E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online
By Gilly Salmon

Copyright 2000

Published in the United States by Stylus Publishing For Kogan Page
22883 Quicksilver Drive Sterling VA 20166-2012

ISBN 07494-3110-5

My interest in moderating and facilitating online discussion stretches back to the mid 1980s when I first tried my hand at managing a public online discussion group. I learned how from watching others and fumbled around while I developed my own style. Like most early adopters I was working on observation and intuition and made my share of embarrassing mistakes. I have maintained my interest over the years and spent a lot of time reading and researching the topic.

Dr. Gilly Salmon was a student in the Open University of the United Kingdom's first large-scale computer enhanced course in 1988. She joined the OU Business School in 1989 as an instructor and has been responsible for training hundreds of e-moderators over the past few years. She appreciates the irony of writing a book about something she believes must be experiences in the electronic environment itself (p. ix).

CHAPTER 1

In the first chapter of this book Dr. Salmon addresses the question "What is e-moderating?"

Dr. Salmon goes on to demonstrate the wide range of expertise required of an e-moderator by using excerpts from a diary kept by a university professor turned e-moderator. E-moderating as a new way of teaching is illustrated by a description of a Monash University (Australia) lecturer with excepts of student comments, interspersed with explanatory comments.

She next addresses the topic of teaching and learning, starting with public electronic discussion groups in all their variety. She distinguishes between this casual, informal learning and the kind of learning she is referring to ". . .online education and training is that they are very purposeful." (p. 12).

The Open University system is introduced by describing the many different levels of computer-mediated communication (CMC) used and introduces the role of the e-moderator. "In all OU courses, the students are never 'left on their own' with no support, direction or leadership" (p. 12).- a key to the success of the OU program. The use of CMC for the analysis of cases by an Associate Lecturer at the OU Business School in Wales illustrates the evolution of his teaching methods over two iterations of his course.

This is followed by a brief exposition on CMC systems and their terminology and the various types of software used.

Salmon enumerates the advantages and disadvantages of using CMC and includes the "neutrality: of systems that betray no indication of social context cues - which she sees as both its primary advantage and disadvantage J . The ability to rewind asynchronous conversations allow students the freedom of "any time, any place" learning. "CMC involves a hybrid of familiar forms of communication . . . like talking with your fingers - a sort of half-way house between spoken conversation and written discourse." (p. 18). Ideas can be expressed and whole series of ideas pulled together. Salmon remarks that while conferences can bridge many cultures and cultural communication practices, it is a very public medium where you can embarrass yourself before many people and where lateness, rudeness and inconsistency of response to others are not easily forgiven. I thought particularly apt her caution: "Minor complaints can escalate when several individuals in a conference agree with each other and create a visible 'marching about with banners' online'" (p.19).

The chapter ends with Salmon's reflections on the costs of CMC. When Salmon considers the question 'How much does it cost?' she gives the sensible answer 'It depends on many factors.' Salmon briefly reviews the existing literature and reflects on the model she used to track the costs of face-to-face training of e-moderators vs accomplishing the same training online. She found that training e-moderators online was not only less costly, but more effective.

At the end of this, and most of the other chapters is an indication of which of the "resources" at the end of the book will allow further exploration of the topics broached in each chapter.

CHAPTER 2

Salmon starts chapter 2 with information about the Open University system that is necessary to set the context for her work. She elaborates on the tutoring system at the beginning of Chapter 3. Course design, development and production is centralized at the Milton Keynes campus, along with the University's administrative functions. Student services are provided at 13 regional centers around the United Kingdom. Face-to-face tutoring takes place at 300 study centers, led by Associate Lecturers, who are part time OU employees. "Many people believe that the OU's success can be attributed to the support it gives to its students through the tutors" (p. 23.) While most courses are still tutored face-to-face, student contact, direction and counseling is now being delivered via computer conferencing in a growing number of courses.

Using text content analysis and focus groups, Salmon developed process diagrams to describe what discussion participants considered to be the key activities for online learners. This model was refined and tested in online training sessions for online tutors, starting in 1996.

Salmon summarizes her model (p. 25):

The balance of the chapter elaborates on this model and its applications. The value of using such a model to design online course conferences, Salmon says, is knowing how participants are likely to exploit the system at each stage and what pitfalls the tutor avoid.

