Principles of Online Learning - CiteSeerX

PRACTICES THAT FACILITATE LEARNER CONTROL IN AN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT* by Daing Zaidah Ibrahim** Abu Daud Silong, PhD*** Bahaman Abu Samah, PhD**** Abstract This paper discusses and describes the practices that facilitate learner control in an online environment. The major thrust of online learning is focussed on providing activities that shift the control from the teacher to the student. The approach is mainly based on the constructivist theory. It includes active learning that allows learners to construct their own knowledge as opposed to the assumption that they are “empty vessels” that need to be filled with information. Some of the principles of active learning are discussed, mainly relying on adult learning and the constructivism theory. The major techniques of active online learning such as collaborative and cooperative learning, asynchronous learning, synchronous learning and discovery learning techniques are also discussed. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for the study. Qualitative data were collected based on the experience of the author in teaching line courses in Universiti Tun Abdul Razak or in short UNITAR. On the other hand, quantitative data were collected through survey. The questionnaires were distributed to students in UNITAR during one of the class meetings and 139 of them were completed and returned to the researchers. Based on the data collected and analyzed, several practices were recommended to facilitate learner control in an online learning environment.

Introduction

Online learning provides a new learning environment often called the learning network. It is the "emerging paradigm for education in the 21st century" (Harasim, et.al. 1997). In realizing the new paradigm the shift of control of learning from the teacher to the student is very significant. "Indeed, the learning network is truly a learner-centered environment" (Doherty, 1998). "It is a model that emphasizes active and interactive learning, research and problem-solving. Implicit to this model is the intent to foster learner control by facilitating the learner's ability to guide his or her own learning" (Doherty, 1998). ______________________________________________________________________ *Paper presented at the Workshop on Developing Effective Online Delivery System

for Institutions of Higher Learning, Concorde Hotel, Shah Alam, 24-25th October 2001. **Senior Lecturer, Centre for Graduate Studies Universiti Tun Abdul Razak/PhD student, Universiti Putra Malaysia *** Professor/Head, Centre for Graduate Studies, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak. ****Lecturer, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia

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Online learning is a recent phenomenon and not much research is conducted in the area of facilitating learner control in an online environment. Questions are still being asked as to whether successful learning can happen without face-to-face meetings and with the learner being in control. Salmon (2001) suggests that "the technology can be seductive but is not enough in itself." (p. 20). As suggested by Salmon (2001) networking enables people to work across boundaries and cultures. Working and learning with others living in a particular locale is becoming less important than sharing professional and personal interests in online environments. Communities of linked collaborators are forming, with many relationships based on common interests rather than place and some are started through informal and chance encounters. These, according to Salmon (2001) are "magical new ingredients" and should not be allowed to go to a technological wasteland. It is obvious that these "magical new ingredients" emerged out of professional and personal interest, the willingness to share and the readiness to be a player in an enabling networked environment. Networking through computer mediation enables the sharing and assimilation of a wide range of experiences and knowledge that is often informal, tacit and continuously developing. Through the dynamic online processes, students create knowledge for themselves. Salmon (2001) pointed out that this is where e-learning creation needs knowledge manager and facilitator. Calling them e-moderators, they function to keep the ideas flowing and to summarize the discussion. Online learners, according to her, explore information rather than just accepting what the e-moderator determines should be learnt. In this way, they construct knowledge for themselves through interacting with online peers. The training and development of e-moderators, the new kind of e-trainers and teachers, coupled with choosing media, dealing with intellectual property rights and managing complex partnership, posed challenges for online learning. Suggestions include recruits to online teaching with new competencies of promoting online socialization, information sharing and knowledge construction, inspiring and supporting e-learners. Skills suggested include ability to learn online communication, use of their own and their students' time, provide appropriate counsel online, be creative and know how to collaborate with others through the online environment. Flexibility in aligning evaluation of online teaching and learning and the ability to promote reflection and network in learners are also important. But, what is the role of the other player in the network environment, the students? It is not only important to consider the emerging role of online instructors without similar emphasis on that of the learners in this rapidly evolving educational environment. Successful online learning depends on the presence of self-directed learning, which are actually both a component and a result of online learning. Self-directed learning is not only a function of the instructional facilitator and the sponsoring institution but most important of all, the function of the individual learner.

