Online Learning in Higher Education: Contributors to the Tipping Point in a South African Institution

Sarah-Anne ArnoldUniversity of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business

Presented at e/merge 2012: Open to Change, Cape Town11-13 July 2012

Increasing ICT adoption in developed economies (Livingstone, 2011)

Challenging tertiary institutions from the inside (Czerniewicz & Brown, 2009)

Hype about disruptive nature of ICT in HE (Christensen & Eyrling, 2011)

Change in Higher Education (HE)

This study addresses the problem of identifying when online learning will move from minority use to the mainstream, and in particular aims to identify the main factors leading to the Tipping Point of online learning adoption in a department at a selected South African higher education institution (HEI).

Tipping Point Framework (Gladwell, 2000)

21st century students 20th century academic staff 19th century institutions

1. Environment: Is the higher education institutions (HEIs) environment conducive for online learning adoption?

2. Properties: What is the attraction of online learning adoption?

3. Messengers: Who are the decision-makers in online learning adoption?

Context of the Study

Country:South Africa

HEI:University of Cape Town, Western Cape

No national policy for ICT in HE (Czerniewicz & Brown, 2009)

Ranked 72nd out of 142 countries in the Networked Readiness Index (WEF NRI, 2012)

Slow broadband speeds (Net Index, 2011)

High connectivity costs (WEF NRI, 2012)

ICTs and South Africa

Academic Staff Interviews

Adoption Categorization Sample

One department (located in Engineering and the Built Environment faculty).

Six academic staff (two full-time lecturers, a professor, a part-time lecturer, a programme convener and a head of department).

Standard semi-structured, open-ended set of questions.

Interview length 40 – 75 minutes. Conducted between the 12th October

and the 9th November 2011. All interviews were recorded and

immediately transcribed verbatim by the researcher and analysed for further direction.

Rogers Adoption Categorization on the Basis of Innovativeness (Rogers, 2003, p. 281)

Research Interview Questions

How would you characterize the role of online learning in your department?

What are the benefits of using the online learning tools you use?

What are the disadvantages of using the online learning tools you use?

How are the online learning tools used or integrated into

or with offline learning?

In relation to learning, have you seen any significant changes at UCT?

What will lead to large-scale adoption of online learning in your

department?

Given my interest in online learning is there anything else I should ask you

or you wish to share?

21st Century Students ‘Now this little creature [student] is something

different’ (Academic Staff Interview, 2011)

‘So they [students] are putting the pressure on [lecturers] to use [the LMS] as a means of communication with them and for sharing of material and resources’ (Academic Staff Interview, 2011)

Student Survey Results Preferred channel to address course

administrative issues is Vula (the LMS)

Preferred channel to communicate with lecturers is UCT email account

Preferred channel to communicate with classmates is in person

Preferred location to study or learn is at home

20th Century Academic Staff ‘Technology is a tool. It isn’t teaching. It is a

tool so if I feel I um, the tools I currently use are fine why should I change? Just because it's a fad, and it’s popular and it’s fast... why use it if you feel your existing tools are fine. Is that a dinosauric approach?’ (Interview Professor, 2011)

‘It is a passion [online learning]… But it didn’t make me an expert.’ (Interview Champion of Online Learning, 2011)

19th Century Institutions ‘But the question as an institution is, what is

your potential to attract people like that? What are you doing about developing people like that? Do you fire them if they are not spitting out three papers? There is a point we could say as an institution if we took teaching and learning very seriously we would show more evidence of it in recruitment and promotion processes.’ (Interview HOD, 2011)

EnvironmentIs the HEI’s environment conducive for online learning adoption?

Global

Local

Institution

• Information Revolution

• Knowledge Economy

• Connected Societies

• Notion of “Modern University”

• Internet speed• Internet cost• Device

ownership• Increasing

student numbers & diversity

• Policy (contact HEI)

• Identity (research HEI)

• Culture (autonomous decision-making)

• Values

PropertiesWhat is the attraction of online learning adoption?

Stage 2: Persuasion (Rogers, 2003)Relative Advantage

Compatibility

Complexity

Trialability Observability

Time Values Understand Access VisibilityCosts Practice Learn Projects DiscussionEffectiveness

Needs Use Interest

Convenience

Past Experience

New skills Uptake

Quality Social norms

Social prestige

Online Learning Attraction Greatest adoption (and motivation to adopt) was seen when lecturers

experienced a relatively high state of dissatisfaction with their current situation.

Dissatisfaction with a current state seemed to consistently originate from three key variables: increasing student numbers, increasing diversity in the student population and decreasing student interactionand engagement.

The perceived advantages of the LMS and its value to academic staff and students were attracting lecturers to take up online learning. Relative advantages included: time saved on administrative tasks and increased quality of communication and interaction in teaching.

Relative advantage and compatibility seemed strongest in persuading adoption.

MessengersWho are the decision-makers in online learning adoption in relation to the environment?

Indirect Drivers

Student Drivers

Lecturer

• Past experiences• Perceptions• Beliefs, Values• Interests / Motivations• Needs (unsatisfactory)

• Course evaluations

• Collective requests and pressure

• Increasing workloads• Increasing student

numbers• Widening diversity

amongst undergraduates• Regaining student

engagement and interaction

• Notion of a 21st century HEI

Conclusion The environment has a significant influence on individuals within any

system. These pressures are forceful in that they are complex and uncontrollable. The HE landscape is becoming increasingly competitive as individuals and organisations keep up on the treadmill of technology, information and progress.

Epidemics occur when a system in equilibrium receives a particular sort of jolt (Daynes, Esplin & Kristensen, 2004). Referring to the three HE environments – global, local and institutional – it would appear institutionally individual efforts have jolted other lecturers into action, resulting in pockets of innovation across the HEI. As individuals are susceptible to their immediate surroundings and nearby personalities (Gladwell, 2000) it would seem a jolt in the local or global HE environment (for example entry of an acclaimed international HEI into the South African HE market) would have greater force in pushing senior leadership/management into addressing online learning and its role in a university.

… continued The attractive properties (Gladwell, 2000) of online learning in the South

African context look as if they are helping academic staff service a changing student body. The current ‘Mavens’ (Gladwell, 2000) or champions of online learning in HEIs have started the epidemic by providing the message of innovation. However ‘Mavens’ do not make ‘Salesmen’ (Gladwell, 2000): the latter who are essential for online learning to reach critical mass. The strongest persuaders in the current context (HEI culture and policies) are most likely to be the ‘relative advantage’ (Rogers, 2003) that online learning offers lecturers as they struggle to fulfill the increasing demands of their three roles – administration, teaching and research.

References Czerniewicz, L. & Brown, C. (2009) A virtual wheel of fortune? Enablers and constraints of ICTs in higher

education in South Africa. In S. Marshall, W. Kinuthia, & W. Taylor (Eds.), Bridging the knowledge divide: Educational technology for development. Colorado: Information Age Publishing.

Christensen, C. M., & Eyring, H. J. (2011) The Innovative University: Changing the DNA of Higher Education from the Inside Out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Daynes, G., Esplin, P., & Kristensen, K. (2004) Learning as an epidemic: The tipping point, Freshman Academy, and institutional change. Perspectives, 8(4), 113-118.

Gladwell, M. (2000) The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. London, Abacus. Livingstone, S. (2011) Critical reflections on the benefits of ICT in education. Oxford Review of Education,

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http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/28756- best-broadband-speeds-in-south-africa.html [31 August 2011].

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