This may very well be the most important chapter in the first part of the book, and the model the strongest contribution that Salmon makes to the theoretical underpinnings of online discussion and facilitation.

CHAPTER 3

Chapter 3 discusses the roles and qualities of OU e-moderators, their recruitment and training. It is impossible to understand the social matrix and context in which the e-moderators described in this book function, unless you remember constantly the following characteristics of OU tutors and the established tutoring system. Open University tutors are not usually subject matter experts, nor are they the authors of the courses the students are taking. They know something of the content, but are specially trained and experienced in dealing with students.

E-moderators are "specialist tutors" trained to work with students online. In the OU system, tutors do very little teaching - or telling - in the conventional sense in their face-to-face sessions. Their main role is 'to engage the participants so that the knowledge they construct is usable in new and different situations' (p. 39). It is a natural extension of their face-to-face role that they are learning to exercise online.

This chapter contains sections addressed, apparently, to OU administrative personnel responsible for recruiting OU tutors and may find little applicability outside of their system. Reading as an outsider, I felt that most of this chapter was originally written as a guide for OU personnel and has not been sufficiently 'generalized' so that it would be easy to transpose the recruiting and training practices to any other context. But, then, the most prevalent model in North America is to train faculty to take the lead in the discussion forums associated with their own online courses. There is little leeway in either their recruitment, nor do they have much choice of the student numbers in their courses.

However, the online competencies required of OU tutors are very similar to those needed by online faculty and many the issues they face are similar: course size, the complexity of many-to-many conferencing and the time investment needed to provide the most assistance to the students. Faculty development persons will face the same training issues, perhaps more. OU online tutors know that is what they are hired and trained to do. North American faculty are often overwhelmed with their multiple responsibilities and large numbers of students . Administrators seem to relish 'economies of scale' as practiced by the Open University, but do not see the wisdom of implementing sufficient support and training for faculty. And e-moderators are assessed on the quality of their e-moderating, where North American faculty members are rarely rewarded for teaching online courses, unless they write books about it!

CHAPTER 4

Chapter four details the implementation and refinement of Salmon's 5-step model used to frame the large-scale training of Open University e-moderators. She takes her examples from the online training program developed by the OU Business School. Salmon makes an important point up front: Without a commitment to staff development - training e-moderators - the presence of strong infrastructures and worthwhile learning applications will not be sufficient to guarantee success. Training for e-moderators must be planned because a long apprenticeship is rarely possible. Rather than learning from observation, assisting and application, e-moderators must be taught their necessary skills efficiently and effectively - and the best way to do that is online. That way they can learn, first hand, how the experience can feel for the students they were responsible for.

The trainers were initially unwilling to use paper instructional materials, thinking it might get in the way of developing online skills. They quickly discovered that some kind of booklet of directions, complete with screen-shots was necessary and that was developed for the second and subsequent rounds of training. Training had to be developed for a wide range of skill levels and levels of prior online experience in a way that would motive engagement, and as closely as possible replicate the realities of teaching and learning online. The training course carried a small fee and required the completion of reflection topics in the conferences and an exit questionnaire before a certificate of completion was awarded. Salmon and her colleagues pursued an active program of research and evaluation so that the training could evolve and improve over time.

A computer conference was set up for the trainees and five levels of specific tasks designed to take the students through the five levels of Salmon's model. The description of the tasks of each level is brief, but each includes extended quotes from student responses and their reflections. The descriptions in this chapter are not sufficient that the training could be reconstructed in other settings but helpful checklists do appear in the Resources section.

Subsequent performance by tutors is monitored, in line with the OU's established policies and procedures. This monitoring has been simplified now that their performance can be directly observed and peer-evaluated. Salmon recommends that tutor's work be consistently evaluated online to encourage the development of appropriate e-moderating practice.

Salmon discovered that an unexpected benefit of cohort training has been the development of a sense of community that developed in a series of conferences organized to provide a meeting place for trainee tutors. This has also added to their sense of professionalism - sometimes tutors are not academics - as they shared and explored good practice.

CHAPTER 5

This chapter explores student reactions as a way of assessing the performance of online tutors. The needs of special groups - new users and people with disabilities - are discussed using case studies and examples.

The tone of this chapter shows a change from being rather formal in the preceding chapters. They are written as if a program administrator to is talking to others, explaining how the program and training should be organized. It now seems to take on a more chatty "we are all e-moderators together" tone, and from now on "I" appears more often.