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Are the students ready for online learning? Will they fit into the learner-centered approach based on constructivism that we are propagating? How Online learners as Salmon (2001) said explore information rather than accept what the emoderators determines should be learnt. They construct knowledge for themselves through interacting with online peers. Is this a reality with our students or is this more of an assumption. If the latter is true, than we should not only be talking about the training and development of the new kind of e-trainers and teachers, the new kind of e-learners need to be addressed. It was shown that the student who is more highly motivated and exhibits greater self-discipline is much more likely to succeed (Souder, 1993). In online learning, there is a need to facilitate students to be more self-directed, or to take more control of the own learning. However there is not much research related to established practices to facilitate students learning in an online environment. This study is an attempt to identify and describe some of those practices based on the review of relevant literature, collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.

Objective of the Study The main objective of the study is to analyze, identify and describe practices that facilitate learner control in an online learning environment. The specific objectives are: 1. To identify and describe some of the students’ characteristics that can facilitate their own learning online. 2. To identify and describe some of the students' computing skills that may facilitate their own learning online. 3. To determine the students’ use of computers such as the place, the purpose of use computer, communicating using computer and the purpose of using computer for learning 4. To determine students’ interaction online such the kinds of online interaction, the frequency of online interaction, the problems and benefits of online interaction. 5. To determine the students’ level of readiness in learning online and its association with some selected variables. 6. To analyze and describe some of the experiences of an instructor (author) in facilitating learner control in an online learning environment. 7. To identify and describe some of the practices related to facilitating learner control in an online environment. Methodology Both quantitative and qualitative data were employed in this study. Quantitative data were collected using the survey methods. Questionnaire schedules were distributed to students who attended a Business Communication course. They were from four different classes and each class was made up of students from three programs namely faculties of

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Information Technology, Business Administration and Humanities and Social Sciences. The data collected relates to three main sections of the questionnaire: 1. Items related to personal characteristics such as age, permanent residence, employment status, salaries, working experience, computer ownership, Internet connection, hours of using computer. 2. Items related to students’ computing knowledge and skills on selected computer applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, CD-ROMs, email, Internet search, developing a homepage, presentation tools and developing multimedia. The level of their familiarity, competency and frequency of usage are measured on those applications. 3. Items related to computer utilization such as places of using computer, purpose of using computer, people they communicate with using the computer, frequency of communications with those they communicate and purpose of learning using computer. 4. Items related to interactions using computer to learn online. They include the types of interactions used, the frequency of following online tutorial, barriers to online interaction and benefits of online interaction. 5. Items related to readiness. Thirty-four items are included in the measure. There were 139 questionnaires completed and returned to the researchers. The quantitative data were analyzed using the SPSS. Qualitative data collected was based on the experience of the researcher (Daing Zaidah Ibrahim) in teaching online. She taught Business Communication to undergraduate students from the faculties of Business Administration, Information Technology and Humanities and Social Sciences. The students are from various semesters. They are studying on part-time basis while some are full-time students. Those studying part-time are mostly working adults. Qualitative data are recorded and analyzed as observation.

Review of Literature Learner-control or learner-centered learning is used as a basis for developing practices for online learning. Learner control can be defined as (Doherty, 1998): 1. The degree to which the learner can direct his/her own learning experience 2. The degree to which individuals control the path, pace, and/or contingencies of instruction 3. The type of learning on the network that allows the students to control the depth of study, range of content, number and type of delivery media, and time spent on learning. Learners can also tailor the learning experience to meet their specific needs and interests. "Indeed, the learner control may be a continuum of instructional strategies in which the learner is provided with the option for controlling one or more of the parameters of the

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learning environment" (Doherty, 1998). In essence, learning online is a partnership. The instructor provides the leadership, designs the environment and manages the process. The learner on the other hand engages in the environment, collaborating with other learners, resources and experts to construct knowledge. Harasim (1997) indicated that online learners are those who come to learn together, at the time, place and pace that suits them and is appropriate for the task. They are self-directed learners. Learning is more studentcentered rather than teacher-centered. Constructivism In online learning, approaches to teaching and learning moves from being teachercentered to learner-centered based on constructivism. The debate between instructivist and constructivist approaches to teaching and learning continues throughout education and training (Kafai & Resnick, 1996, as cited in Reeves and Reeves, 1997). The "pedagogical philosophy" dimensions ranges from a strict instructivist structure to a radical constructivist one (Reeves & Reeves, 1997). Instructivist stresses the importance of objectives that exist apart from the learner. Objectives are sequenced into learning hierarchies, progressing from lower to higher order learning. Direct instruction is designed to address each of the objectives in sequence. Learners are viewed as passive recipients of instruction, treated as empty vessels to be filled with learning. By contrast, constructivist emphasizes the primacy of the learner's strategies (Reeves & Reeves, 1997). Here, learners construct different cognitive structures based upon their previous knowledge and experiences in different learning environments. It is therefore of utmost importance that learning environments be rich and diverse. Learners are not regarded as empty vessels but are full of pre-existing knowledge, aptitudes, motivations, and other characteristics that are difficult to assess and accommodate. The accomplishment of task and the solving of problems that have personal relevance are principles used to replace direct instructions. In order to employ constructivism it is therefore very important to know the online learners that are participating in a particular program or are involved in the learning environment. Their personal characteristic, competencies, reasons for participating in learning, barriers they faced should be known so that the learning can be designed to accommodate the diversities. Constructivist approaches then employs different learning techniques such as active learning, cooperative and collaborative learning to ensure students’ participation in the learning process. Knowing the students is important in order to engage students effectively in online learning. Active Learning Active learning describes a process rather than a product ( Bostock, 1997). Features of active learning are:

