Research into Online Synchronous Learning Environments in tertiary education

Preliminary investigations at the beginning of the study (December 2009) revealed that very limited research exists about the role OSLEs in tertiary education and even less, in drama (Valaitis et al. 2007). Early findings from health sciences in the United States indicate that learners enjoy the experience of working synchronously online especially in sessions which are interactive, for example, by using the polling tool. Learners appreciate the time and financial savings of not having to travel to the educational institution and using the archives of sessions for revision and clarification. There is also an acknowledgement that, for many students returning to study, such learning experiences provide them with unique opportunities to improve and extend their technical knowledge and expertise (Ostrow and DiMaria-Ghalili 2005). Challenges include resolving technical issues, missing ‘human interaction’ and fear of asking questions in the online environment. In addition, tutor time is required to become familiar with the technology (Ostrow and DiMaria-Ghalili 2005).

References

Ostrow, L. and DiMaria-Ghalili, RAD. 2005. Distance education for graduate nursing: one state school's experience. Journal of Nursing Education, 44 (1) pp. 5–10.

Valaitis, R., Akhtar-Danesh, N., Eva, K., Levinson, A. and Wainman, B. 2007. Pragmatists, positive communicators, and shy enthusiasts: three viewpoints on web conferencing in health sciences education. Journal of Medical Internet Research [online] 9 (5). Available from: http://www.jmir.org/2007/5/e39 [Accessed March 5 2009].

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