Despite the tremendous amount of progress that has been made in the design and development of eLearning, the online classroom continues to be percieved as missing the “human element”  or that connectivity one experiences between student and instructor in a face-to-face period of instruction.  Many empirical studies note this as a major reason many faculty who teach online continue to prefer face-to-face as they feel more “in tune” with their students (Allen & Seaman, 2006; Bower, 2001; McKenzie, Mims, Bennett, & Waugh 2000).  Empiral studies of students who participated in an online period of instruction yield similar results.

Literally every book written on the topic of eLearning course development and delivery since 2004 emphasizes the importance of creating and maintaining the human connection between students and instructors.  The methods they recommend using include:

• Wikis
• Virtual Office Hours
• Synchronous chat (aka “Live Help)
• Blogs
• Instant messaging
• 1-to-1 (Student-to-Teacher) email exchanges.
• etc…

Sadly however, none of the innumerable books mention the simplest way to maintain the human connection - a phone call!

Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway, and Jon Warshawsky excellent book “Why Business People Speak Like Idiots” includes an excellent story on the value of the phone conversation:

“The voice is the ultimate weapon in the war on anonymity and the best way to create a relationship. If you have a tenuous relationship, if you exchange five e-mails without one live call, if you are dealing with an important issue, or if you are trying to persuade someone of something, invest a few minutes in a live call. On the phone, you have a better chance of hearing the truth, complete with all of those editorial comments and undertones that separate humans from business idiots. If you really want to know, pick up the damn phone.”

Herein we find another example where an older technology (the telephone) is seen as old and obsolete and easily replaced by technology.  In the delivery of eLearning, there is no such thing as “old” technology.  The motivational value of something as simple as a phone call to the student cannot be measured.  It is the ultimate demonstration that the instructor cares enough to want to connect with the student by way of the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting - a phone conversation.

It is indeed interesting that proponents tout the benefits of Wikis, Blogs, etc., in developing a “connection” with students when in fact, all that is happening are attempts at replacing the personal nature of person-to-person voice contact.  The simple phone call is never mentioned (at least not in any of the innumerable eLearning books I’ve read) by any of the “great eLearning thinkers” yet it remains the most valuable and important method of connecting with the student.

If you are teaching online, set a schedule for yourself to call a few students each week at their phone or cell numbers.  Ask them how they are doing in the class, what they remain curious about, and what you can do to help them in the course.  Get to know them, their families, their day-to-day concerns, their hopes and aspirations.  The connection you will make will not just last for the duration of your course, but quickly word will get out what a great teacher you are simply because you took the time to treat a student like a real human being as opposed to a posting on a discussion board. If you make a habit of calling a few students each week you will be amazed with not just the increased activity in your Wikis and Blods, but also the quality of the responses posted there.

Is calling a few students each week an unreasonable burden on the online instructor?  Not at all.  It is quicker to pick up the phone and call than it is to compose an email.  It is quicker to pick up the phone and call than it is to respond to a student’s concerns on a Wiki or Blog.  More importantly though, it is far more rewarding for both you and your students knowing that there is a real, live human at the other end of the cold, lifeless monitor who cares about their success and who they are as people.

On far too many occasions my explaination of the Online Instructional Design Process is met with looks of confusion, disbelief, or simply disregarded as the ramblings of a mad man.  Why?  Because when developing a course of instruction for delivery online, content is the last thing to be collected and assembled; the Learning Activities are always the first.

No online course of instruction can be developed out first identifying the Learning Outcomes; what exactly will the learner be able to do at the end of the module, section, or course.  Because no learning has taken place if a change in behavior cannot be observed, the starting place for the design of any online course are activities that, when completed, will demonstrate comprehension.  The activities must resemble “real world” application as closely as possible and can be in the form of a case-study, role-playing exercise, simulation, or critical reflection.  It is important to note that multiple-choice or True/False questions measure nothing more than a students abiity to memorize and are clear indication poor online instructional design.

Once the learning activities have been designed and “mapped” to a Learning Outcome, only then can the process of content collection begin.  Use of the word “collection” is deliberate.  One doesn’t develop content, one collects it in such a manner that it ultimately provides the reference and instruction necessary to complete a Learning Activity.  The determination of what content to collect is done through the process of Needs Analysis by asking the question “what does the learner need to know in order to successfully complete the activity?”

Think about the online course development process that we see all too often.  First the individual reads a lot of books or perhaps consults a “subject matter expert.”  Perhaps even the same individual fancies him or herself the subject matter expert despite having no recent real-world experience.  Utterly confused by the latest offerings from the various publishers, a decision is made to settle on the title that includes a question bank that can be easily imported into the school’s Learning Management System.

After carefully analyzing and arranging all the content using a JLM (”Just Like Me”) instructional design strategy the individual postulates that if the structure and organization makes sense to them, then it will certainly make sense to the student.  Sitting at their computer the next step is to produce hundreds of PowerPoints, graphics, study guides, and what not so there can be no question that the students have everything they need to be able to recall the facts, terminology, steps, and principles.

After the first pass with the new online course, the instructor realizes all their efforts were wasted as students had a near impossible time understanding the material that was presented.  If the test scores were low, simply apply a “curve” and administration will be happy.  But to ensure the same situation doesn’t happen next quarter, the instructor identifies the areas the students struggled with and simply adds more content.

Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan of The Thagi Group makes several recommendations on the types of activities that can be used and the type of content that general supports them:

• Textra games combine the effective organization of documents with the motivational impact of games. In textra games, participants read the assigned piece and play a game that uses peer pressure and support to encourage recall and transfer of what they read.
• Application activities involve groups of participants to use the job aid for solving authentic problems. The size of the group is gradually reduced until individual participants are able to perform independently with the use of the job aid.
• If the activity involves the organization of confusing bits and pieces of information, use item processing activities in which individuals and teams generate, organize, and sequence ideas, facts, questions, complaints, or suggestions. This type of activity enables participants to construct meaningful categories and sequences from isolated items.
• Use Bernie Dodge’s WebQuest approach when an activity requires the collection of information that is available on the internet. In this special type of inquiry learning, participants collect information from the Web. WebQuests focus on using the content rather than merely retrieving it. A typical WebQuest requires participants to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the content.