Price hits me with a 'Quasimodo' moment, 'Esmaralda she loves me'

Here I am reading yet another paper, and up pops 'quasi-experimental design' I won't write what popped into my head but a vision of  Esmeralda being taught by Quasimodo didn't help. What an earth is a quasi-experiment. This has been the case so many times this year, with many new terms and definitions and in some cases the use of extravagant  words which just complicate matters. What happened to the desire to speak/write good old plain English. So off I go to find what this means before I read what Price et al (2007) has to say about face to face versus online tutoring.


I find refreshing thoughts on Quasi experimental design care of the web centre for social research methods 'quasi-experimental design is one that looks a bit like an experimental design but lacks the key ingredient -- random assignment'.  There, that clears that up, lol.

Back to Price et al and the topics for discussion on H800.


Do you agree with Price et al. that online tuition is a pastoral activity and not a purely academic activity?
Yes  I can relate to this as I have first hand experience having nurtured hundreds of students through distance learning courses over the years. As I write I am planning a tutorial for tomorrow and I have just replied to a students cry for help via email, this will be followed up with a supporting phone call early next week and perhaps a message for all in the conference to help support others that will be feeling the same way at the moment. It happens every year around this time suddenly the workload is visable for the summer months and panic sets in. Some students want a cuddle and a bit of reasurrance that they are on track and can do this. Others are struggling and show signs of failure, part of me wants to say, 'your being unrealistic and haven't got the time or writing skills to complete this course', but of course I can't say that I have to be supportive and try and actively encourage their development which of course I do.


So yes this is a pastoral activity and only one example. Another example that further supports the suggestion is  that of feedback required by the OU because students in some cases never see you there is a requirement to provide copious amounts of feedback, don't get me wrong its required and a recent TMA of my own was returned with a great deal of useful supportive and accurate feedback (Thanks Janet) so it does have its place. But in a face to face environment feedback can be offered verbally and it's a two way thing, it's very rare that a student challenges or comes back to me to follow up their feedback in the same way as they would in a face to face environment.


Do you agree that the absence of what the authors call ‘paralinguistic cues’ in an online environment can limit the effectiveness of online tuition?


Again Price at el (2007) has this spot on nonverbal elements, such as intonation, body posture, gestures, and facial expression, that modify the meaning of verbal communication cannot be  seen during an online meeting. However, this is one area that I believe is improving all the time. One day I believe elluminate or an equivalent online tutorial tool will be as good as face to face. How? Because I believe the technology will be good enough. Being able to see and hear all members of the group at the same time on one screen will one day be possible. The latest game consoles are introducing the ability to detect hand movements so this is another hurdle that will be overcome. Move the online tutorial into 2nd Life and we have a 3d environment. Again the technology and bandwidth  are not good enough yet but all the signs are there that mean eventually the online experience could be as good as the face to face. Am I over optimistic, naive or in gaga land here,  if I said to you 50 years ago that I have a sat nav system that will guide me from A to B avoiding all the road works and accidents and predict my arrival time accurately, you would have thought I was mad. Well I now have one.


Price, L., Richardson, J.T.E. and Jelfs, A. (2007) ‘Face-to-face versus online tutoring support in distance education’, Studies in Higher Education, vol.32, pp.1–20; also available online at http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/ login?url=http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/ 03075070601004366 (last accessed 20 December 2010).