Chapter 51: A quality model for distance learning

Chapter 51 A quality model for distance learning

An educational process exists when a number of functions are co-ordinated among themselves in order to reach a learning goal. In classroom teaching these functions can be present implicitly or explicitly; unlike distance learning, in which they must all be explicit. The functions that are necessarily explicit are those that identify most quickly the educational activity, that is, the communication of the learning message and the evaluation of the competence learners have acquired. Other functions, in which the learner's cognitive and affective states come into play, are more often regarded as implicit. These functions include the subjective willingness to learn, the capacity to use the learning message as an element to interpret the world and the capacity to adapt to the learning model implicit in the organisation of the message (see figure 4).

The image of traditional teaching is based primarily on the communication of the learning message and on the evaluation of acquired competence, while the functions shown in the figure as implicit are neglected.

According to the most traditional image of the school, the teacher is intent on communicating a message to his or her students and on testing what they have learnt. Didactic activity is thus conceived as the sequential repetition of periods devoted to communicating the items to be learnt, interspersed with periods devoted to evaluating the skills acquired. This is a very simple image that, precisely because of its simplicity, has become a commonplace. However, if an analysis is made of the conditions that grant success to an educational method based on the simple repetition of periods of communication and periods of evaluation, it becomes clear that the simplicity is only apparent. A complex theory emerges, so profoundly internalised by both teachers and students that, for many, it's elements have become beyond dispute.

Explicit functions: communication of the learning message and evaluation of competence. Implicit functions : subjective willingness to learn, capacity to use the acquired message and capacity to adapt to the learning model implicit.

Figure 4. Explicit and implicit functions in the learning process.

Behind this implicit theory underlying the traditional teaching method lies a bedrock of experience, based on the observation that the more learners possess characteristics perceived as positive, the more effective learning becomes. Those learners regarded as having a greater aptitude for learning and as being more willing from an affective viewpoint are therefore expected to obtain better results. In contrast, those learners whose aptitude for learning is evaluated negatively get poorer results. The logical basis for the model is provided by an inductive process defined by John Stuart Mill as 'concomitant variation'. According to this model, increases and decreases in the value of one variable correspond to a corresponding increase or decrease (or its inverse) in another variable. The influence exercised on teaching by the concomitant variation inductive model is very strong, because the judgements based on it are borne out by experience. It is indisputable that learners regarded as having more aptitude obtain better results. It is equally true that less positive results are obtained by those regarded as having less aptitude or willingness to apply themselves to learning. Empirical confirmation of the model encourages its internalisation, attributing the relationship identified by empirical data as a 'natural' fact.

An ideology of the teaching process has thus developed that has proved to be effective for a considerable period in the history of educational systems. When these systems are growing, the balance between educational demand and supply is disturbed. When demand outstrips supply, solutions need to be found to moderate it. In the history of European education, this has taken place with the aid of two mechanisms, one social and the other didactic. The social mechanism has consisted in discouraging access to education for the lower classes, who cannot afford the costs involved in more or less extended periods of education. The didactic mechanism, on the other hand, has tended to organise teaching activities in a way that reproduces the preexisting characteristics of learners, allowing these characteristics to prevail in the measuring of results. These mechanisms, which moderate the demand for education, have simplified the task of teaching, since the success or failure of individual learners has not been associated with the quality of the teaching, but with the ability to benefit from it.

From the point of view of didactic theory, simplification has been translated i'to the acceptance of a poor teaching model, focused entirely on the functions defined above as 'explicit'. This is an 'unsaturated' model, because its effectiveness depends on the implicit availability of the functions required for the learning process. Those elements that have not been made explicit in the teaching context are delegated to social conditions outside the school. More privileged learners have thus found the cognitive and affective reference points they need, in order to deal successfully with their learning tasks, in their individual lives. That which has been regarded as personal aptitude is, to a very large extent, the effect of pre-adaptation, both cognitive and affective, to learning, which derives from experiences independent of the teacher. The less positive, or completely negative, results achieved by other learners correspond to greater difficulty in adapting to learning conditions.

The limits of the empirical model that we have outlined above are becoming increasingly evident as the gap shrinks between educational supply and demand. It is inevitable that the continuing existence of 'unsaturated' teaching practice corresponds to a gradual drop in the quality of teaching results, since for a growing number of students life outside school offered fewer compensatory opportunities. In order to meet new needs it became necessary to abandon an 'unsaturated' interpretation of the teaching process and to move towards a 'saturated' model. This envisages an adequate development of the functions through which learners can be helped to achieve the desired results regardless of their individual backgrounds, which are recognised as being heterogeneous (see figure 5).

D Figure 5. Functions of educational activity.