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1. Students responsibility and initiative to promote ownership of learning and transferable skills. 2. Intentional learning strategies, explicit methods of learning, reflection on learning processes, metacognitive skills. 3. Goal-driven, problem-solving tasks and projects generating learning products of values. 4. Teachers as facilitators, coaches and guides, not source of knowledge, requiring discussion between teachers and learners. 5. Authentic contexts for learning, anchored in real-world problem. 6. Authentic assessment strategies to evaluate real-world skills 7. Cooperative learning

Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is a relationship in a group of students that requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each student has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communications, trust, leadership, decision making and conflict resolution), face-to-face interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better). Cooperative learning can be applied to online learners. There is a difference between simply having students work in a group and structuring groups of students to work cooperatively (Rogers and Johnson, 2001). A group of students sitting at the same table doing their own work, but free to talk with each other as they work, is not structured to be cooperative group, as there is no positive interdependence. Perhaps it could be called individualistic learning with talking. For this to be a cooperative learning situation, there need to be an accepted common goal on which the group is rewarded for its efforts. Putting students into groups does not necessarily gain a cooperative relationship, it has to be structured and managed by the teacher or instructor. It is only under certain conditions that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than individualistic effort. These conditions are: 1. Clearly perceived positive interdependence 2. Considerable face-to-face interaction 3. Clearly perceived individual accountability and personal responsibility to achieve the groups' goals 4. Frequent use of the relevant interpersonal and small-group skills 5. Frequent and regular group processing of current functioning to improve the group's effectiveness

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Collaborative Learning Collaboration is the process of shared creation: two or more individuals with complementary skills interacting to create a shared understanding that none had previously possessed or could have come to on their own. Collaboration creates a shared meaning about a process, a product, or an event. In this sense, there is nothing routine about it. Something is there that wasn't there before. Collaboration can occur by mail, over the phone lines, and in person. But the true medium of collaboration is other people. Furthermore, collaboration is a purposive relationship based on a desire or need to solve a problem, create, or discover something with a set of constraints. The issue isn't communication or teamwork, it is the creation of value (Schrage, 1997). Schrage's model on collaborative learning consists of 13 themes: (1) competence; (2) a shared, understood goal; (3) mutual respect, thrust and tolerance; (4) creation and manipulation of shared spaces; (5) multiple forms of representation; (6) playing with the representations; (7) continuous but not continual communication; (8) formal and informal environments; (9) clear lines of responsibilities but no restrictive boundaries; (10) decisions do not have to made by consensus; (11) physical presence is not necessary; (12) selective use of outsiders for complementary insights and information; and (13) collaboration ends.

Principles of Online Learning Various principles of online learning have been indicated in the literature. Palmer (2001) mentioned 7 principles related to online learning. These are: 1. Feedback: There should be continuous feedback from instructors regarding students' progress and achievement. The feedback should be given immediately. Both formative and summative evaluation is important to monitor students' progress. 2. Expectations: The expectations from the students in the course should also be communicated. This is related to students' motivation and participation in the learning process. 3. Assignment on task: Monitoring of students' work schedules should be done closely. Immediate feedback should be given according to the students' progress in the course. 4. Student-teacher contact: Learning is more effective if instructors keep in close contact with the students. 5. Respect for diversity: The instructor has to encourage diversity among students and encourage sharing of experiences and ideas. 6. Active Learning: Online learning is more effective if there is active participation of students in the learning process. Involvement creates a sense of responsibility. 7. Cooperative learning: Online learning is also more effective if cooperative learning is encouraged among students. On the other hand, Grabinger and Dunlap (1997) listed five principles related to online learning. This includes active students’ involvement, meeting learners' needs and

