The Human Touch in Digital Education

An interview with Susan Stetson-Tiligadas, Director of Online Education, The American College of Greece

Susan Stetson, Ph.D. in education, is an assistant professor with over 25 years of teaching experience and a decade of experience in instructional design. Proficient in Blackboard LMS and Articulate Rise, she led projects in higher education, collaborating with SMEs for over 20 projects. Susan’s administrative leadership includes overseeing a small team of instructional designers. Currently teaching in graduate programs, she imparts expertise in learning design, curriculum development, and language teaching strategies, making significant contributions to educational advancement.

Through this article, Susan discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by generative AI in online education, emphasizing the importance of striking a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and preserving the human element of instruction.

Given the importance of a systematic approach like backward design in creating effective online instruction, what are some of the key challenges faculty often encounter with online teaching?

While online learning has been around for a while, many students still find themselves navigating unfamiliar terrain. A significant challenge lies in educating instructors, whether upper administration or subject matter experts, on the systematic process of creating effective online programs. This process should begin with a backward design approach, especially in contexts demanding accountability, like higher education. Although time-consuming for subject matter experts, this approach yields well-aligned learning outcomes, assessments, activities and content, benefiting learners with an effective instructional experience.

Learners tend to evaluate instructors favorably, reflecting positively on the institution or instructor offering the online training. Taking shortcuts leads to a lose-lose-lose situation. Learners suffer from misaligned, scattered content, potentially providing negative feedback about the instructor. The institution or client also receives unfavorable reviews. Embracing the systematic backward design process is crucial for creating effective online instruction that satisfies both the learner and the instructor.

For instructors new to online teaching, what are the top tools or platforms that you would recommend them to enhance the learner experience?  

The online learning landscape is vast, with numerous platforms like Google Classroom, Moodle, Blackboard and Canvas vying for attention. Choosing the right platform is highly context-dependent, as various factors like learner access, built-in tools, and structural affordances for learning design come into play.

For those new to online instruction, evaluating two or three platforms and selecting the one that best meets learners’ needs is crucial. This decision should be guided by the platform’s flexibility to accommodate diverse learning experiences within a single project. While many viable options exist, proclaiming a one-size-fits-all solution would be an oversimplification. The key lies in carefully assessing the unique requirements of each learning initiative and aligning the platform choice accordingly.

How do you think the instructors should design their course materials to keep the students engaged and motivated?

Keeping students engaged and positively challenged lies at the heart of effective online instruction–a formidable task. In asynchronous courses, the key is a backward design approach, accurately structuring modules with content delivery, frequent formative assessments for self-evaluation and ample opportunities for applied learning. Personalized application activities, allowing learners to contextualize concepts within their own experiences, can foster deeper engagement in addition to strategies such as case studies.

"Thoughtfully chunking content, incorporating frequent formative evaluations and providing varied application opportunities are the recipe for keeping online learners invested and positively challenged, optimizing their learning experience."

For synchronous online sessions, avoiding excessive lecturing is crucial. Extended monologues compromise engagement, so lectures should be capped at 20 minutes, interspersed with discussions, group work, or breakout activities. This cyclic approach, bite-sized content chunks, formative checks and applied practice solve the challenge and improve engagement across modalities.

Thoughtfully chunking content, incorporating frequent formative evaluations and providing varied application opportunities are the recipe for keeping online learners invested and positively challenged, optimizing their learning experience.

What future trends or technologies do you see evolving in the upcoming years?

The advent of generative AI is both exciting and concerning for online instructors. Its potential to lessen workloads by generating tailored instructions, rubrics and even feedback is undeniable. However, an overreliance on AI risks disconnecting instructors from their learners’ unique needs and challenges. While AI can produce detailed feedback efficiently, outsourcing this critical role compromises the ‘guide on the side’ model. Instructors may lose touch with learners’ difficulties if AI handles feedback, undermining their ability to provide targeted support. Using AI for feedback also raises data privacy concerns if learners’ work is shared without consent.

AI’s capacity for adaptive learning and personalized content creation is promising. By understanding learner preferences, AI could tailor resources with ease. Striking the right balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and preserving the human element of online instruction will be crucial moving forward.

Generative AI presents both possibilities and challenges. Harnessing its power while safeguarding the instructor-learner connection will define the future of online education. A judicious approach that augments rather than replaces the human role is key.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with other senior leaders in the industry?

While the potential of generative AI in online education is unquestionable, I would advise senior leaders to keep their core focus on quality instruction and the human element of learning. Technology should augment and enhance the teaching and learning experience, not replace the critical role of the instructor.