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1
 
Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Thomas Hülsmann, Ph.D Jane E. Brindley,
Ph.D. Christine Walti, M.D.E.
Beijing, China May 12 -14, 2008
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Learner Support An Overview and Development
of a Model
Jane E. Brindley, Ph.D.
Beijing, China May 12 -14, 2008
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Workshop Content

• Introduction Objectives, Methodology, Outcomes
• Defining Learner Support
• Designing Learner Support Systems
• Critical Factors
• Issues in Planning and Implementation
• Defining the Critical Factors at CCRTVU
• Learner Support at UMUC and Oldenburg
• Faculty Support An Important Element of
  Learner Support
• Cost Analysis Implications for Learner Support
• Defining a Learner Support Model for CCRTVU

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Workshop Objectives

• Develop a common understanding of the role of
  learner support in education
• Examine various types of learner support
  consider the choices
• Identify the factors that determine the type of
  learner support needed
• Identify and analyze issues in planning and
  implementing learner support systems
• Critically analyze and describe the context and
  learner needs at CCRTVU
• Review some examples of practice at other
  institutions
• Consider the economic aspects of learner
  support cost analysis
• Discuss some new approaches of learner support
  Web 2.0
• Develop and discuss models of learner support
  for CCRTVU

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Workshop Methods

• Large group discussion and brainstorming
• Small group work case studies
• Presentations by leaders and participants

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Workshop Outcomes

• The workshop is intended to help you do the
  following
• Describe the rationale for learner support in
  distance education
• Identify the critical factors that determine the
  most important elements of
• learner support for a specified
• Analyze learner needs and other critical factors
  at CCRTVU
• Design an effective learner support system
  including an evaluation plan

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Discussion What is Learner Support?
What examples can you give of learner support
from CCRTVU and other institutions? Why should
we plan and implement learner support? Why is it
important? What learner needs and issues do you
have at your institution that learner support
might address?
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
What is Learner Support?

• All interactions and resources which assist
  learners in their studies from point of inquiry
  through completion and beyond
• Teaching and tutoring (course content related
  support)
• Advising and counselling (non-content related
  support)
• Administrative and technical support

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Contexts for Learner Support?

• K 12
• Post-secondary/higher education
• Corporate and public sector training

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
A Short History of Learner Support

• Response to high attrition rates in
  correspondence education
• Tutoring and other services added on to already
  complete model (first to be cut)
• Rise of dual mode institutions
• - services often uneven between d.e. and
  campus-based students

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
A Short History of Learner Support (2)

• Changing view of learner and learning
• learner as instrumental in the learning process
  (not a passive recipient of knowledge)
• understanding and responding to learner needs
  has become equally important as producing quality
  course content
• More integrated models of learner support suited
  to context--linked to institutional mission
  and strategic objectives
• Requires rethinking and transformation of
  student support services from public utility to
  integral part of the learning process

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments

• History of Learner Support (Simpson, 2002)

Successful Student
Teaching Materials
Student
Successful Student
Learner Support
Teaching Materials
Student
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Why is Learner Support Important?

• FOR THE INSTITUTION
• Learner retention and loyalty
• - achievement of enrolment and graduation
  targets
• - cost savings in recruitment of new students
• - cost savings in fees not refunded
• Improved learning outcomes (deeper learning)
• Improved graduation rates
• Enrolment and resource management
• Revenue generation/ growth
• Academic planning/ better information
• Clear performance standards identified by
  articulating goals and strategies

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Why is Learner Support Important?

• FOR THE STUDENT ENHANCED ACCESS AND QUALITY
• Access to opportunity to succeed
• Access to opportunity to become a better learner
• Access to quality learning experience

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Learner Support Reflects a Philosophy and Values

• Accessibility/ Openness/ Flexibility
• -beyond admissions policies/ beyond delivery
  methods
• -open door v. revolving door
• Diversity policies and practices reflect a
  desire for a broad range of learners
• Learner-centredness learner at centre of
  teaching-learning process
• -from point of inquiry through completion and
  beyond

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Characteristics of Effective Learner Support