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learning styles, value of participation, support for learners and value of variety of learning experiences. The above principles mentioned by Palmer (2001) and Hutton (1998) should be viewed together with principles of adult learning. After all adults are the populaces of online learning. Two of the major adult learning theories are andragogy and self-directed learning (Merriam, 2001). Andragogy was popularized by Knowles is defined as the art and science of teaching adults as opposed to the pedagogy which is the art and science of teaching children. It emphasizes some of the major differences between adults and children in approaching teaching-learning. Self-directed learning also emphasizes the importance of adults in directing their own learning based on the works of Tough, Houle, Knowles, Guglielmino, Brocket and Hiemstra and Grow (Merriam, 2001) Some of the principles of adult learning principles that are useful to facilitate learner control in an online learning environment are described by Moss (1987) and the Commmonwealth Youth Program (Abu Daud Silong & Shamsuddin Ahmad, 1997). Moss (1987) suggests eight principles of adult learning, which are: 1. Involvement: Learners should be actively involved in the learning activities. 2. Readiness: Learning will take place more quickly if we want to learn and are ready to learn. 3. Reinforcement: Repetition and meaningful exercises in a non-hostile environment will overcome "interference" from other learning 4. Intensity: Intense, dramatic or vivid experiences are likely to make an impression by capturing the attention and strengthening the impact 5. Association: Learning that is related to our own experiences is more likely to be remembered 6. Distribution: Learning that is distributed over several short lessons is more effective than if it is crammed into a single, long lesson 7. Effectiveness: Learning is more likely to occur when it is satisfying than when it is embarrassing or annoying. Approval encourages learning 8. Capacity: Most of us remain at a stage that is far below our actual capacity for learning, working and achieving Commonwealth Youth Program proposes nine principles of learning (Abu Daud Silong & Shamsuddin Ahmad 1997). They are: 1. Learner, not the teacher controls the learning. Learning is an experience, which occurs inside the learner and is activated by the learner. 2. Learning is the discovery of the personal meaning and relevance of ideas. It flourishes in learning situations that encourage people to explore and discover the meaning of learning activities for themselves 3. Learning is a consequence of personal experience.

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4. Learning is a cooperative and collaborative process. When people come together, they stimulate each other's curiosity, potential and creativity. This can be used to facilitate learning in a group. 5. Learning is an evolutionary process. Changes in behavior require time and come gradually. 6. Learning can be a painful process. It is not easy for someone to discard familiar ways of doing things and adopt new behaviors. Yet as part of the learning process it is often necessary to change old and comfortable ways of behavior, thinking and valuing. 7. The learner is a rich resource for learning. Each individual has experience, ideas, feelings and attitudes, which are rich resources for learning. 8. Learning is an emotional as well as an intellectual process. Learning is affected by the total state of the individual. People's feeling can interfere with and block communication and learning. 9. Learning is a highly individual and unique process. People should understand the approaches they ordinarily use in their learning, so they will be more effective in learning and problem solving.

Practices of Effective Online Learning Because of the complexity of delivering courses online there are often opportunities for misunderstanding, miscommunication, lost information and inaccuracies (Sherry, 1994). This will therefore prevent effective learning online. Some of practices that can be taken to reduce barriers to effective online learning as suggested by Wagner (1993); Walcott (1993); Klemm& Snell (1996); and Sherry (1994) include: 1. Instructors must be appropriate for an online environment. Experience in a presentation style of teaching only will be inappropriate for online learning. 2. Instructors must be able to adjust from the traditional teacher-led content model grounded in presenting information to a lecture-free focus on the process of learning. This will place the student to be in charge of the learning. 3. Instructors must be aware that the online environment is a non-continuous communication environment. They must therefore be able to appropriately pace and respond to student queries in such an environment. 4. Instructors must be aware not to allow the content of a course to lose its rigor. They must prevent oversimplification of content that can usually happen by presentation of complex issues in short bursts. 5. Technology limitations should not be allowed to support only superficial participation by students. Active participation must be ensured by various means. 6. Discussion format or any online synchronous tutorial or discussion must not reduce learning and deter critical thinking. Instructors must always be aware that discussions in such format must not be allowed to carry on for too long until it loses its focus of the initial topic. 7. Feedback on student work must be provided in a timely fashion. The quality and integrity of the educational process depends on sustained, two-way communication between students and instructors.

