02.1+Technology

//Submitted by Heather Weltman//

Learning online is a convenient and flexible method of learning allowing "members to interact and learn together" (Wenger 2006). It allows learning to take place “ no matter what you are doing”, (Downes 2005). When implementing an online course, one therefore needs to consider a few issues to ensure the learner fully benefits from the experience. One needs to consider who the learners are and where they live or what country the course will be presented in. With different rules, regulations and cultures across the globe, a course may require minor changes to achieve the required learning outcomes. Besides the cultural differences, technical issues also need to be considered.

Using the successfully run online course IEC developed for their Australian students, they decided to deliver the same course in Shanghai. Considering the large population of China which by the end of December 2009 was over 1.3 billion people, of which 384 million were internet users (China Internet Network Information Centre), this is potentially a market that would benefit from online courses, as large numbers of people can be trained at minimal cost. Despite there being more internet users in China than there are in the United States, this figure makes up only 29% of the total population of China (Reuters Jan 2010), with the majority of internet users living in one of the four big cities rather than the small cities or rural areas. The IEC moderator noticed that she did not have too many questions regarding the technology, as participants were generally comfortable with the site. Students on the course had experience using computers at work, they were therefore computer literate. 100% of the students had previously been enrolled in online courses, however, feedback from them was that the courses taken did not require online feedback, the courses revolved around content being online. Despite being computer literate and having completed other online courses, the moderator noticed that online participation was very different to that of the participants in the Australian course. The Chinese course had very low levels of activity online, yet they had all chosen to enrol in the course; they were not required by their companies to attend. So why was the participate rate so low? From a technological point of view, issues that need to be considered when running an online course in China are: Internet Access: ** Although internet access in the large cities are generally via broadband, there are still a number of users who rely on dial up or low-bandwidth connections. This can affect the ability to deliver courses as this makes it more difficult to deliver audio or video transmissions. In our case study, students in Australia doing the course had the luxury of watching a YouTube video to reinforce a point. However, students in the Shanghai course were unable to, as the YouTube video was blocked in China. Thus the benefit the video would have added to the course was lost. Location of Computers: ** Unlike Australia where most learners have access to their own computers, many Chinese rely on internet café/ bars or work computers to connect to the internet. Aside from the added cost, the former option is not really conducive to learning. Companies may also restrict their employees from using company computers for personal work/study especially during work hours. From the survey of the IEC students, 66% of the students stated that they had used computers at work when accessing the IEC online course. Time: ** Due to the busy nature of the learner’s lives, time was a big factor preventing them from being able to meet their online commitments. They felt it was not a priority and thus they forgot to check the site. Some comments from the survey the IEC students completed were: “could there be an email reminder sent to our personal email if someone sent a response to a thread or something? Otherwise we might not think to log in if mandy didn’t remind us.” “past experience with online training just limit to materials, no feedback required, so not used to checking back on a regular basis. Face to face component is very much engaging.” “you need time to be familier with each category, not difficult but it takes time.” Internet Censorship & Monitoring: ** China’s “Golden Shield Program” comprises of regulations allowing the Chinese government to constantly monitor what is happening on the internet. With an estimated 30,000 internet police and advanced censoring technology, individual citizens including businesses are very careful and tend to ‘self-censor’ what they upload to the internet and what sites they visit. Unlike Cornford’s (1999) example, where people slow down after they have seen a police car, people in China are constantly aware of “The Great Firewall of China” which blocks sites resulting in people being fined or jailed as the government tries to control and track internet activity (Laogai Researach Foundation, 2005). Considering the low activity in the case study, could this have been due to a subconscious fear of being 'watched' online.

One of the participants in Ardichvili (2006) study commented that "China is more of a people-oriented society .... we value face-to-face communication. In regard to communication and information sharing in China, Ardichvili (2006) states that "face-to-face communication is the first, followed by phone calls, and by e-mails". This is interesting as one of the participants on the IEC course, felt the need to add a comment about the face-to-face component over the course when asked about their online experience. Despite internet use increasing between 2007 and 2008, e-mail remain users remained the same at around 56.8% of internet users, CNNIC (2010).

Although the participants on the course were comfortable using computers at work, these participants are "digital natives" Downes (2005), who did not grow up with computers, let alone the internet. With the advent of the world wide web in the early 1990s, communication and learning began to change peoples lives. Within a short space of time, the world 'contracted'. The internet continued to develop, "social networking sites" broke down barriers which lead to a new way of communicating and learning in the West. All of this is relatively new to China, which is torn between the 'old' and the 'new', between confuscious and the new 'world order'. Had the course been run with younger people there may have been a different result; around 30% of people between the ages of 10 and 29 years old use the internet, where as only 9% of 40 year olds, use the internet. Many of the IEC participants fell into this age catagory. (CNNIC, 2009).


 * References****:

25th Statistical Survey Report on Internet Development in China (2010), China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC)

Ardichvili, A., Laurer, M., Li, W., Wentling T, Stuedemann, R. (2006). Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice. Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol 10, No 1, pp 94-107

Ingram, A., Ou, Chung-Ming., Owen, JR. (2007). Cross-cultural issues in online education. Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology (RCET), Vol 3, No 1 []

Attewell, J. (2004). Mobile technologies & learning: a technology update and m-learning project summary. Learning & Skills Development Agency. []

Downes, S. (2005). E-Learning 2.0, eLearn Magazine, Accessed 14 May 2010

Haidong, W. (2006). Teaching Asian students online: what matters & why?. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, Vol 15

Haidong, W. (2006). How cultural values shape chinese students' online learning experience in American universities. Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia.

Laogai Research Foundation (2005) []

Oblinger, D.G. (2007). Twelve days in China: more similarities than differences. []

[|Reuters, 15 Jan 2010]

Wong Leo, China Internet Users Mourns and Applauds Google, 16 Jan 2010, []

Yong Zhao, Gaorning Zhang & Ning Li, The Life of Internet Colleges: Policies, Problems and Prospects of Online Higher Education in China, The Globalview, EDUCASE, 2006