The role of the Educational Designer in developing online courses

Much of the discussion to date about the University of Australia Online (UAO) has focussed on the goal of increasing student access to higher education. However, the other goal of the UAO is "to make Australia the world-leader in online education". Is this achievable?

Australia is acknowledged as a leader in distance education. We also have experience in software and multimedia production. The question is whether these two qualities can be easily combined to produce world-class online learning. Unfortunately, there is already evidence from within Australia to suggest that this is not an easy step.

Professor Shirley Alexander and her colleagues conducted a review in 1998 of federal government grants to universities in Australia for the development of innovative learning materials. Many (but not all) of these projects involved significant use of information and communication technologies (ICT).

The findings were sobering. A significant number of projects failed to achieve their desired outcomes, and most projects could not demonstrate improvements in student learning.

Many projects involving ICT were plagued by technical problems, poor project management and implementation problems arising from a misunderstanding of student approaches to learning. Although some projects were successful, very few have been used beyond their original development context, and I am not aware of any which have become an independently operating commercial success.

Why has it been difficult within universities to capitalise on our strengths in distance education on the one hand, and software and multimedia production on the other?

There are several reasons for this failure, including lack of sufficient resources, limited staff time, uncertainty over intellectual property and a failure to take a "Business Case" approach to new ventures. A crucial further problem is the lack of skilled people who can operate at the interface of content and curriculum, instructional design and technical development. I refer to these people as "Educational Designers".

Educational Designers have expertise in analysing the teaching and learning context of courses. They can dispassionately examine not just the academic's understanding of their teaching role, but also the different ways that students approach and understand a course. Having understood this context, Educational Designers can recommend alternative methods of course delivery and assessment, and explain the strengths and weaknesses of these from the point of view of both teacher and learner.

Educational Designers need not use ICT, but in recent times this has been one of the most pressing concerns. Educational Designers who do work with ICT require additional experience in the areas of project management and online development. They should understand how to manage a team of developers to ensure a timely outcome according to specified technical and educational criteria.

Most importantly, they must work with academics to understand the content area, and how this can be best communicated to students.

They will often provide new insights into teaching based on a keen appreciation of likely student misunderstandings. In a sense, they act as a student themselves when working with the content expert, and reflect on this experience to assist them in developing worthwhile student learning experiences. This type of self-reflection is often difficult for academics, as it can be many years since they moved from a novice to expert understanding of their discipline area.

Educational Designers need to be aware of the limits of different technologies. Some views of online delivery are little more than the use of video conferencing over the Internet. Educational Designers, however, would consider a much wider range of potential options, from self-directed web learning modules, to simulated classroom discussions via a chat room, to information/data retrieval and analysis, to critical reflections via discussion board postings over an extended period, to online self-assessment exercises with rich feedback.

This review of potential options sometimes leads to a radical re-thinking of the existing course. In some cases, video conferencing of existing classroom lectures via the Internet may still be appropriate (although the technical quality of this experience will remain mediocre for several years to come).

Educational Designers must be good communicators and great collaborators, as the process of working with content experts on the one hand, and instructional designers and technical developers on the other requires patience, tact and a firm understanding of the strengths and limitations of both sides.

In the absence of good Educational Designers, content experts or instructional designers may successfully take on some of the tasks described above by default. More typically, the result is online learning environments which fail to meet student or teacher needs, or do not function as they should, or worse, never reach completion at all. Australia's track record in this area should carefully inform any proposal for an online university. We have some great experience and great people, but we have not always managed to combine them.

So where are these Educational Designers, and how did they learn their skills? In most cases, they are scattered throughout university departments, working with little recognition or reward for their special skills. Many are academics by background, but some are "general staff". A few Educational Designers have moved into central university IT and teaching units, but increasingly they are moving into commercial environments where their skills are recognised and rewarded. By moving beyond traditional university structures, they gain flexibility in modes of work, recognition of their unique approach, broader experience, and appropriate rewards.

Interestingly, Educational Designers come from a range of backgrounds, and have developed their skills primarily through hard won experience. They may be computer scientists with a user interface or information systems background. They may be teaching and learning specialists who have developed IT skills. They may be psychologists and cognitive scientists who can bridge the gap between human approaches to computers and learning, and the limitations of current technology.

Above all, Educational Designers realise that developing online learning materials is a complex and costly process that requires great care. They know that development involves close collaboration with both content experts and technical developers. This collaboration takes place at all stages of the development cycle, from planning and initiation, to review and quality assurance. Due to the importance of collaboration, online courses should not be churned out of "production factories", or out-sourced to offshore IT providers.

To return to the initial challenge – can Australia become a world leader in online education? I believe the answer to this question is yes, but the scale of the task should not be underestimated.

It is important that we learn from our mistakes, and from overseas success. We should not underestimate the head start that countries such as the USA and UK have on Australia within the English speaking world. The acceleration of development schedules permitted by private capital investments in this area should not be underestimated, both overseas and (potentially) in Australia.

We need to recognise the importance of more flexible structures for collaboration between universities and commercial developers of online learning at both institutional and individual levels. While it is beyond the scope of the current discussion, issues such as intellectual property and "Business Case" development of new ventures need considerable work.

Central to any success in this arena will be a recognition of the importance of the skills of Educational Designers in the development of online learning. The question that remains is how to best assist Educational Designers in their attempt to make Australia a world leader in online education.