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8. Focus must always be on the instructional needs of the student and not only on technology. There are other practices suggested in distance learning literature that can help instructors prepare and deliver course online. Among these practices for preparation as suggested by Boston (1992); Hays (1990); and Klemm & Shell, (1996) are: 1. Prepare all materials well in advance of the course 2. Accept the online students obligations and adjust for realistic expectations when establishing objectives for the course 3. Instructors must understand and be comfortable with the hardware and software of the delivery model 4. Develop social protocols and rules for the delivery of the course and behavior of participants and include these in the syllabus 5. Over-prepare with multiple topics that can be kept active simultaneously As for delivery, some suggestions made by Graham & Wedman (1989) include: 1. Gaining the learner's attention: It is critical for instructors to know who the students are, understand their diverse situations, probe for issues that might affect their level of commitment. According to Boone (1996) this can reduce anxiety and build a bond between instructors and students. 2. Stating lesson objectives: Online students, due to heavy demands of their time, insist on having a clear understanding of the course objectives and the necessary output for achieving their goals related to the course. This information can be provided to students through a detailed syllabus filed online before the course begins. It should include course descriptions, course objectives, instructor's contact information, text, required reading materials and other references. It should also include assignments related to the course objectives, the evaluation and weekly topical outline. 3. Presenting information: Successful presentation of information will require learning of several tactics. There need to be adjustment of techniques to concise facilitation. There need also to be adjustments for pacing to weekly, asynchronous posting and also instructional materials to be distributed text and online resources. 4. Stimulating recall of prior learning: Online learning should take full advantage of this teaching technique. The threaded discussion and posting with the automatic documentation, allow prior conversations related to a particular topic to be easily captured. Ongoing response by students on other student input, instructor input, assigned reading or other occurrences related to an issue should be encouraged. 5. Guiding learning: In online learning delivery, where the model is not based on the instructor providing information, but on the process of learning which in driven by learner initiated inquiry (Teles, 1993), guiding learning in very critical. Instructors must be constantly alert for the "teachable moment". Regularity, pacing and feedback around certain topic areas demand self-discipline of both the instructor and the student. Multiple learning styles like assigning group collaboration projects; applying cases independently to experiences; supporting discussion threads with activities;

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encouraging cooperative learning; and having the students act as facilitators leading a discussion thread, should be encouraged. 6. Eliciting learner performance: The process nature of online course delivery opens opportunities for instructors to nurture and elicit work from students. Activities mentioned earlier lend themselves to papers and presentation by students as individuals and in the collaborative group format. If the instructor is clear about expectation students in online environment will be more comfortable about their involvement. 7. Providing feedback: Instructors must provide great amounts of immediate feedback to students, both collectively and individually, publicly and privately. This will keep students focused and foster critical inquiry. Feedback must also be timely for it to achieve a comfort level with new ideas. Findings This section describes the findings based on the quantitative and qualitative data that were collected and analyzed. It includes results from quantitative analysis such as the students' characteristics, computing knowledge and skills, level of readiness and level of attitudes towards online learning. The qualitative analysis indicated that author's experience of facilitating online learning. Students Characteristics The survey revealed that the respondents comprised of diverse groups. They come from three major fields of study, that is, information technology (61.1%), business administration (22.3%) and humanities and social sciences (16.6%). The are slightly more males (52.5%) than females (47.5%) and more students come from urban areas (81.4%) than rural areas (19.6%). The survey also revealed that the students were relatively young with an average age of 21.5 years. A majority of them (76.5%) performed moderately with (GPA of 2.00 - 3.00 points) and the mean CGPA is 2.62 points. A majority of students owned computers (79.1%) and have access to the Internet (79.1%). They use the computers at an average of 25.1 hours per week or about 3.6 hours per day. About one-third of the them use computers in the low category (34.6%), medium category (33.8%) and high category (32.6%). About one-fifth (21.7%) were working. Those working were comparatively older with an average of about 24.4 years as compared to an average of 20.7 years among those not working. The means of their ages were found to be significantly differently when the ttest was conducted. A majority of the working adults were new in their jobs and work an average of 3.57 years with an average income of 1501.00 per month. Refer to Table 1and Table 2 for statistics on selected students' characteristics.