Affective incentivisation, learning consolidation and message differentiation should be added to the functions present in traditional teaching (communication of the message and evaluation). Assessment now plays a more complex role, acting as a regulator of the entire activity.

Defining a didactic model that does not consider the pre-adaptation of learners as an essential element for success, but that explicitly assumes the burden of adaptation as part of the teaching task, means adding other functions to the two that were regarded as explicit in traditional teaching (that is, the communication of the learning message, and the evaluation of the competence acquired). In particular, positive learning results can be obtained if the following conditions are fulfilled:

that learners accept the task required of them. This means incentivising their affective willingness;
that the skills and knowledge which are the object of the teaching activity form part of a stable repertoire of competencies that provide a constant cultural profile of the learner. This makes it necessary to consolidate learning;
that the differences existing between students and the way in which they approach the task should be considered when the learning message is formulated. This makes it necessary to differentiate the didactic offer.

When compared to the traditional model, the new model of educational activity not only introduces new functions but also modifies those that are already present. In traditional didactics, the communication of the message was almost entirely entrusted to the teacher's voice and to written texts with very little visual or graphic support. Now differentiated solutions are available not only on a technical level but also in terms of the characteristics of the message addressed to learners. The role traditionally attributed to the evaluation of acquired competencies has undergone considerable modification and expansion. It is now more appropriately defined as assessment, since it has become the component that regulates teaching activity. In other words, it no longer simply measures what students have learnt, but provides information relating to each phase of the learning process. This information makes it possible to adapt the process more effectively to learners' needs.

This juxtaposition of a traditional didactic model with a current model does not mean that the latter has effectively replaced the former in general teaching practice. On the contrary, teaching today is distinguished by the slow, difficult and often uncertain transition from one model to the other. What is needed is a model that interprets more effectively the didactic typologies that are becoming more relevant, by putting them into a historical perspective. This will make it possible to distinguish between an apparent modernisation, based on marginal aspects, and a modernisation capable of making a structural difference to teaching processes. In this context, there is no substantial difference between classroom teaching and distance learning.

The origin of distance learning goes back to the need to widen the educational offer to include categories that, for a variety of reasons, were unable to take part in traditionally organised learning. The first significant distance learning programmes were aimed at two groups: adults willing to devote some of their spare time outside family and work duties to their education; and those who lived in areas where the population density did not justify the creation of a school network. Distance learning aimed at the former group was not significantly different from classroom teaching. It used an extremely simple didactic model based on the communication of a message (generally by means of a text) followed by some form of evaluation.

As time went by, distance learning gradually lost its connotation as a form of education intended to compensate those people who had no other access to schooling, either because they were unable to go to school as children or for geographical reasons. It took on new importance as a way of widening the overall educational offer. Distance learning and classroom teaching, in other words, are alternatives in this offer, between which members of the public can choose according to their needs.

With the increased relevance of distance learning within the educational system, the need to reexamine its didactic structure, similar to that experienced during the development of classroom teaching, has emerged. Formulating the message has become more complex, periodic evaluation of competencies have been replaced by more complex forms of assessment and teacher-learner communication has changed. However, the uncertainty reigning in classroom teaching today is also evident, perhaps even more so, in distance learning. There is no doubt that distance learning, compared to traditional classroom teaching, is presented as a form of modernisation. Modernisation is not a value in itself, since what comes after is not necessarily better than what it replaces. In education, however, modernisation has always had a positive ring to it, both because it shows an awareness that existing methods were no longer practicable, and because of the fascination exerted by the potential that new technology offers for the processing of data and for communication. A sort of ideology, backed up by technological advances, has come about that attributes positive value to anything unusual. In the case of distance learning, this has meant that the structure has often been neglected in favour of emphasising the importance of the tools available for creating or communicating the learning message.

Many difficulties encountered in the development of distance learning are linked to the consequences of ideological interpretations of modernisation. It is therefore more necessary than ever to analyse the structural aspects of education in greater detail. In particular, we need to produce a model that can interpret the relationships between the variables that determine the learning process and the quality of the results obtained.

Chacteristics of the pupil Distance education The result of learning

see description D

Figure 6. Model for the quality analysis of distance learning.

The model develops that proposed by B.S. Bloom with classroom teaching in mind.

A general model, to which reference can be made for distance learning as well, is that proposed by B.S. Bloom. In this model, two families of independent variables in the learning process are identified. One is made up of the personal characteristics of the learner; the other is the quality of teaching, defined as the appropriacy of the task proposed to the needs of the learner. The personal characteristics of learners are divided into two sets. The first concerns learners' cognitive characteristics, and the second their affective characteristics, at the outset of the learning process. Bloom, in other words, awards a causal significance to the capacities and competencies possessed by learners at the outset of the learning process, and a similar value to learners' attitudes towards the learning task. The dependent variables are provided by the results of the process: that is, by the level and kind of success achieved, and by modifications in learning rhythm and affective state (see figure 6).

