Autonomy & Motivation in

Distance Learning
RobertCVITKOVIC, Yoshie Sakamoto
IT
Introduction
Many issues need to be taken into consideration when creating distance learn-
ing programs: online media format, social presence, online guidance and instruction,
feedback, assessment, appropriate use of technology, student isolation, learner moti-
vation, student support, and learner autonomy. This paper deals specifically with
the last three issues, learner motivation, learner autonomy and student support in an
online environment. This paper investigates the relationships between student mo-
tivation, autonomy, and student support, how each impacts the other and the factors
that are necessary for improved learning.
Part one of this paper looks at ways in which distance learners can become more
autonomous, ways that online course designers can increase student motivation, and
different ways that instructors and teaching assistants can improve student support.
Part two of this paper continues with motivational examples and then moves to spe-
cific examples of how recent technology is directly influencing motivation with the
advent of the Web 2.0 and the read/write Web phenomenon.
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2008 12 2
2009 2 13
Abstract
This paper examines current research on motivation building and learner autonomy in ESL distance
education environments. It makes suggestions about what curriculum designers and instructors can do
even though distance learning courses tend to be more inflexible than classes held in real space. With
careful consideration to design and implementation, online courses have the potential to make learning
tasks as motivational as regular classes and give students autonomy not previously available in tradi-
tional environments. This is becoming easier in some ways with the emerging read/write web publishing
space and multimedia platforms which allow learners to share and interact with a global audience
through new publishing methods never previously imagined only 10 years ago.
Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
Part 1
Autonomy, motivation, and student support
Success in learning is motivating. A successful student is generally a motivated
one. Even though the feeling of success is a result of many complex factors, motiva-
tion is an essential element for initiating and maintaining effort in the long term.
This is especially true for language learning since it takes many thousands of hours
of study. In the classroom a good teacher can quickly ascertain what students need
and then adjust materials on the spot to give students the support and motivation
they need. But how does an instructor adjust materials when they do not have face-
to-face contact with students and may not know what trouble students are encoun-
tering with materials, as in the case of online courses?
Online courses tend to be more rigid than classroom based courses. The amount
of work put into developing them is significantly greater due to the technical and
material resources used in creating them, making frequent on the spot adjustments
often impractical. Once an online course is developed it is usually used for several
years, with only minor adjustments made for such things as broken web links or up-
dated statistics. Also, with distance learning, students need to be more self-reliant
and are required to have a better knowledge about their own abilities and attitudes
regarding learning strategies.
Distance learners need to be more autonomous than the average student (White,
2006). Several aspects of autonomy include metacognitive knowledge, strategic
competence and the ability to be self-reflexive of the learning process. The learner
needs to be able to intervene on his or her learning environment (Wenden, 1991).
Given this, there appears to be a built in catch-22 for online learning courses: Dis-
tance classes require the learner to be more autonomous than in a regular classroom;
autonomous students need to be able to intervene on his or her learning environ-
ment, however, online courses allow for less student and teacher intervention than
a normal classroom. Even though this may be the case, there are several ways
around this apparent catch-22. Below are ways educators and researchers have
worked with these issues.
Autonomy is directly linked to learning and learner strategies. Those students
who involve themselves directly with the learning process learn more effectively
(Oxford, 1990). Different researchers divide learning strategies differently (Naiman,
Frohlich, Stern, & Todesco, 1996; Oxford, 1990) but there is a general consensus of the
major categories. These broad categories are cognitive (applying a specific
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Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
technique to a particular task), metacognitive (executive processes used to plan,
monitor and evaluate a learning task), and socio-affective (interacting with others
for practice or to combat isolation or anxiety) (Chamot & OMalley, 1994). Several
ways in which one distance program helps learners with strategies are given in
(Hurd, Beaven, & Ortega, 2001). They give seven specific ways in which learners can
develop autonomy in distance language programs.
1. Objectives are clearly explained so that students can feel they have owner-
ship of the course materials.
2. Extra homework or tasks are given for difficult areas but are not compulsory.
3. Other activities or tasks are given that enable students to transfer what they
have learned to other contexts specifically to contexts relevant to their own
needs or interests.
4. Constant and varied suggestions for learning strategies are presented so stu-
dents can experiment with and find those that work best for them.
5. Students are given opportunities to think and reflect on how they learn by
using learner diaries.