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Students Computing Knowledge and Skills The students indicated high familiarity with computer applications such as e-mail (92.7%), Internet search (90.5%), word processing (80.3%) and CD-ROMS (71.5%). Other applications recorded slight-average familiarity such as spreadsheet (48.2%), developing homepage (46.0%), presentation tools (57.6%) and developing multimedia materials (24.4%) (Table 3) Similarly, a high proportion of the students indicated that they were competent in application such as word processing (65.4%), CD-ROMS (62.5%), Internet search (68.4%) and e-mail (75.8%). A lower proportion indicated that they were less competent. A very small proportion of them indicated that they were not competent in word processing (3.7%), email (0.7%), Internet search (1.5%), CD-ROMs (4.4%), spreadsheet (5.9%), presentation tools (4.4%), developing a homepage (8.9%) and developing multimedia materials (12.5%) (Table 4) Since they were familiar and competent in those applications, they use them often. A high proportion of them uses word processing (78.3%), email (94.9%), Internet search (88.4%) and CD-ROMs (65.2%). A lower proportion of them used such applications as spreadsheet (24.6%), developing a homepage (21.0%), presentation tools (33.4%) and developing multimedia materials (15.4%). Almost a negligible number of the students do not use word processing (3.6%), CD-ROMs (3.6%), and presentation tools. None do use email and Internet search (Table 5)

Students' Utilization of Computers A majority of the students used computers at home (66.9%) and at the university (61.2%). Only a small proportion used computers at cyber café (17.3%) and at office (17.3%) (Table 6) Most of the students spent time on the computers for studying (89.9%), surfing the Internet (87.8%) and communicating with others (70.5%). About one-third of them spent time on the computer for playing games (36.7%) and working (33.3%). Only a small number of them used computer for shopping (9.4%) (Table 7). They communicate to various groups of people such as friends, teachers, family members, net friends and office workers. A majority of them indicated that people they communicate most often on the computer are their friends (78.4%), followed by net friends (45.3%), teachers (36.0%) and family members (29.5%). Only a small number of them (13.7%) communicate with office workers. This is because a majority of the students are not-working (Table 8) A majority of the students used the computers to help them in their studies. A high proportion of them used the computers most often for doing assignments (96.6%), searching for references on the Internet (95.0%), preparing project paper (87.8%) and

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preparing for presentations (79.1%). A smaller proportion of them used the computers for following tutorial online (51.8%) communicating with lecturers (42.4%), discussing with friends (43.2%) and discussing with lecturers (34.5%) (Table 9).

Students Interactions in Online Learning The students used both synchronous and asynchronous interactions in their online learning. A majority of them indicated that they follow real time online tutorial using computer conferencing (86.7%) and used other modes of asynchronous interactions such as chats (83.1%), forum (86.7%) and online discussion (89.5%) (Table 10) A majority of them follow the online interactions about 1-3 times (90.5%), averaging about 2-3 times per week. A majority of them follow online interactions for 1-3 hours per week (47.6%) or 4-6 hours per week (39.7%), averaging about 4.8 hours a week. (Table 11) They encounter several problems when following the online interactions. A majority indicated that they faced problems such as difficulty of getting connected, get disconnected during online session with the lecturers or tutors (66.1%), unclear voice when interacting online (66.1%) and technical problems (64.5%). Only a small proportion of them faced problems such as difficulty of getting computers (19.4%) and cannot afford the Internet charges (9.7%) (Table 12) They indicated various benefits in following synchronous interactions. More than threequarters of them (75.8%) said that they major benefit of following synchronous interaction is that they do not have to attend classes. More than half-them (59.7%) indicated that it makes their learning easier. Other reasons include saving on expenses (40.3%), more comfortable following online interaction than face-to-face meetings and can understand better following online class (Table 13). Students' Readiness and Attitudes towards Online Learning Three-quarters of the students (74.8%) were only moderately ready for online learning. A small proportion (2.2%) showed low level of readiness and about one-quarter (23.0%) showed a high level of readiness towards online learning (Table 14). Similarly the students indicated only moderate level of attitude towards online learning. A high proportion of them (86.3%) indicated moderate level of attitude while only a small proportion in the high (11.5%) or low (2.2%) levels of attitude towards online learning. (Table 14) When further tests were conducted to determine relationship between selected personal characteristics to level of readiness and attitude some significant results was observed. The results indicated that age had a strong and significant relationship with level of readiness (Table 15). On the other hand, the results also showed that male respondents

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had significantly more positive attitude than female students and those with computers had more significantly more positive attitudes than those without computers (Table 16) Computing skills had significant relationship with level of attitude when the Pearson Correlation was conducted. All aspects such as level of familiarity, level of competency and frequency of application showed significant results at the 0.05 level of confidence. Only frequency of applications indicated significant relationship with level of readiness (Table 15).

