Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
eotapes, interactive television, satellite transmis-
sion, and video teleconferencing in clustered sites
as means through which to connect students and
faculty located in geographically separate sites.
Today, the Internet offers unparalleled opportunity,
speed, and capacity for the exchange of learning
material for undergraduate, graduate and profes-
sional development learning. The Internet has
become the basis for computer assisted learning
and the preferred option among students. The
appeal reflects several features. As Chalmers &
Keown (2006) suggest,
There are three main factors that determine [the
Internet's] value: mixed media dissemination of
material at high speed and volume, synchronous
transmission to all members of a group or class
independent of location, and the facility to respond
to collective interests in both the original and
subsequent contributions of the group (p. 145).
Universities and colleges today cannot but
be influenced by the free-market based ideology
which emphasizes accountability to the consumer
for a product “well made” (Soley, 1999). The
corollary for educational programs is reflected
in the development of accreditation standards
and bodies, which establish and then measure
for benchmarks in curriculum planning and
implementation, quality of instruction, operating
policies, physical space requirements and support
structures required to ensure quality program
delivery (Canadian Association of Schools of
Social Work Standards of Accreditation, 2007).
The inclusion of computer assisted learning tech-
nologies into social work education has been met
with scepticism, uncertainty and resistance by
some, and enthusiasm, optimism and fascination
by others (Siegel et. al., 1998). On the one hand
there is concern that the preparation of student
learners in social work must rest on face to face
instruction, communication, teaching and evalu-
ation, in order to uphold the credibility of social
work education and the profession. On the other
hand, there is an emphasis on the imperative to
offer social work education more broadly than
diverse geographic representation can withstand
with on site instruction only. Moreover, as the
focus of this chapter argues, there are unique
pedagogical benefits available through online
education. Nonetheless, in accordance with the
current context and climate of accountability and
“outcome measurement”, it behoves the propo-
nents of online, Internet based education to offer
systematic evaluation of its methods.
Systematic evaluation begins with developing
a means to classify and categorize the efficacy
and experiences of online learning; a framework
through which the design and delivery of programs
can be filtered and assessed. In the literature on
online learning, also referred to as e-learning, such
a framework is borrowed from the world of busi-
ness management, where, in the 1980s, researchers
sought to understand why some organizations are
more successful than others. The concept and
language of
critical success factors
was devel-
oped to isolate and define the things that must be
done correctly if a company is to be successful
(Freund, 1988, cited in Selim, 2005). Adapted
to the computer assisted learning sector, critical
success factors are the ingredients for productive
and positive online learning experiences and their
inter-relation (McPherson & Nunes, 2008; Selim,
2005). These are the small number of measur-
able and controllable requirements necessary for
an educational program to be successful when
delivered online. Selim (2005) makes the argu-
ment that while there is much written regarding
Internet-based learning, scant attention has been
paid to delineating and studying what quantifiable
components are required to provide educational
institutions with the feedback regarding the ef-
ficacy of their programs; essentially, a set of ac-
creditation standards for online learning.
The literature regarding the evaluation of
online learning seems divided into two distinct
categories. There are those studies that evaluate
primarily for administrative considerations such
as copyright issues, delivery platform, techno-
logical innovation and technical skill of instructor
Search WWH ::
Custom Search