Summary of the project

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Introduction

The Government has recognised that education is the key to overcoming social exclusion. There are many research studies that indicate that learning can improve health, community participation, parenting, family life and economic and social life (Haggart, 2000; Aldridge and Lavender, 2000; Department of Health, 2000; Cabinet Office, 2000). However, the national education and training system is not addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged people (The Policy Action Team's Report, 2000). Online Learning is a new approach which may be able to address the problems that the traditional education system presents.

This project will investigate the potential of online learning to overcome social exclusion through a comparison of different approaches. It will consider access (comparing home and public access), ICT competency, design of the online course, different models of online learning delivery, retention, learning skills and learning support (e.g. Tutors, learning centre staff and family and friends). This will enable the project to identify the factors that influence participation, drop out and successful completion in relation to learners who are socially or economically disadvantaged in particular focussing on older learners, young people, disabled adults and black and ethnic minority groups.

Education is often implemented using a top down approach and we are committed to ensuring that the views and experience of the socially disadvantaged learner are recorded to ensure that it influences decision makers and practitioners. Online learning is developing rapidly so the project will continuously disseminate outcomes throughout the project with a final report and conference to provide a summative dissemination effort.

The aims of the research project

2. identify the factors that influence participation, drop out and successful completion in online learning especially in relation to learners who are socially or economically disadvantaged, in particular focussing on:

3. listen to the voice of the socially disadvantaged learner and enable their voice to be heard

4. disseminate the results of research throughout and at the end of the project in order to influence the development of online learning.

A detailed description of the project

Online learning is now being implemented on a large scale and targeting adults who are returning to learning (i.e. socially disadvantaged). This project aims to investigate the factors which allow online learning to fulfil its potential to overcome the barriers that socially disadvantaged adults encounter.

The project will compare and contrast different approaches to online learning and their impact on learners who are socially or economically disadvantaged (e.g. young people, disabled people, ethnic minorities and older learners). The project will identify online learning courses offered by the Open University, learndirect and others (e.g. National Extension College, Further Education colleges and commercial organisations). The online courses will be analysed against an agreed framework to identify the structure and design of the course including types of support and assessment methods in order to identify their suitability for the learners.

Within the research we will compare:

For each selected course a cohort of socially disadvantaged learners will be identified at the start of their online learning experience. The research staff will track them through their learning experience in order to document their experience. This will include assessing their personal situation (e.g. family commitments, previous educational experience and background) as well as their access to the course (e.g. home and public access) and their motivation for undertaking the course. This will involve the use of questionnaires, interviews, observation and group approaches such as focus groups. It will involve seeking the learners agreement to take part in the research and regular contact with them.

Each learner will be tracked through a whole cycle of their learning in order to investigate all the factors involved. A cycle could represent an entire course of study (e.g. learndirect) or a unit of a longer course (e.g. Open University, six month module). This will enable the whole process to be considered. All forms of open and distance learning have lower retention rates than conventional approaches. Lower retention is often seen as the critical weakness of open and distance learning of which online learning is a part. This is often identified as due to the learner being isolated.

The communication aspects of online learning are regarded as having the potential to overcome isolation. Retention has therefore been identified as a key factor and the project will aim to interview 100% of all learners who fail to complete their courses in order to fully understand why the experience has been unsuccessful.

A critical factor in the project is to ensure that the views and experience of the socially disadvantaged learners are heard. Communities have often been at the receiving end of well-intentioned developments which have failed to consult them on their methods, appropriateness and suitability. It is a fundamental part of this project to gain the co-operation of the learners in order that decision-makers and practitioners are aware of their needs and experience.

A major element of the project is to disseminate its findings to the online learning community, decision-makers, practitioners and other researchers. This will be undertaken by a continuous process of dissemination activities including publications and conferences with a major event at the end of the project. The project will also seek to engage the online community in discussing the outcomes of the research through the use of mailgroups and online seminars as well as visits to review other projects and encouraging practitioners to visit our project.

During the project we will:

1. undertake a world wide review of the evidence for online learning.
2. develop the research instruments (e.g. questionnaires, interview structures, learner diaries etc).
3. pilot the instruments and approaches in order to ensure their effectiveness.
4. identify online courses and cohorts of learners and track them through a cycle of experience.
5. disseminate outcomes continuously.
6. analyse results.
7. influence decision makers and practitioners.

