaboration between the academics - with some resources and the experience - and the university executive, who have more resources and the knowledge of the financial requirements. However, this knowledge must be integrated into the total process. As Galagan (2000) observes, universities need to ensure that online learning is part of a training strategy that links to business goals

Activity 3 - Know details of the required standards

The third knowledge activity moves the focus beyond the university into the wider community. In many cases appropriate standards have not been formalised for online learning. A particular area of concern of many lecturers and employee is the "dumbing-down" of assessment tasks and the perception to "soft-assessment" takes place in particular circumstances. These issues are definitely of concern to the wider community, and especially prospective employers, therefore appropriate standard should be developed in consultation with key stakeholders. However, this will become more complex with international program delivery and globalisation.

Activity 4 - Define the criteria for effective development and delivery

A set of guidelines to assist in this activity, in the form of five questions, is provided by Sheely, Veness, and Rankine (2001):
How do we do it? How do we use these packages most effectively?
How do we integrate them into existing systems?
How do we support academics to make most effective use of the tools that are available? (p.80):

An area of particular concern in this activity is setting the criteria for development of interactive online learning. This is a major concern of many of the students in the case study, and Sims (1999) identifies the issue of interactivity as one of the major challenges faced by designers of online learning resources.

Activity 5 - Provide implementation and operational support

This activity will be directly driven by the choices made in the definition and selection of criteria for development and delivery of the system. As seen in the case study, this activity is important in terms of student satisfaction, especially with regard to the speed and reliability of Internet access. Franklin and Peat (2001) observe that the changing environment will make the development of new business models an important part of managing online learning..

Activity 6 - Provide ongoing academic support

Within universities developing online learning for the first time, the critical success factor for this activity is internal marketing. However, there are also attractive aspects to this activity. Online learning has the potential to bring together the best teachers, with the best learning plans and enthusiasm for learning, to the students who want it, anywhere in the world (Galagan, 2001). This is particularly attractive to organisations who desire flexibility in the delivery of teaching programs (Zurawski, 2000).

Activity 7 - Develop and deliver online courses

This is the activity that delivers the outcome - provision of a degree program that meets current and future students needs. This is the "operational core" upon which all the other activities focus and provide inputs.

Activity 8 - Monitor and control delivery of services and fulfilment of requirements

This final activity provides the monitoring and control loop that observes the performance of the system, and provides feedback to control via the criteria setting activity as necessary. This is consistent with the need identified by Herberger (2001) to define and redefine the educational product outcome of an online learning system. back

Conclusion

This analysis, incorporating Soft Systems Methodology, has examined a case study of a university that has commenced to develop online learning capabilities. This approach is recommended where the situation is complex and poorly defined. This is the case in this study, as illustrated in the Rich Picture (Figure 2).

A conceptual model has been developed to provide a framework for examination of the issues associated with the case study. The activities in this model are be used to examine the various issues associated with developing online learning in a university. back

Bibliography

Andrews, C.L. (2000). "Restoring legitimacy to the systems approach," IEEE Technology and Society. 19 (4), 38-44.

Checkland, P.B. (1981). Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons.

Checkland, P.B. & Scholes, J. (1990) Soft Systems Methodology in Action. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons.

Franklin, S. & Peat, M. (2001). Managing change: the use of mixed delivery modes to increase learning opportunities. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 17(1), 37-49. [Electronic Journal]. URL http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/ajet17/franklin.html

Galagan, P.A. (2000). Getting started with E-learning. Training & Development, 54(4), 62-64.

Galagan, P.A. (2001). Mission E-possible. Training & Development, 55(2), 46-56.

Herberger, R.A. (2001). The Future of E-learning. Selections, 1(1), 28.

Sheely, S., Veness, D. & Rankine, L. (2001). Building the Web Interactive Study Environment: mainstreaming online teaching and learning at the University of Western Sydney. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 17(1), 80-95. [Electronic Journal]. URL http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/ajet17/sheely.html

Sims, R. (1999). Interactivity on stage: strategies for learner-designer communication. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 15(3), 257-272. [Electronic Journal]. URL http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/ajet15/sims.html

Torrisi-Steele, G. & Davis, G. (2000). "A website for my subject": The experiences of some academics' engagement with educational designers in a team based approach to developing online learning materials . Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 16(3), 283-301, [Electronic Journal]. URL http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/ajet16/torrisi-steele.html

Vickers, G. (1968). Value Systems and Social Process. London, Penguin Books.

Wilson, B. (1990). Systems: Concepts, Methodologies, and Applications. (2nd ed.) Chichester. John Wiley & Sons.

Wilson, T & Whitelock, D. (1998). What are the perceived benefits of participating in a computer-mediated communication (CMC) environment for distance learning computer students? Computers and Education, 30(3-4), 259-269.

Zurawski, L. (2000). Train in your own time. Control engineering, 47(3), 66. back

Biographic Note:

Andrew Finegan is a lecturer at RMIT University, who has particular interest in the application of systems methodology, and the management of innovative technologies. Andrew's doctorate incorporated a systems study of technology transfer in Australia

About the author:

Dr. Andrew Finegan
School of Business Information Technology
RMIT University

email: andrew.finegan@rmit.edu.au