Web-Based Instructional Learning

Mehdi Khosrow-Pour (editor).
Web-Based Instructional Learning.
Hershey, Pa.: IRM Press, 2002.
paper, 322 p., ISBN 1-931-77704-7, US$59.95.
IRM Press: http://www.irm-press.com/

This volume brings together an interesting selection of articles addressing aspects of Web-Based Learning that range from strategies for the use of distance learning technology to infrastructure issues in the "Third World". As such, it constitutes a valuable introduction to the multiple facets — pedagogical and technological — of the use of the Web in higher education, and provides a wide variety of perspectives. While half the authors here are American, there are contributors from a wide variety of countries, mainly based in universities, but also including a few in the corporate sector.

It should be noted that all the content has previously been published in other collections. Two chapters have appeared in earlier books already reviewed by this reviewer: chapter 7 is the same article as chapter 3 of the Beverly Abbey book reviewed at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_12/reviews/ and chapter 8 first appeared in the book edited by Discenza et al., reviewed at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_6/reviews/. The first four chapters were previously published in Distance learning technologies: Issues, trends and opportunities, reviewed at http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_3/reviews/, and most of the remaining contributions have previously been published in earlier volumes by the same editor. With 24 short chapters, the book is like a selection of appetisers, though the references provided for each chapter constitute a useful resource for those wanting to explore in more depth.

Theories of learning are not extensively represented here, but there are two very interesting articles on the topic. In chapter 1, having established the theoretical background of constructivism, Valerie N. Morphew addresses the question "what experiences should an instructor provide to help facilitate the act of co-construction?" (p. 5). She surveys a number of practices adopted in traditional classrooms and then briefly discusses how the same experiences that stimulate thinking and facilitate the co-construction of meaning in traditional settings can be made available to the distance learner. In chapter 7, Louis H. Berry focuses on the cognitive effects of Web page design, producing an interesting synthesis of research from various disciplines.

Chapter 2 is concerned with corporate training, and the authors are sensitive to the distinctions between this and general education: "In borrowing what is learned from higher education for application in business, care must be taken to respect the similarities and differences of each environment, so that the integrity of the generalizations is maintained" (p. 17). Their framework is based on the integration of change management, strategic management and project management, and in a nice twist on the pitfalls of technological determinism, they conclude that distance education must not be conceived as a solution waiting for a problem.

The constructivist perspective of chapter 1 is complemented by the emphasis on collaborative activities in chapter 4. Starting from the premise that learning occurs when faculty develop and encourage discussion through the use of social interaction, C. Mitchell Adrian poses the question of how to develop or maintain an environment of social interaction for a distance education program. The discussion focuses on ways in which electronic communication technologies can be combined with concepts taken from Total Quality Management.

Chapter 5 provides a very general overview of issues in Web-based education. Just as Morphew in Chapter 1 is concerned with applying traditional practices to distance settings, A. K. Aggarwal and Regina Bento here argue that "Web-based education can successfully simulate face-to-face teaching models, while adding some unique features made possible by the technology" (p. 59). Despite their support for Web-based education, they are concerned with "allowing Web-based courses to replicate more seamlessly the features of face-to-face instruction" rather than breaking away from the paradigm of face-to-face instruction in order to develop a pedagogy of distance education.

Taken to the extreme, the insistence on using Internet technologies as mechanisms for "delivering" education rather than using their potential for the social constructivist development of knowledge leads to the position expressed by Henry H. Emurian in chapter 9: "Since the inception of the world-wide web, nothing has changed about the way that people learn". This is contradicted in chapter 15, which reports on a study of the relative performance of students who took the traditional version or the Internet version of courses at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. The authors note that "there are significant differences in online learning experiences when one delves more deeply into how mastery of the material is obtained" (p. 180). Partly as a result of this, "the authors believe the findings support the theory that Internet delivered distance education courses require different design" (ibid.)

While several chapters in this collection cover individual technological elements such as audio and video streaming or visual basic programming, relatively little attention is paid to the issues of pedagogical design. Chapter 12, which discusses the "Classroom Component of an Online Learning Community", provides a useful complement to the discussion in chapter 4 of "Developing a Learning Environment"; and in chapter 20 Morgan Jennings, also of Metropolitan State College of Denver, discusses "What Do Good Designers Know That We Don't?". Noting that "a person who is attentive, emotionally involved, and engaged in discovery within a learning environment is more likely to learn and enjoy the experience" (p. 238), Jennings concludes that the aesthetic design of the learning environment may be a critical factor in promoting learning.

Overall, the variety of perspectives brought together in this collection provides a great deal of food for thought, although with 24 articles in the space of 300 pages, there is little room for in-depth discussion.