• Learner driven/ not provider driven
• Should be seen as functions/ not organizational
  units
• - organized according to functional
  effectiveness
• Integrated/ not silos (seamless for the learner)
• Flexibleadaptable to change
• Purposeful in terms of academic mission and
  goals
• - support that contributes to facilitation of
  academic progress,
• quality learning environments, graduation and
  retention rates

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Elements of Learner Support

• Teaching and tutoring (course content related)
• Counselling and advising (non-content related)
• Administrative and technical support

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Teaching and Tutoring

• Providing Content Expertise
• Instructional Design
• Mentoring/ Guiding
• Facilitating Interaction and Purposeful
  Discussion
• Creating Learning Communities
• Individual and Group Feedback on Performance and
  Progress
• Assessment

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Advising and Counselling

• Information
• Orientation
• Self-assessment/ Readiness for distance learning
• Academic advising
• Credit coordination/ Prior Learning Assessment
• Career counselling/ Career laddering
• Personal counselling
• Study skills
• Job search/ placement
• Student advocacy

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Administrative and Other Support

• Admissions
• Registration/ Records
• Financial Aid/ Bursar/ Accounts
• Library Services
• Technical Support
• Course Materials/ Bookstore
• Alumni Support

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DEVELOPING A MODEL OF LEARNER SUPPORT
Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Who are your learners? What are their
needs?What are the most important issues at
your institution? A model of learner support
should be driven by an institutional vision
and have the active support of senior
leadership.
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
What is a Model of Learner Support?

• A strategic plan for providing supportsets
  direction and rationale
• Locates learner support in larger context
• Sets prioritiesnow and future
• Facilitates and guides planning, resource
  allocation, and evaluation
• Provides a map which can be revised to
  accommodate changes as they occur

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Developing a Model
Values/Philosophy of Education Contextual
Factors Research Data
theory
Goals of Support
theory
Support Model Strategies/Services Offered
Evaluation
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Critical Factors to Consider When Developing a
Model
1) Values/ Educational Philosophy/ Mission 2)
Contextual Factors 3) Research Data/ Evaluation
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Developing a Model Critical Factors 1)
Values/ Educational Philosophy/ Mission

• View of Education and/ or Training
• View of Teaching/ Learning Process
• View of Learner Rights/ Responsibilities
• Role of Teaching, Advising, Counselling, and all
  other Services
• Desired Learning Outcomes
• Assessment Methods
• Measures of Success

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Developing a Model Critical Factors 2) Context

• Larger context country, type of funding,
  political system, target market, competition
• from other providers, challenges and
  opportunities
• Type of educational provider
• Type of program and courses
• Learner characteristics and needs
• Resources , staff, facilities, technology

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Current Contextual Factors

• Education as a service industry learner as
  consumer/ high expectations
• Increasing competition for students among
  universities/ educational providers
• Accountability to stakeholders/ expectations from
  funding sources
• Pressure for accessibility
• Expectations for use of information and
  communication technologies online learning
• - Institutions feeling pressure from students,
  employers, governments to offer online and
  web-based courses and programs
• - Corporate and public sector employers
  increasingly turning to e-learning for staff
  development and training

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
The Online Environment

• New opportunities
• more frequent and higher quality interaction
  instructor/student student/student
  content/student institution/student
• blurring between course development/ design and
  learner supportbetter opportunity to shape
  teaching and learning in progress
• automated services for routine interactions
  (using human intervention where it makes the most
  difference)
• better turnaround times

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
The Online Environment

• Challenges
• Staff and faculty roles change and new skills
  are necessary in order to take advantage of the
  opportunities offered in the online environment
  for new kinds of interaction
• (e.g. teacher is expert facilitator not just
  content expert less need for staff to carry out
  routine communications with students that can be
  automated)
• Complexity of communication is greater (teaching
  requires new ways of communicating and
  organizing learning, e.g. collaborative
  learning)
• Greater access means serving an ever widening
  variety of learners (demands of diversity)
• Learner expectations rise (faster communication)
• Significant Costs
• start-up requires large investment
• infrastructure
• content development
• staff and faculty training and development/
  culture change
• Myth of cost savings Need to balance ACCESS
  (scalability) v. QUALITY

