L2 3 5

=Institutional policies define requirements for appropriate use of communication channels. =

Evidence
Standards and guidelines define the quality of teaching, build consensus about the process of developing a course and help staff learn good practice. They can help to ensure that resources are well used. They can also serve as a check list when evaluating online learning. However, it is noted that quality standards and guidelines must not become more important than outcomes. And also, as reiterated by Meyer (2003), some guidelines are not based on research.

Some students may feel that staff communication is unprofessional in some formats. For example most institutions don’t yet have a policy on the use of social networking sites to communicate with students. Should students and teachers be Facebook friends? It may be that as long as the use of the tool is related to learning then this is ok. There may be a lot of benefit to be gained from extending learning relationships into the places that students spend time anyway. However, some interactions are necessarily formal and should be treated as such. Asking for extensions on assignments probably shouldn’t be done via Facebook. In any case institutional policies are required so students and teachers alike know what to expect (Prabhu 2008).

Wang (2008) explains four categories of facilitation in online interactions: intellectual, social, managerial, and technical. The managerial component is important for keeping discussions focussed, monitoring discussion processes and inviting missing members. Forum management also involves establishing netiquette, the norms and ground rules, expected participation, and the proper use of language. Facilitators should enter discussion forums frequently to check on participation. Wang’s results further demonstrate that summarizing discussions was perceived by students to be the top facilitation skill.

Boettcher (2006) advises against putting anything on a discussion forum that you wouldn’t want to see on the front page of a newspaper.

Seabrook (2001) identifies that flame (and other disruptive) messages are a persistent problem for discussion groups. Undesirable posts can have a significant effect on group membership and ongoing discussion. Communication tools need to be monitored and ground rules set in order to avoid this kind of disruption. As well as guidelines for moderators, filters may have some effect.

Lewis (2006) explains how the very fact of putting one’s opinions and comments into a public space may cause anxiety, fear of perceived criticism, or cultural concerns especially where English is not the student’s first language. Lewis’ study showed that some online facilitation styles are seen as problematic. In particular, domineering facilitation, the lecturer always having the last word, or being particularly critical of students’ comments were identified as damaging to the learning process.

Resources
Inglis (2005) notes that guidelines should be developed in consultation with all stakeholders. Guidelines alone may not ensure quality (Meyer 2003), but should be used in conjunction with a number of sources that give evidence of quality within and specific to the organization and its expectations.

Inglis (2007) has further found that there are 2 broad types of ways in which institutions are communicating e-learning strategy. The first is through discrete e-learning strategy documents and the second is embedding e-learning strategy in more general documents. Comparison of the documents at many universities showed that when e-learning strategies are embedded in general documents that the range of aspects of e-learning covered tends to be less. Inglis concludes that there is currently no consensus on what information these documents should contain or how they ought to be structured. However, he speculates that employing a standard approach will bring benefits to universities and groups of universities.

Milne & White (2005) collect together twenty-three sets of e-learning quality guidelines from an array of geographical regions. Such guidelines, or something like them, should be part of the support offered to staff by their organizations. Staff need guidelines, and examples of good practice.