Salmon stresses the importance of pre-conference induction; students should be familiar with the access process and the 'how-tos' of online communication before their classes start. Necessary skills include fluid reading and writing, acquiring and managing information, finding and using online resources for learning and practice and functioning in a group that crosses local and national boundaries.

Learning styles are so varied that Salmon believes it is almost impossible to design learning experiences that will reach each learner every time. Quoting a book by Honey and Mumford on "Using your Learning Styles" Salmon discusses active, practical, theoretical and reflective learning styles and gives some indication of how these styles can be accommodated in the design of online interaction.

Salmon speaks from the OU experience with disabled or handicapped students. Students with disabilities who want to use CMC find that it has its advantages and disadvantages. Those who are hard of hearing find they can communicate freely with their fingertips; for those who are sight-impaired, navigating a screen with a mouse is problematic. For those who have limited mobility, learning via CMC can free them from travel and access restrictions.

E-moderators are cautioned to keep those with disabilities in mind when it comes to screen design. The chapter closes with a suggestion that two moderators be hired for course sections with disabled members, a student who can deal with the medical and technical discussions, while the e-moderator can focus on the educational aspects of course delivery.

Salmon notes that CMC is increasingly used in corporate training and development, especially when the workforce is distributed. She touches on the special needs of students in corporate settings. One thoughtful insight Salmon shares is just because business persons are used to working online does not mean that they will be comfortable learning online - they may need the gentle assistance of a well-designed induction program.

For Salmon, the role of gender in e-moderating raises issues of power and discrimination. E-moderators should 'regularly consider the tone of their messages and their online behavior (and be open to monitoring from their peers) to ensure that no exploitation of their more powerful position occurs, even inadvertently' (p. 79).

Those who read computer conferences but rarely, if ever, contribute are often called, somewhat pejoratively, "lurkers." Salmon noticed that in exit questionnaires, many conference participants remarked on 'the value of '"passive participation" - browsing, listening or lurking.' (p. 79). These 'lurkers' report that are learning, but sometimes their not posting raises the ire of their online classmates.

Salmon and colleagues have identified three main types of 'passive learners' in OUBS conferences:

Freeloaders - classmates express resentment because 'freeloaders' are using contributions and giving nothing in return;

sponges - soaking up information and the conference culture prior to 'jumping in"'; and

lurkers - those who are not contributing because they may have access problems or who lack the necessary computer skills.

Salmon then uses a case study to illustrate the wide variety of student responses in conferences, and the patterns that can develop among distributed learners.

The chapter ends with an all too brief discussion of the rationale and process of online induction that occurs prior to students starting their courses. This induction is designed to ease the transition into the online learning environment, and is the topic of several of the 'Resources' in the second half of the book.

CHAPTER 6

In the final chapter of the first section of this book Salmon looks at e-moderating as the key to the future of online teaching and learning. Salomon realizes that it hazardous to try to predict the future but does focus on what she believes is the most important aspect:.

Salmon does, however, go on to highlight a few key areas that she believes will have an impact on the work of e-moderators. These are the changing education environment, changing learners and learning to change, CMC and assessment processes and developing, combining and converging technologies, and the challenge for software developers.

With innovations in technology, growing and changing relationships among technology and network providers, life-long learners who are choosing to change their roles, there is one constant: the demand for e-moderators will rise, possibly exponentially, to provide the meaning and human touch (p. 90) to increasingly technologically mediated learning environments.

Salmon raises the issue of the use of English as the main language of the Internet and wonders if the use of English implies acceptance of certain cultural traditions and models of teaching and learning. Are learners expected to show independence and choice, or are they supposed to accept the authority of the instructor? The latter attitude would make e-moderators' positions challenging if they aim for democratic and collaborative approaches.

Salmon says that "assessment is the engine that drives and motivates students" and unless the issues of evaluation and assessment are tackled as the use of CMC for learning increases the gap between how students learn and how they are assessed may widen. Some students already comment on the irony of spending most of the learning time communicating through their computer, but taking their examination in a formal setting with only a pen and paper for company' (p93), (echoing a British-influenced examination model).

With all transactions taking place in writing in computer conferencing, the opportunities for forms of assessment other than examinations are myriad, including peer evaluation. Salmon stresses the importance of ensuring that the criteria for judgements are made explicit from the start and based on learning outcomes if this avenue is to be followed.