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Developing a Model Critical Factors 3) Research
Data/ Evaluation

• Learner Characteristics and Needs
• Learner Behaviour/ Learning Outcomes
• Attrition/ Persistence/ Graduation Rates
• Effects of Teaching/ Course Design/ Services/
  Interventions

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Developing a Model
Values/Philosophy of Education Contextual
Factors Research Data
theory
Goals of Support
theory
Support Model Strategies/Services Offered
Evaluation
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
An Example Athabasca University, Canada

• Values
• Education as continuous lifelong process
• Most people can succeed in right environment
• Goal is to help learners become increasingly
  responsible for their own learning to help
• them to develop as active, versatile (able to
  learn in a variety of ways for a variety of
  purposes), independent and collaborative
  learners
• Teaching/ learning is interactive and
  facilitates change and self action
• Open access means more than open admissions and
  implies institutional responsibility

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
An Example Athabasca University, Canada

• Context
• Publicly funded open university with strong
  values of access and quality
• Increasingly in competition with well resourced
  campus-based institutions offering online
  programs
• Conservative government/results oriented
• Learners working adults, varied backgrounds,
  mostly urban with some remote, 75 women, some
  educationally disadvantaged, few with online/d.e.
  experience
• University programs liberal arts and
  professional schools
• Main technology is web-based/online with some
  print materials/telephone tutoring

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
An Example Athabasca University, Canada

• Research data
• Learners appear to enter with misconceptions
  about ease of learning at a distance
• Learners often are not prepared for the unique
  demands of d.e. -- may not have assessed their
  learning needs, goals, learning style, personal
  support systems to see if there is a match
• Dropout rates of concern--usually occurs early
  in first course
• Decision to persist is complex, multi-factorial
  and interactive processlearner/ learner
  environment/ institution (not just based on
  personal circumstances)

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
An Example Athabasca University, Canada

• Research data (2)
• Institutional support can respond to learner
  characteristics abilities, learning style,
  gender, culture, academic preparedness,
  personal support, and expectations
• (e.g. flexibility in methods)
• Trend is to greater diversity in the student
  population, e.g younger learners international
  student body
• Students want interaction/ encouragement/
  feedbackcontact with instructor is most
  important
• Institutional support likely to have no effect
  on a certain portion of students who will
  persist or drop out regardless BUT can be a
  critical factor in persistence for the others
  who are in the middle

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step One Identifying Goals -- What
Will Help These Learners?

• 1. Make the Development of Learners an Explicit
  Institutional Goal (vision/strategic plan)
• 2. Engage Learners Early On and Facilitate
  Connectedness (social support)
• 3. Empower Students (encourage and teach skills
  for active participation scaffolding)
• 4. Personalize the Environment (work against
  isolation)
• 5. Democratize the System (encourage and respond
  to diversity equal opportunity for success)