Experience in Facilitating Online Learning This observation is based on the author's experience in teaching undergraduate students at UNITAR, the first virtual university in Malaysia. The virtual learning is supported by VOISS (Virtual Online Instructional Support System). It includes various interactive learning modes such as discussion online, tutorial online, consultation and providing feedback. Interaction can be performed synchronously and asynchronously. The VOISS also provides other features such materials online, schedule, updates, assignments, instructors' information and students' information. In essence VOISS is the main delivery mechanism for virtual learning in UNITAR. One of the requirements for UNITAR students is to attend online tutorial. It is carried out synchronously. It is usually carried out for two hours per session. Students will "log-on" from their homes, offices and study centers. Instructors conduct the tutorials from their own personal computers. Usually the tutorials are not fully attended. Most of the time about 60.0% of the class attends the tutorials online. Some of the reasons cited for not attending were students have to work, they have no facilities to access to the Internet and because of the frequent problems faced when attending the tutorials. These problems include such as not being able to hear clearly what the instructors were talking about or see what has been written on the screen of their computers. The online tutorial is supposed to be an opportunity to interact with lecturers and other students. Students are expected to study the course materials first and participate in discussions as well as ask instructors to clarify anything that they were not sure of. But most of the time these do not happen. Although online and virtual learning enables students to assume much of the responsibility for their own learning, nevertheless it does not eliminate certain expectations they have of their instructors. Students expect them to be the "expert" giving explanations and delivering the content which they should have acquired themselves. The traditional expectation of a teacher still remains among students. The online tutorial is not as active as it should be, it is sometimes just another delivery session by the instructor that happens online.

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Most of the time students only kept to the materials given to them, they only learnt what is required and do not explore information beyond what was given. Maybe this is the case for courses that lead to the awarding of a degree where students are very concerned about getting through, meeting the requirements and getting a degree. The instructors put up announcements in the announcement module for students reminding them of their face-to-face meetings and online tutorials. The assignment modules are used to post assignments. Online discussion can also be conducted asynchronously, where the instructor can put a topic in the forum module and students are invited to participate in the discussion on the topic. Active participation is noted only when instructor informs students that they will be given marks for their participation. The email is used for interaction between the instructor and the students. Most of the time students use the email to ask for help pertaining to course materials, when they cannot access course materials and request for materials to be sent to them individually. Also the students used the email to ask instructor to send them the assignments posted because they cannot gain access to the assignment module. Other requests include permission to submit assignments later than the due date, permission to be absent from the face-to-face meetings and online tutorials. Their attendance is compulsory. Very seldom are questions and discussions asked go beyond the content given. It would be very interesting to make a content analysis of the emails that instructors get from students to support this observation. However it is observed that students ask more questions during the online tutorial as compared to during face-to-face meetings. It is also noted that students in both the email and online tutorial ask a lot about examinations, what format will it be, what will it covers, indicating that they are very concerned about examinations.

Discussion Online learning is a new phenomenon and it is the emerging paradigm of learning in the 21st century. One of the major contentions of online learning is that there is a significant shift of control from the teacher to the student. This is because online learning reduces or eliminates face-to-face meetings between instructors and students. It encourages students to learn from any where, any place, any time and at their own pace. They can do this by interacting online, either synchronously or asynchronously. However, can the students learn successfully or effectively online by themselves? Do they need the guidance of the instructors or tutors? The emerging answers are they can, using the right approach. Much of this approach depends on the learning theory of constructivism. Constructivism encourages active learning. It would engage students to collaborate and cooperate in learning activities. By doing so, they are able to construct their own knowledge, bringing in their own experiences, diverse backgrounds and knowledge that they have as a rich resource of learning. In contrast, instructivist assumes students are "empty vessels" and they need to

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be filled with information. Following the constructivist notion of learning, then learning becomes more of a discovery and problem-solving activities to students. They are active participants of learning and the instructors become more of a guide at the side. Of course this kind of learning elicit different principles to be followed. The literature suggests that adult education learning principles and principles of online learning may be appropriate in the learner-control environment. The fact that the learners are the active players, the instructors will play more as facilitators will. The central question asked in this research is, what are the practices that help to facilitate learner control in an online environment. The research indicated that there is some sort of reluctance among students to take control of their own learning. This may be because of the inherent expectations in the Malaysian culture that students are the passive players while the instructors are the active players. As such a majority of the students are moderately ready for online learning. They also have moderate level of attitude towards online learning. Research indicated that their competencies in computing skills are high. They have high level of familiarity with some of the major computer applications, have high level of competencies and used those computer applications often. A majority of them owned computer with Internet connections. As such technically they are sound. Most probably the traditional way of learning where instructors are very much in control play a strong influence and barriers for students to take control of their own learning in an online environment. Given the significant of learner control in online learning, what are the practices that we can develop to facilitate the kind of leaning? Based on the study several practices that can be developed are as follows: 1. Accommodating diversity as a rich resource of learning: Based on the study the students come from varied backgrounds. They are of different ages, different working experiences (some without working experiences), different gender groups, different incomes groups, come from urban and rural areas and those with different computing skills and knowledge. These varied backgrounds can become a hindrance but they can also facilitate collaborative and cooperative learning. 2. Knowing the students readiness and attitudes towards online learning: A majority of students are moderately ready for online learning. Their levels of attitude towards online learning are also moderate. Educating, motivating and counseling students on the need to take control of their own learning is a difficult process but in the long run we can create better learners. Mature students, especially among the working adults are basically more ready than non-working students. Thus more time should be given to non-working students 3. Communicating and interacting online: Instructors should communicate and interact effectively with the students online. Both the synchronous and asynchronous modes of communication should be used. Synchronous mode can include computer conference, forum and also online discussion. Asynchronous mode can include email,

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online discussion, forum and frequently asked question sessions. Regular and immediate feedback must be given to students inquires as well as assignments. Feedback can be given individually or collectively, publicly or privately. 4. Preparation and presenting content: The instructors should give adequate time in preparing the learning materials. Students will spent a lot of time interacting with the online materials. If the materials are a full source of reference then it should be properly prepared, taking care of the design of the materials. It should adequately cover the syllabus. However in an online learning environment, the online materials is more useful to be provided as a guide. References can be provided on print and also as links to other online sources. In this way the students can also play a part in developing the materials through collaborative and cooperative learning. Information should be given that allows adequate pacing for students to follow. 5. Facilitating active participation by students: Instructors should encourage learning not based on the instructor providing information, but engaging students in process of learning which is initiated and driven by the students. In this kind of learning facilitation of students to participate meaningful in the learning activities are critical. Multiple learning styles that accommodate students' diversity can be used such as assigning collaborative group projects, developing projects that relate to students' experience, moderating online discussion on certain topics, developing cooperative learning projects, and encouraging students to act as facilitators in online discussion. Participation should not be limited to superficial "log-in" attendance, but must be ensured that they engaged in discussion by various means. 6. Monitoring students' performance: Continuous evaluation of students' performance is necessary for effective learning online. Evaluation should give adequate attention to students' work based on their collaboartive and cooperative projects that were developed in the course. The course expectations must be clearly communicated to students. Immediate feedback must also be given for assignments given to students. Recommendations Based on the study, it can be concluded that online learning is relatively new phenomenon in the country. Shifting the learning control from the instructor to the students is a crucial factor for its success. Cultural and social factors may play more important role than technological factors in deciding success of facilitating learnercontrol in an online environment. Levels of students' readiness and attitudes towards online learning are only moderate. On the other hands, students computing knowledge and skills are high, and most of them own their PCs and have access to the Internet. Students' diversity is not well recognized as a rich source of knowledge, which is vital in learner-control online learning environment. Active participation of students in online interactions is still lacking. A majority of them are involved in online interaction but mainly for fulfilling the requirements of the course. There is little evidence to show that students are actively involved in constructing

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knowledge through cooperative and collaborative learning. The research also concludes that they used both synchronous and asynchronous interactions for online learning. But their involvement is mainly because of course requirements. Though the research indicate that there is high utilization of computers for studying, but it is mainly for carrying out their individual assignments and projects. They spent time communicating to friends and lecturers, but do not provide adequate time for online discussion. They focus more on asking questions related to the course such scheduling, due dates for assignments and examinations. Thus facilitation of online learning is necessary. The most effective practices to facilitation need to be developed in teaching-learning in the online environment. Based on the discussion several recommendations can be forwarded to improve present practices for online learning. 1. Students should be given adequate training before they enroll in any online courses. They should be mentally ready and should have the right attitude towards the learnercontrol learning environment. Training should also be given to students on computing knowledge and skills, especially related to computer applications that they are going to use in their online learning. 2. There should be adequate information related to students before each course begins. Their backgrounds are important to ensure that the instructors can incorporate them into the learning activities. 3. Adequate administrative and technical support should be provided to students engage in self-directed learning. If they are "stuck" during the course of learning, then they know that they can get help and proceed with their studies. 4. The instructors should be given adequate training related to the technology and pedagogy of online learning. Most of the online instructors are converted from the traditional classroom teachers. Much need to be learned and relearned related to the new practices of online learning.

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