In order to move from a general model, in which the learning process is considered independently of its organisation, to a model that specifically interprets distance learning processes, we need to identify the variables, both independent and dependent, that are specific to the organisation of the learning process. In particular, we must develop the analysis of those independent variables that regard not only the characteristics of the learner, but also the quality of the teaching. Although the initial cognitive and affective behaviours continue to be considered as variables that define the characteristics of the learner at the outset of his or her learning process, these variables are nonetheless linked to other educational experiences that have already contributed to shaping such cognitive and affective characteristics. Distance learners thus carry within themselves attitudes derived from their school experience. These are clearly expressed by the way in which they view their learning task, in their acceptance of time schedules, and in their study habits and styles. However, other characteristics of the learners should also be considered. The educational environment, that is, the presence of absence of alternatives in the area, can lead people to choose distance learning. Socio-economic factors can also influence the choice, since the attitude of those who undertake distance learning is usually one of positive acceptance of the teaching method as the one most suitable to their needs, if not the only alternative.

The particular nature of distance learning requires special attention to be given to what makes teaching effective. The components can be identified in the techniques chosen to overcome the distance between teacher and learner, and in the teaching complications that arise from the mediated character of the interaction that takes place in distance learning.

Overcoming the distance between teacher and learner involves the following variables:

the effectiveness of the technique used for communication. Obviously the choice of technique is only partially free, since it is conditioned both economically and culturally. For example, although e-mail is more efficient than traditional mail, learners must be prepared to buy the necessary equipment. Even if cost is no object, other characteristics of the learner must be taken into account. If the distance learning is aimed at older people, for example, the traditional postal system might be preferred since it would be less likely to create difficulties of cultural adaptation;
the organisation of the message. Distance learning does not consist in simply shifting across space a message that could have educational value. It also involves the organisation of the message in such a way that people provided with certain preliminary requisites are able to learn it. This means adjusting the characteristics of the message according to the means used to transmit it and to the learning objectives it is intended to meet. A distance-learning text cannot therefore be presented in the same way as a text written for classroom teaching. The latter can count on the mediation of the teacher whereas, in the case of the former, the message itself must guarantee, at least in part, its own mediation. Similarly, a televised lesson remains nothing more than a lesson, that is, a didactic tool that is limited to classroom teaching. This is because classroom teaching activates those interactive procedures - explicit and, to an even greater extent, implicit - which favour the adaptation of the message to the needs of the public. As a consequence, a text or televised lesson for distance learning must organise its message according to the characteristics of the way in which the educational offer is being made;
adaptability of the message to the characteristics of the learner. A common trap in the planning of teaching activities is to mistake a real learner for a virtual learner. A virtual learner can be defined both a priori and a posteriori. In the former case it is a matter of identifying what is preferable (ideal learners work hard, perform all their tasks diligently and on time, possess an adequate initial level of competence, etc.). In the latter case, it is a matter of integrating relevant data with empirical procedures (accepting that certain characteristics show a certain modal or average consistency in those at whom the teaching proposal is aimed). In both cases, however, the virtual learner is an abstract point of reference while the learning message is aimed at a real learner whose characteristics are highly unlikely to correspond exactly to those of the virtual learner. As a result, teaching success depends on the real learner's capacity to adapt himself to the characteristics of a virtual learner. This adaptation is not particularly costly if the difference between the virtual and the real learner is not very marked; but the greater the difference, the more onerous it becomes. In classroom teaching, the difference between the virtual and the real learner is bridged - at least in part - by the implicit process of adapting of the message to the characteristics of the learner. It is evident, however, that this process cannot be activated - if not marginally - in the context of distance learning. Over a distance, the learning message is necessarily more impoverished than that imparted in the classroom. If the message is verbal it will be formulated in a way that conforms to the characteristics of a virtual learner. What it will lack, however, is that redundancy and those expressive and gestural integration's (in part derived from the implicit teacher-learner interaction that takes place in the classroom) that facilitate the learner's task of adaptation. Ensuring that the learning proposal shares out, at least in part, the burden of adaptation - bridging the gap, that is, between the characteristics of a virtual learner and those of a real learner - is a decisive factor in effective distance learning.

