http://oubs.open.ac.uk/gilly & http://oubs.open.ac.uk/e-moderating

There are many definitions of an online course. At one end of the spectrum of ‘online-ness’, these include classroom-based teaching supplemented by lecture notes posted on a Web site or by electronic communication such as e-mail. At the other end of the spectrum, materials may be made available and interactions occur exclusively through networked technologies. Whatever purpose, whatever software, the key issue is that the teacher, instructor, tutor or facilitator – the e-moderator – is operating in the electronic environment along with his or her students, the participants.

From the field of corporate training, Charles Jennings writes:

"There are a few unchanging cornerstones in the education process. One such cornerstone is the inspiration from a teacher who both understands the needs of the learners and can respond to those needs appropriately to make the learning experience a richer one. A second is the provision of quality learning materials that will further inspire, delight and enlighten. Without both of these the educational experience of both the learner in the classroom and the learner sitting at the computer in some distant location will be the poorer"

The challenge for all educators currently is to explore and translate these understandings through the opportunity offered by well-developed computer mediated conferencing systems such as FirstClass.

In my view, any significant initiative aimed at changing of teaching methods or the introduction of networked technologies into universities, colleges, schools or corporate training must be accompanied by full appreciation of the role and training of e-moderators (Salmon 2000a, Paulsen 1995). Even where technological infrastructure and support are strong, and when worthwhile learning applications are developed, without training and development for the human teachers who provide the "spark", nothing is likely to happen beyond small schemes. In the medium term, the costs of training and support for users can be higher than the provision of the technology; therefore it is worthwhile giving the training of e-moderators due consideration and adequate planning. Trained and experienced e-moderators then contribute to successful learning.

Most importantly, training to e-moderate must take place in the online environment itself!

E-moderating is not a set of skills any of us is born with, nor something we learned vicariously through observing teachers whilst we ourselves were learning. As yet there are few online mentors to guide us through step by step.

Another useful concept can be drawn from ideas about engagement theory. Engaged learning means that

" All student activities involve cognitive processes such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making and evaluation. In addition, students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment and activities" p. 20)

Principles associated with engagement theory are:

• Group activities
• Project based
• Authenticity (i.e. focussed outside the immediate learning context)

So for educators wishing to get the best from platforms such as FirstClass need to concentrate on engaging their learners (and not just on providing reading materials). I have recently coined the term "e-tivities" to bring together the practical aspects of mobilising, engaging and effectively e-moderating in technology mediated teaching and learning environments. My suggestion is that creating e-tivities with attention to both content, process and outcomes will enable students to truly engage- become enchanted even- with the online environment and arrive online frequently in great shape for learning!

Since 1996, in the Open University Business School (the largest European Business School with 25,000 students http://oubs.open.ac.uk), I have trained new and experienced teachers in management, in the art of e-moderating, based on a model developed through action research (Salmon 2000a). (For the history of the use of computer mediated conferencing in the OU, see Salmon 1999, and in the OUBS Salmon 2000b). Increasingly, colleagues in disciplines other than management education, other than distance learning, and in locations other than Europe have asked for ideas and support in training their online teachers and trainers. I report briefly on the model itself, and then offer examples and reflections on its use, with especial reference to the adjustments made for other contexts. The conference presentation, and the slides on my Web site, will demonstrate screen shots of the various training programmes.

Individual access and the ability of participants to use Computer Mediated Conferencing (CMC) are essential prerequisites for participation in online learning (stage one, at the base of the flights of steps). Stage two involves individual participants establishing their online identities and then finding others with whom to interact. At stage three, participants give information relevant to the course to each other. Up to and including stage three, a form of co-operation occurs, i.e. support for each person’s goals. At stage four, course-related group discussions occur and the interaction becomes more collaborative. The communication depends on the establishment of common understandings. At stage five, participants look for more benefits from the system to help them achieve personal goals, explore how to integrate CMC into other forms of learning and reflect on the learning processes.

Each stage requires participants to master certain technical skills (shown in the bottom left of each step). Each stage calls for different e-moderating skills (shown on the right top of each step). The "interactivity bar" running along the right of the flight of steps suggests the intensity of interactivity that you can expect between the participants at each stage. From stage two onwards, it is important to provide online activities that encourage participants to engage in active learning and with each other in meaningful and authentic learning tasks.

I have built training programmes based on the key skills needed at each of the 5-steps. By the way, training to e-moderate needs to take place in the online environment itself, wherever possible.

In Fall 2000, the United Stated Open University (www.open.edu) commenced operation with a range of fully distance learning and supported courses in management, business, computing, social sciences and the humanities. The 5-step model was "translated" to provide an 8 hour asynchronous programme, which the newly recruited Associate Faculty undertook over a 10 day period. 30 Associate Faculty successfully and happily completed the training prior to a face to face orientation meeting in Denver Colorado in August 2000. Providing the training online prior to a meeting proved especially satisfactory. The precious time spent together was not taken up by fears of failure to log on but instead by very productive discussions, based on real experience, of how the medium could be used for students. The Associate Faculty enjoyed and benefited from the online training and looked forward to meeting each other on completion.

