Making Content Connections: issues in the use of Print Versus Digital Course Content

I attended the CADE/AMTEC Conference 2007: Connecting the global village. This was an important historic conference in that the two organizations merged into one, the Canadian Network of Innovations in Education. It was also important to attend for a variety of other reasons such as sharing one’s research through a presentation, networking, and observing for ideas and input for next year’s conference at Banff for which I will be on the program committee. This year I co-presented a paper entitled, “Making Content Connections: Issues in the Use of Print Versus Digital Course Content” with Marti Cleveland-Innes and Debroah Russell. The paper was well received (approximately 35 in attendance) largely because many of individuals and institutions are struggling with this issue. In addition, the paper of the year in the Journal of Distance Education was on the same topic and our research supported and expanded on many of the findings in that paper. Based on the positive feedback we received we plan on writing up our findings and submitting the article for publication in the not-too-distant future. In addition to be the above presentation, I also “chaired” two sessions during the conference: Emotional presence in online communities of inquiry: not a laughing matter. Martha Cleveland-Innes Prisca Campbell, MDE Applications and Theory of Educational Social Software Terry Anderson George Siemens (U of Manitoba) Dave Cormier (U of PEI) Finally, I attended numerous other sessions which related to my work and research interests. Thus, I found the conference to be very useful and would like to take this opportunity to thank the University and the A&PDF for the award to assist me in covering the cost of attendance.Recent program changes in an online graduate program created questions regarding the delivery of materials in distance education programs. One hundred and thirty-seven students responded to a survey regarding the difference between print and electronic text-based learning material. Findings indicate that the medium in which the content is presented to the learner has a bearing on the scope and shape of the learning experience. To place all material online may alienate some students, duplicating material in both print and digital media may become cumbersome and expensive, and remaining exclusively print-based may be viewed as ‘old-fashioned’, and technologically inadequate. Other research suggests online students should be given the option of a printer-friendly version for all electronic material (Spencer, 2006). On the other hand, Smith (2001) suggests the task is not to match delivery methods to student preferences, but to encourage students to leave their comfort zones and to provide breadth of instructional methods and materials. This session will allow for presentation of findings and facilitated discussion about this important issue in online course delivery.Academic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF