Andrew Sackville
Edge Hill, UK

Mark Schofield
Edge Hill, UK

'Designing for difference.' An exploration of the cultural differences between face-to-face and online learning

This paper builds on the paper that was presented at the first ICE symposium in October 2002 (Sackville, Schofield and Davey 2002). The earlier paper shared a model of interactivity analysis that had been developed from practice in designing and tutoring online programmes. Further evaluative research into programmes that are targeted at professionals in the health and education sectors, has identified a number of cultural issues about cyberspace education which are the subject of the current paper.

The paper has been influenced by research and theoretical perspectives centring on issues of technology and society, web-literacy, asynchronicity, student distress online, the complexities of working alone, and the diversity of learning styles. The cumulative effect of these different issues, all of which have been the subject of extensive discussion in recent academic papers, suggests that there is a cultural shift between face-to-face learning and online learning, which many designers have not fully recognised or explored.

During the design process many tutors seek to replicate online the successful features of their face-to-face teaching. Our research is now suggesting that this is rather a blinkered approach to the design of cyberspace education. By seeking to replicate or mirror conventional face-to-face approaches, designers are often failing to give sufficient weight to differences in the experiences of tutors and students using online learning facilities.

In this paper we are using evaluative research to identify the implications of these differences for designers of online learning. We are focusing on nine aspects of potential differences from the face-to-face learning experience. These are:

1. The continually changing technology which can support learning. Programmes are often designed to fit in with the lowest common denominator of technological accessibility.
2. The medium of communication used in online learning. Early online programmes have focused on using reading/writing as their main medium, rather than listening/speaking, which tends to dominate face-to-face teaching.
3. The presentation of learning resources in electronic formats. What are the cultural barriers that prevent the effective use of electronic books and journals?
4. The timing of the learning episode. The stress on asynchronous learning in many programmes presents a major cultural challenge for many students.
5. The prior experience and expectations of the learners. Previous experience of 'conventional education' may limit learners' current experience.
6. The situational understanding of the learners. Many have never developed a situational understanding of their face-to-face learning, let alone online learning.
7. The reduction in face-to-face opportunities to form impressions of fellow learners. Feelings of isolation are initially identified by learners.
8. The products of interactivity. How do you balance the spontaneous with the reflective?
9. The group dynamics of online 'learning communities'. The changing dynamics of online learning communities, as some learners drop out, and other join, provide a challenge for designers and tutors.

Evidence from learners on these nine aspects has challenged us to critically examine some of our own design practices. For example we have identified the triple whammy of induction into an online learning episode, where learners need induction to the content of the module; into the use of technology associated with the module, and into the process of online learning. This third aspect of induction, which incorporates all nine of the aspects identified above, is usually overlooked in most online programmes.

Our focus for this paper is – can we design more effectively to take account of, and positively use, some of these cultural differences in our online enterprise?