An innovative programme to offer an online Masters in Marketing commenced at Monash in March 1999 (www.buseco.monash.edu.au/Courses/Mkt/MMM). Monash’s view is that as an abundance of content becomes available online, there is a great need for academics to add value by facilitation of the online student learning experience. They argue that one of the most significant elements is the contribution made by staff in e-moderating student dialogue (Paulsen 1995, Merron 1998). Monash take the training and development of their online staff very seriously, suggesting that effective e-moderation on a global basis, will assist in their programs becoming leaders in their field (Ghoshal et al 1992, Turoff 1997, Smart et al 1999).

They maintain a consistent and methodical approach to computer mediated conferencing and have adopted the five-step model as a blueprint for delivering quality and value in online teaching. Each staff member is provided with a copy of the Monash Moderator’s Manual based on the five-step model and attend workshops in e-moderation. Sandra Luxton of Monash says "Students coming through each subject therefore have well founded expectations, and a quality approach to online teaching is maintained" (Luxton et al 2000).

The Knowledge and Learning in Automotive Supply Systems project (klass.open.ac.uk) is in the automotive component sector, and is running in partnership with four educational institutions and two industry training bodies in the UK. Supporting training and education through work-based networks, especially exploiting the interactive benefits of online working, needs to take account of a much wider variety of factors than learning to use appropriate software. Here, the five-step model frames online training to introduce experienced engineers (used to providing face to face learning and coaching opportunities) to the benefits of online facilitation and the wider use of the Internet, including for e-commerce. We find that an inspiring presentation prior to the commencement of the online training is important to spark of their interest, and, most importantly, to explain the relevance and authenticity of the online training opportunity.

In 1999, the opportunity arose for the Open University Business School to create with the BBC a series of magazine-style business television broadcasts linked to an advanced interactive Web site. It was called The Business Café (www.open.ac.uk/businesscafe). The idea was television viewers would be drawn to the Web site, and the Web site would add value to their viewing of the broadcasts by offering further knowledge and a chance to collaborate with other viewers.

TV audiences reached 300,000 per programme during the series. Following the first week's broadcast in February 1999, there were around 4,000 visitors to The Business Café Web site. This figure rose to around 6,000 for weeks 2-6, reached to 8,000 for week 7 and fell again to 6,000 for weeks 8-9. In total, around 60,000 visits were made to the Café home page during the series. The five step model was used to train the nine e-moderators who interacted with visitors to the Web site over the 10 week period. An open Web-based version of FirstClass was used to provide very large scale open online conferencing .

The main success we’ve had with recruiting, training, developing and enabling e-moderation using computer mediated conferencing has been to fully engage the participants so that the knowledge they construct is usable in new and different situations. So you can see the goal of the e-moderator for this kind of learning is to enable ‘meaning making’ rather than content transmission. The huge advantage is that there’s little cost beyond training the e-moderator! FirstClass provides a wonderful environment and set of affordances to become extremely successful in the e-moderating role, and in designing and running e-tivities. Why don’t you try it out for your learners?

Ghoshal, S., Arnzen B. and Brownfield S., (1992) "A learning Alliance Between Business and Business Schools: Executive Education as a Platform for Partnership", California Management Review, Berkley, Fall issue.

Luxton, S., Farrelly, F., Joy, S. and Clulow, V. (2000) "Collaboration In Transnational Marketing Education" Conference Proceedings – American Marketing Association – Marketing Educators Conference, Buenos Aires, June.

Merron, J. (1998) "Managing a Web-based literature Course for Undergraduates", Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, Vol.1 No. IV Winter.

Paulsen, M.F. (1995) "Moderating Educational Computer Conferences", in Computer mediated communication and the online classroom in Distance Education. Berge Z., and Collins M. (Eds.) Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Salmon, G. 1999 Computer mediated conferencing in large-scale management education, Open Learning (June) pp 45-54

Salmon, G (2000a) E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online, Kogan Page, London & Stylus Publishing

Salmon, G. (2000b) Computer Mediated Conferencing for Management Learning at the Open University, Management Learning 31(4) December

Salmon, G. (2000c) Driving Over Stepping Stones. Proceedings of Networked Learning, Lancaster

Smart, D.T., Kelley C.A., and Conant J.S. (1999) "Marketing Education in the Year 2000: Changes Observed and Challenges Anticipated", Journal of Marketing Education Vol. 21 No. 3 December. 206-216.

Turoff, M. (1997)"Alternative Futures for Distance Learning: The Force and the Darkside", Keynote paper UNESCO/Open University International Colloquium April 27-29, Open University, Milton Keynes