The main variables that give rise to learning complications in the process of distance learning are as follows:

the opportunity to reinforce competence. It is not enough for a certain learning task to be understood at the time it was taught, because the results of the educational process can only be appreciated if certain skills and abilities become an established part of the learner's cultural repertoire. This is true not only in a distance-learning situation but also in a classroom. It is particularly important, however, in distance learning, which relies on a teaching method that is planned in every detail so that learners can only call on the acquired competencies explicitly envisaged in the organisation of the course. The reinforcing of competencies is, to a large extent, the result of their being put into practice as a follow-up to learning, or as activities undertaken in daily life. Research conducted in various countries (including the US) has shown that when competencies are not reinforced, even basic skills such as reading and writing regress. These competencies are less required in daily life than they were in the past: instead of writing letters, we make telephone calls; instead of taking notes, we record the lesson; instead of reading the newspapers, we listen to the radio or watch television. Since distance learning is a real opportunity for flanking and complementing more traditional forms of education, it is important to stress the need to reinforce competencies. Learners must be made to feel the need to maintain what they have learnt because in their career as learners reference is constantly being made to elements that were part of previous learning segments. These must be considered essential elements for performing more complex tasks.
procedures for assessing learner competence. Assessing learner competence in a distance-learning course is, in theoretical terms, no different from assessing learners in the classroom. Functionally, the procedure can be divided into three parts, in exactly the same way: initial assessment (evaluation of the prerequisites for learning); mid-course assessment (evaluation of the competencies acquired during the learning process); final assessment (the results obtained in the completed learning process). What should distinguish assessment activity in distance learning compared to assessment in a classroom situation is its analytical nature and the way the data produced by the assessment is used. In classroom teaching, in fact, at least part of the information derives from the personal relationship established between the teacher and the learner. This information, together with that obtained through tests aimed at assessing whether certain competencies and abilities have been acquired, allows a partly explicit and partly implicit adjustment to be made in subsequent learning segments.

Since this kind of adjustment is not possible in distance learning, the testing material adopted must be able to provide highly analytic information, in order to allow the prompt adjustment of the teaching offer to the needs of each individual learner. It is by means of the assessment system, in other words, that a virtual distance-learning proposal is transformed into a real proposal. In this sense, the most effective teaching is obtained when the real offer corresponds to the learning needs of a real learner. The function of the initial assessment is thus to allow a preliminary adjustment to be made to the teaching offer on the basis of the characteristics of the real learner. The mid-course assessment can actually be considered formative, making it possible to adjust each step of the learning process to the needs the real learner makes manifest as he or she learns. The final assessment is equivalent to a global evaluation of the effectiveness of the teaching, measuring the gap between the model of exit competencies in the virtual learner and the actual competencies acquired by the real learner.

the frequency and type of interaction. A teaching process can be distinguished from other situations in which learning takes place because of the presence of a number of interactions, that is, of functional exchanges between the organiser of the learning message and the learner who benefits from it. One can think of two extremes. One extreme is characterised by a total lack of interaction, in which learning depends solely on the subject's capacity to internalise the elements offered by a context (for example, books, experience, observations, etc.: the case of someone who is self-taught). The other extreme is represented by learning entirely achieved through interactions (a theoretical extreme, although evident in splendid literary form in the dialogues of Plato, such as Cratylus). Real teaching conditions come somewhere between these two extremes. Distance learning risks leaning towards the lower end of the scale of intensity of interactions if too much attention is paid to the technical tools chosen to close the distance, and if the didactic organisation keeps in mind only the virtual learner. Since increased interaction leads to more effective teaching, it is important to multiply the opportunities for teacher-learner exchange when planning and supplying distance learning. Assessments during the learning process provide opportunities for exchange, as do evaluations that consider the willingness of the learner to carry out given tasks (for example, how regularly tasks are completed, and what attitude is revealed in informal exchanges, etc.).

One of the learning results to be taken into account, apart from aspects common to all kinds of educational offer (such as the level and type of success, the speed of learning and affective modifications), is the learner's adaptation to distance learning. It must not be forgotten, in fact, that distance learning is usually aimed at subjects who have already had considerable experience with classroom teaching. As a result of this experience they have developed attitudes and, above all, study styles that function according to the organisational models of classroom teaching. Since distance learning undoubtedly represents a break with previous experience, these study styles must necessarily be modified.

Distance learners need to collaborate in the organisation of the learning activity far more than learners in a classroom are required to do. For example, they must organise their work-space, ensure that the communication tools are effective, buy - and know how to use - equipment correctly, use diversified materials in the appropriate order, etc. Consequently, the results of a distance learning course must be evaluated not only with reference to the cognitive and affective modifications that have taken place, but also on the basis of new study competencies acquired. This aspect can be strategically important in developing distance learning. Whether distance learning will effectively be considered on an equal footing with models consolidated by tradition, becoming equally deeply-rooted in the image society has of learning, depends on the dissemination of study styles that correspond to the organisational needs of distance learning.