A detailed analysis of the need identified

Some of the characteristics of a disadvantaged community are (Clarke, 1999; Maynard,1998; The Policy Action Team's Report, 2000; Rahman et al, 2000):

The Policy Action Team’s report (2000) on skills stated that the national education and training system was not addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged people with many adults feeling they had nothing to gain. Many disadvantaged adults are unconvinced of the relevance of learning to their lives. They are likely to lack confidence in their own abilities to succeed at learning. These are general statements of disadvantage while specific problems of access also apply such as:

The major challenge is to persuade socially excluded communities that learning is relevant and beneficial to them.

Many socially or economically excluded adults have had a poor initial experience of education (The Policy Action Teams' Report, 2000). This has left them with little inclination to take part in traditional educational activities in traditional settings (e.g. classroom, college etc.). However, they are willing to take part in learning activities in community locations (McGivney, 2000; Wood, 2000). Information and communication technology is often a motivating force to take part in learning activities and events. The National Strategy for Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy skills (Skills for Life report, 2000) reported that fifty percent of adults with poor literacy and numeracy skills would be motivated to improve these skills if it involved learning on a computer. The IT Awareness Raising for Adults project (Clarke, 1998) reported that information technology could motivated socially disadvantaged adults to take part in further learning.

Online learning has the potential to contribute to removing some of the barriers which people who are socially or economically disadvantage face when accessing learning opportunities. Online learning can provide learning opportunities:

Online learning is also seen as having an additional advantage over conventional education in that it allows the learner to represent themselves through their work before, if ever, having to reveal details of their age, race, disability or gender. This allows online learning to have an enormous potential as a force for equality in education. People are judged by their contribution not by any stereotype that their peers or teachers may hold.

However, online learning is a relatively new development with research and other evidence only partially available. A great deal of the evidence is based on the experience of universities delivering learning to students in higher education. How much of this is transferable to the delivery of learning to socially disadvantaged people is difficult to assess. The Universities Association for Continuing Education (Field, 2001) in evidence to ESRC about online learning stated that little research has been undertaken on 'how the learning actually takes place' and 'how such learning can be supported'. They suggest that online learning research should become a significant priority.

Online learning is the outcome of a convergence of extant, new, and emerging technologies with a range of education and training approaches. It is a broad term and includes Computer Meditated Learning, Computer Mediated Communication, Web Based Learning and Instruction. It includes a whole range of options including individual and collaborative learning, informal and formal learning, downloadable learning materials, conferencing systems, student support, student/tutor interaction, student/student interaction, and administration.

In Great Britain there are many online learning initiatives underway based on a wide range of models and approaches. However, there are two major approaches to online learning provided by:

In both cases experience of delivering online learning is extremely limited although both are providing courses for tens of thousands of people. Initial experience has shown that there are many key issues to ensure that the learning experience is successful. These include access to technology, learners ICT and learning skills, learning support in many forms, design of the course and tutor skills. There is very little practical experience and independent research evidence. This is made worse by the pace of implementation with major initiatives underway at a far faster pace than practice and evidence can be gathered. The UK Online Learning Centres initiative will have established 6000 centres by 2003. learndirect are aiming to provide online learning for millions of adults in the next few years.

There is clearly a need to consider online learning methods and approaches in the context of socially disadvantaged adults. In particular there is a need to investigate:

References

Aldridge, F. and Lavender, P. (2000). The Impact of Learning on Health, NIACE

Cabinet Office (2000). National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal: A Framework for Consultation

Clarke, A. (1998). IT Awareness Raising for Adults, Department for Education and Employment

Clarke, A. (1999). Learning Centres in Hackney, unpublished report for Hackney Adult Education Service

Department of Health (1999). Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, Department of Health

Department of Trade and Industry (2000). Closing the Digital Divide: Information and Communication Technologies in Deprived Areas, PAT 15

Field, J. (2001). Response to ESRC Consultation on Phase III of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme, UACE

Haggart, J. (2000). Learning Legacies A Guide to Family Learning, NIACE

Maynard, S. (1998). Hackney Lifelong Learning Research, Maynard and Associates

McGivney, V. (2000). Recovering Outreach: Concepts, Issues and Practices, NIACE

Rahman, M. et al. (2000). Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion, New Policy Institute, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Skills for Life Report (2000). The National Strategy for Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy Skills, Department for Education and Skills

Wood, A. (2000). A Guide to Outreach with Laptops, NIACE