6. Learners are given opportunities for self-assessment and self-evaluation.
7. They are given opportunities to relate what they are learning to what they
already know.
Hurd et.al. gives the above seven examples illustrating that it is still possible to
incorporate learner autonomy even though a distance learning environment has a
more rigidly fixed curriculum than a regular classroom.
In a study conducted on student feedback, Hyland (2001) concluded that feed-
back can influence student performance, help with learning strategies and can play
an important role in socio-affective areas such as encouraging and motivating stu-
dents. She suggests that in distance learning environments there is a need for live
interaction. One way to provide this is through telephone contact between course
tutors and students. Another way is by eliciting types of feedback students wish to
have in the form of a short questionnaire or cover sheet on their first assignment
and then give feedback in written form on subsequent assignments. Even though
her findings were somewhat inconclusive in that there was significant variation in
the type of feedback students wanted and significant individual differences in feed-
back that tutors gave, it was clear from her study that feedback does positively in-
fluence learner motivation. She also concluded that much more research is needed
in the area of motivation and distance learning.
Lamy and Goodfellow (1999) investigated tutor interactions with students in an
online environment and classified the tutor styles into two categories, one termed
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Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
the social tutor and the other termed the cognitive tutor. The social tutor places a
greater emphasis on the socio-affective needs of the student by encouraging sociali-
zation, and the cognitive tutor emphasizes syllabus content and tends to be subject
matter oriented. They go on to hypothesis that a tutor who exhibited both teaching
styles would be better than a tutor with only one.
Student support in open and distance learning (ODL) environments was looked
at in Tait (2000). Delivering quality courses through ODL media requires a balance
of at least six factors which he gives as 1) student characteristics, 2) technological
infrastructure, 3) program scale, 4) geographical environment, 5) demands of the
program, and 6) the requirements of management. Although he discusses student
support from a global perspective, one interesting conclusion is that there is no uni-
versal blueprint for establishing student support systems. Since these variables are
in tension with each other, none of them should be taken as an overriding element
when deciding student support. It is important to consider each ODL situation sepa-
rately making sure to carefully balance the above factors.
Exploring expectations and learner beliefs, White (1999; 2003) reports that these
factors changed over time in a longitudinal study. Reports and questionnaires re-
vealed that students shift from an external to internal locus of control and are able
to increase their tolerance for ambiguity. In follow up work in 2006, she reproduced
her results and showed that students continued to restructure their beliefs and ex-
pectations of distance learning in order to maintain optimal learning conditions.
Hauck and Hurd (2005) explored the links between anxiety and learner self-
management in distance learning contexts. They reiterate the need for ODL stu-
dents to be more autonomous than regular language learners stating that distance
learners need to develop self-awareness and self-management skills as part of devel-
oping autonomy. After examining sources of anxiety and ways that learners deal
with anxiety, giving extensive lists and examples, they conclude that self-
management is an essential strategy for language learners in general but even more
important for ODL students. These strategies include self-knowledge and a reflexive
capacity which allow learners to manage affective considerations such as anxiety
and motivation. Another issue which they discuss is the role of the tutor in provid-
ing good feedback as an integral part of the system of reducing anxiety and keeping
motivation levels high, similar to the Lamy and Goodfellow study.
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Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
Part 2
Specific examples of motivating students
In one of Dornyeis seminal works (2001), Motivational Strategies in the Lan-
guage Classroom, he discusses many issues which can be applied in ODL environ-
ments. Although not written for distance learners, many of the concepts can be
modified for the media. On page 29 he gives a rubric for motivational teaching prac-
tice: Creating the basic motivational conditions, generating initial motivation, main-
taining and protecting motivation, and encouraging positive retrospective self-
evaluation. The book then goes on to give 35 concrete ideas that instructors can do
which fall within these four broad categories. Several we have already covered in
the literature review above, such as the importance of tutor feedback (Dornyeis
strategy 32), goal setting (21), curriculum-student needs relevance (15), in-
creasing learner autonomy (29) and self-reliance (30), build learners confidence
in their abilities by teaching them various learner strategies (26), help diminish
language anxiety by reducing anxiety provoking elements in the learning environ-
ment (25), help to create realistic learner beliefs (16) and make the curriculum
and teaching materials relevant to the students (15).