Three key technological changes Salmon foresees are in voice recognition software to free hands from keyboards; synchronous voice conferencing to enhance the sense of personal contact with fellow learners; and more mobile, portable connectivity taken to its logical end of wearable computers.

Her emphasis on synchronous technologies disturbs me as it ties students to times and locations and diminishes the convenience so important to non-traditional learners. It only makes sense to me in the case that Salmon cites, that of foreign language acquisition where synchronous communication allows learners and native speakers to converse and interact in real time.

Salmon does wonder if perhaps digital interactive TV may finally prove to be the 'killer' educational application of the future, powered by its very wide availability.

The challenge to software developers will be to develop the ultimate communications software, based on a full understanding of online interaction and e-moderating. The software would have to be easy to use to the point of almost immediate transparency, provide robust service over minimum bandwidth and with easy connectivity, allow easy structuring of discussion while enhancing the text-based conferencing environment, using hyperlinks.

The reuse of conference transcripts will, Salmon says, be necessary for CMC to fulfil its potential for knowledge construction as students can learn vicariously from the reading the discussion of others. E-moderators, she says, may then move into a different role, that of selecting and codifying the knowledge generated by conferencing and making it available to subsequent student groups.

In her conclusions, Salmon makes what she says is a risky prediction, but it sums up her dedication to the centrality of e-moderators' enduring role:

I am not surprised that her faculty have reason to fear! The e-moderators described in this book are not faculty members trained and functioning in this role, but part-time tutors (mentors, instructors or teaching assistants as they are called in North America) (p. 23) who are trained not in content delivery and elaboration but in discussion and people management.

RESOURCES

The resources in the second half of the book will perhaps prove to be more valuable and most adaptable to contexts outside of the Open University Business School.

They are:

1. Sensible questions to raise when choosing a CMC software system.
2. A simple matrix to assist prospective e-moderators to determine if they are ready to work online. It would work equally well with students.
3. Tips on how to keep the cost of e-moderating down.
4. Suggestions for assisting CMC users with disabilities.
5. Suggestions for online participant induction activities.
6. Ways of supporting and developing novice CMC users from 'drowners' and 'wavers' into strong 'swimmers.'
7. Relevent advice for using Salmon's five-stage model.
8. Ideas for e-moderators to use when assessing online participation.
9. Guidance in training e-moderators
10. E-moderating principles for productive conferencing.
11. A detailed table of techniques for building interactive CMC structures
12. A reminder of the importance of "conference housekeeping' - the archiving and maintenance responsibilities.
13. Understanding lurkers and encouraging their participation.
14. How to increase general participation
15. Suggestions to help e-moderators at stage 4 in the model: Knowledge sharing and construction.
16. Examples of conference text
17. A form to use when monitoring and assessing e-modeation
18. Suggestions for communicating onlilne including metaphors to use and 'netiquette' suggestions.
19. The importance of valuing online diversity.
20. A future scenario - training e-moderators in skills to help them move into the future.
21. Several pages of useful URLs to use exploring CMC on the Web.
22. A list of suggestions of descriptive names for the e-moderatoration role.

CONCLUSION

The first half of the book is thoroughly grounded and framed by the Open University Business School experience. This framework is foreign - no pun intended - to North American academic experience, and while interesting, makes it difficult for an outsider to tease out what can be effectively translated into other settings.

The notion of instructors or graduate students - who hold no academic rank - replacing faculty in the leadership of courses not their own, is a scenario that is often raises great alarm among North American academics. Whether reality or not, the common logic runs that a limited number of 'master teachers' will arise who deliver the "lecture portion' (or its equivalent) of 'mass produced,' branded, course content. Under this scenario, faculty will be reduced to support roles similar to those of contemporary graduate assistants, if they do not lose their jobs entirely. The resistance and hostility that this engenders in most North American faculty may get in the way of their appreciation of Dr. Salmon's work.

The resources in the second half of the book barely show the OU stamp and it is not a stretch to apply them to the North American conferencing environment. These resources should be required reading for all those involved in the e-moderating enterprise, regardless of their roles. As a faculty development professional, I have already begun use the polished tools Dr. Salmon provides. Is the book worth ordering from your friendly online bookstore? You bet!

Mauri Collins