Student reflections of online learning experiences

The gap in research about online learning has been the use of a structure for examining the student's perspective regarding their development as an online learner. The School of Applied Vision Sciences has been using asynchronous discussion groups to facilitate the application of theoretical knowledge to professional practice experiences by discussion of lecturer and student provided case scenarios for the past 5 years. Careful orientation activities prepare the students for not only the technical aspects of online discussions but also the pedagogy of effective online communication. This includes integration of Salmon's (2000) 5-stage model of learning online through computer-mediated conferencing to the orientation activities. The impact of both the orientation sessions and academic performance has been reported previously by the authors showing an increase in student interactivity after the orientation sessions and varying correlations between student participation results and related practical and written assessment (Wozniak & Silveira 2004; Silveira, Wozniak & Heard 2004). What has been lacking is the student's perspective. During 2004 a group of 35 undergraduate orthoptic students were asked to reflect on their readiness for e-learning by reviewing Salmon's model both before and after their participation in online discussions. These written student reflections were coded independently by the two researchers and major themes identified. This presentation will present these findings and draw conclusions regarding effective strategies for supporting the student learning experience through the use of ICT, and in particular asynchronous discussions.