Dornyei also discusses the need for instructors to choose their motivational
techniques as their situation dictates, not trying to use every strategy all the time,
but recommends using the ones that the instructor is comfortable with and ones that
are relevant to their teaching situation. Dornyei lists many strategies but two that
look promising for ODL environments are, (a) demonstrate and talk about your own
enthusiasm for the course material and how it affects you personally, and (2) de-
velop a personal relationship with students. These two strategies are extremely dif-
ficult in online situations but not impossible as seen in the Lamy and Goodfellow
study on types of tutor feedback. Similarly, promote the development of group co-
hesiveness (6), is illustrated on chat-boards when students develop personal on-
line conversations with each other. Many other of Dornyeis motivating strategies
can easily be incorporated into the design of courses by careful attention to curricu-
lum content, such as make learning more stimulating and enjoyable by breaking the
monotony of regular events (17), and increasing the attractiveness of the tasks
(18), provide learners with regular experiences of success by setting homework to
the right difficulty level (23).
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Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
How technology is helping with student motivation and autonomy
Central to the theme of motivation and autonomy is learner contributions in dis-
tance language learning. Learner contributions deal with what learners bring to
ODL, how their interactions change and effect their motivation and the quality of
their learning. There is a whole new field of research now being undertaken because
of the changing landscape of education on the internet. With the birth of Web 2.0 or
the read/write web, students can become the authors of works that can reach a
global audience through wikis, blogs, podcasting, web publishing, video blogs, and
a host of other web tools that makes publishing viable for anyone with a highspeed
connection and a relatively modern computer. These new capabilities are causing
teachers to rethink their roles in the digital age. The teachers role is shifting from
content expert to guide who shows students how to find and evaluate online re-
sources, communicate with online experts, and publish their own creations for a
much wider audience than just their classmates (Richardson, 2006). This new pub-
lishing medium is even changing the nature of writing, (Warchauer, Shetzer, &
Meloni, 2000). Warchauer et. al. compared the differences in traditional classroom
writing versus multimedia authoring, illustrating the advances and wider opportu-
nities that learners now have, see Table 1.
One area that can be changed and updated in online courses is homework, links
to web pages, and assignments. As can be seen above, when learners produce a piece
of work for the web or for online publication they need to consider a wider range of
issues than just writing in the traditional format for a class grade. Information gath-
ering can consist of opening authentic materials from any number of web pages,
using multimedia materials which usually include audio and video files, then stu-
dents can produce multimedia works for a much larger audience. But even if the
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Table 1 Comparison of Traditional vs Online Writing Styles
Products of traditional classroom writing Products of multimedia authoring and publishing
Written texts May incorporate written text, graphics, images,
sound and video files
Organized in a linear fashion Organized in a nonlinear fashion through hyperlinks
Self-contained Can include links to external multimedia materials
Usually written for the teacher Written for public audience on the WWW
Usually created individually Often created collaboratively
Once completed and turned in are out of
the students hands and unchangeable
Once published are accessible to the student for
further change and updating
Warchauer, Shetzer & Meloni, 2000
Autonomy & Motivation in Distance Learning
audience is limited to their classmates and teacher, it is easier to work on much more
sophisticated presentations and multimedia materials and collaborate with others
using asynchronous methods then previously possible. One example of a task using
authentic communication in EFL classes is illustrated in Campbell (2004). He high-
lights the potential of social software like LiveJournal for encouraging greater
autonomy and self-direction in the foreign language classroom. In a series of online
student activities, learners engage in a large weblog community, LiveJournal, with
built in social networking features to provide students with a target language com-
munity centered on their own personal interests. This personalization in an authen-
tic environment motivated students to take more control over their own learning,
thus creating greater learner autonomy. Along similar lines, Kung and Tun-Whei
(2002) introduced five different ESL multimedia websites to their students through
a series of homework assignments and in-class tasks. They concluded that student
interest in authentic online materials outweighed any minor technical difficulties
that occurred during task completion. To even further enhance learning, Chang
(2007) looked at ways to increase web based language learning through self-
monitoring and raising student autonomy. A control and one experimental group
were both instructed on a web based task. The experimental group was given addi-
tional instructions regarding online self-monitoring techniques in the form of re-
cording study time and environment, learning process, predicting scores, and self-
evaluation. Their results showed that students who applied the self-monitoring
strategies outperformed those students who didnt, on both academic performance
and motivational beliefs regardless of their English proficiency level. They strongly
recommend self-monitoring strategies for web-based instruction.
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