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step Two Identifying Strategies How
Can the Goals be Achieved?
Goal 1. Make the Development of Learners an
Explicit Institutional Goal - may require
review of institutional mission, strategic plan,
and departmental operational plansconsistency/
alignment - building climate and culture -
faculty and staff development is essential -
strategies built into teaching and all services
that encourage learner independence through
skill building - continually evaluate impact
of services based on specific targets and goals
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step Two Identifying Strategies How
Can the Goals be Achieved?
Goal 2. Engage Learners Early/Facilitate
Connectedness - invest in front end
services/proactive contact by institution -
information/ referral for prospective
learners - orientation to d.e. with assessment
and opportunities for remediation - aids to
getting started (tips/advice/self-help tools) /
links to specific kinds of help - early
instructor-initiated contact/ instructor training
and development - newsletters/ chat rooms/ FAQ
sites - study groups/ learning communities /
Web 2.0 (blogs/wikis)
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step Two Identifying Strategies How
Can the Goals be Achieved?
Goal 3. Empower Learners facilitate and
encourage learner independence and active
engagement in the learning process - make skill
building (scaffolding) integral to all teaching,
instructional design, and support services
e.g. online learning skills, research/ library
skills, collaborative learning skills, critical
thinking skills, decision-making skills,
leadership skills, problem-solving skills -
emphasize self-help and make assistance readily
available (e.g. self-assessment tools and
skills remediation in self-help format) -
provide sufficient quality information so that
learners can make decisions about their
education - facilitate learner/ learner
communication (encourage peer consultation) -
decentralization of responsibility and
authority (e.g. access to records) - provide
a student charter or publish minimum standards so
that learners know what they can expect -
experiment with learning contracts (learners
setting goals and strategies for
themselves)
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step Two Identifying Strategies How
Can the Goals be Achieved?
Goal 4. Personalize the Learning Environment
work against isolation - proactive early
contact--introductory messages to learners with
photos/ welcome week - ensure ease of contact
with institution/ ease of problem-solving for
learners - review policies and regulations
(institutional attitude of respect for
learners) - recognize connection between
motivation and turnaround, inconsistencies, red
tape - appropriate technical support -
provide opportunities for learner/learner contact
e.g. assign study partners, design study
group projects into courses, initiate blogs,
cafes, bulletin boards, provide student
directories
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Moving from Critical Factors to Theory and
Action Step Two Identifying Strategies How
Can the Goals be Achieved?
5. Democratize the System - provide equal
opportunity for success (the open door v.
revolving door) - ensure that
institutional methods/ policies encourage and
support diversity (admissions, teaching,
assessment methods, remediation) -
recognize relevance of learner experience (prior
learning assessment) - offer opportunities
for students to assess their own readiness for
learning and need for skill development -
offer opportunities for students to get informed,
make good decisions, improve their skills
(advising, counselling, assessment,
remediation, financial aid, library, special
needs) - publicize all services and
opportunities so that students know what is
available
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Integrating Strategies Into a Model

• Review critical factors for your institution
  (values, context, research)
• Develop a vision and set clear goals for learner
  support that are aligned with the mission
• Identify learner support strategies that will
  help you meet those goals
• Look at experience of your learners from first
  contact through completion
• Consider how and where to strategically invest
  for greatest impact
• Consider what technologies/ methods of
  interaction are possible and desirable
• Build a flexible model that can be adapted to
  changing circumstances over time

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An Example of a Model Athabasca University
Out
Prospective Student
Information Services (institutional information)
Teaching and Tutoring
Orientation/ Self-assessment
Learning and Study Skills Assistance
Admitted Student
Registration Services/ Exams/Records
Career Planning Job Placement
Academic Advising
Financial Aid Advising
Library Services
Student Advocacy/ Personal Counselling/ Special
Needs
Bookstore/Course Materials
Credit Coordination Prior Learning Assessment
Technical Support
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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Issues in Planning and Managing Learner Support

• Instilling learner support as institutional
  culture
• Universality v. targeted support
• Finding the right balance between learner
  support v. program growth
• Learner autonomy v. appropriate support
• Organizational structures what structure works
  best?
• Centralized v. decentralized systems services

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Issues in Planning and Managing Learner Support

• Faculty and staff training/ development
• - changing/ instilling a culture
• - helping faculty and staff adapt to new roles
• - ensuring quality and consistency of service
• Recruitment/marketing v. student advocacy
• Appropriate use of technology
• -Accessibility and flexibility
• -Balancing efficiency with personalized
  services/ human contact
• -Providing technical support
• Quality assurance/ measuring success
• Ensuring resources for evaluation and research

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Evaluation/Applied Research

• Different types of evaluation/measures
• student feedback
• - needs, satisfaction, perceptions
• impact studies (change in student behaviour)
• - user rates for services
• - retention, re-enrolment, graduation rates
• learning outcomes
• - grades, gain in knowledge/ skills
• - employment of graduates
• - staff performance evaluation

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Benefits of Evaluation/Research

• Measure of goal attainment
• Challenging assumptions
• Informed planning and priority setting
• Rationale for resource allocation
• Identification of learners with unmet needs
• Identification of need for new competencies/
  changes in procedures
• Better working relationships (shared
  understanding of practice outcomes)
• Ability to contribute to and share practice and
  theory with colleagues

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Learner Support The Key to Quality Learning
Environments
Thank You! jbrind_at_uwindsor.ca