Student Autonomy in Online Learning
Nataliya Serdyukova
1
and Peter Serdyukov
2
1
Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, National University,
11255 North Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA, U.S.A.
2
Department of Teacher Education, National University, 11255 North Torrey Pines Rd., Redding, La Jolla, CA, U.S.A.
Keywords: Autonomous Learner, Learner Independence, Self-directed Learning, Online College Education.
Abstract: Online learning has opened up rich opportunities for unlimited, life-long learning. Continuous professional
development, retooling and upgrading expected from members of the knowledge society count on an
individual’s developed ability to learn independently. Research suggests a self-sufficient, autonomous
learner is more efficient than teacher-dependent student. Though online education offers students
significantly greater choices and more freedoms for independent learning compared to traditional campus-
based programs, college education based on instructor-centered teaching approach still rigidly controls both
the learning content and process thus restricting students’ initiative and flexibility. On the other hand, there
are many students who do not possess the necessary independent study skills and dispositions, and are
fearful of engaging in independent learning. Online learner autonomy, however, is critical for a person’s
continuous development and learning efficiency, and the present research investigates students’ perceptions
on the matter suggesting ways to promote students independence within a college class.
1 INTRODUCTION
It is critical for the 21
st
century knowledge society
that the educational system cultivates autonomous,
life-long learners capable of independently
constructing knowledge and developing skills to
effectively adapt to changing markets and compete
in a challenging global environment. According to
Hargreaves (2003, 65), “the things most prized in a
knowledge economy - creativity, spontaneity, deep
understanding, critical thinking and the development
of multiple forms of collective intelligence” are the
qualities that only a conscious, autonomous learner
possesses.
Adult learners, who make up the majority of
online classes, have an acute need and considerable
motivation for independence (Merriam, 2001).
Knowles (1975) suggests that adults are intrinsically
motivated by internal incentives and curiosity, rather
than external rewards. Intrinsic motivation is the key
to independent learning (Gagne and Deci, 2005).
Therefore adults more than any other category of
learners deserve freedom in online classes. The
reality of college education, regrettably,
demonstrates the opposite.
Creating conditions for nurturing an independent,
autonomous learner in web-based knowledge
environments, particularly in online college courses,
requires a change in pedagogic perceptions, certain
methodological modifications, new understanding of
the instructors’ and learner’s roles, superior
dispositions and advanced skills both from the
instructor and the students. Those dispositions and
skills for students include accountability for their
own learning, capability to reflect on and critically
assess their own learning, and confidence in their
abilities, which is supported by their strong learning
habits and experiences. In addition, students’ basic
readiness, which includes a set of fundamental skills
and various literacies, is vital for successful
autonomous learning.
The current paper attempts to identify major
factors affecting students’ independence and
autonomy in online college classes, presents the
current authors’ findings, both theoretical and
practical, on college students’ autonomy from the
research conducted in online postgraduate teacher
preparation programs at National University, USA in
2012, and offers some insights into student
independence and autonomy, as well as into student
learning in general.
229
Serdyukova N. and Serdyukov P..
Student Autonomy in Online Learning.
DOI: 10.5220/0004353102290233
In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2013), pages 229-233
ISBN: 978-989-8565-53-2
Copyright
c
2013 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
2 LEARNER AUTONOMY
IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT
One of the ultimate goals of any educational system
is to develop autonomous, life-long learners who are
capable of both independently and collaboratively
resolving life and job problems (Hargreaves, 2003).
Such a goal can be achieved through fostering
learner autonomy, which Moore (1984) defined as
“the extent to which in the teaching-learning
relationship, it is the learner rather than the teacher
who determines the goals, the learning procedures
and resources, and the evaluation decisions of the
learning program” (p. 85). Autonomous learners are
more successful learners who achieve their learning
outcomes with the best efficacy (Albert, 2007).
Autonomy in learning is immediately related to
innovation, creativity and self-efficacy. Buvoltz
(2008) argues that promoting student autonomy is
pedagogically sound, especially with regard to adult
learners.
Developing student independence and autonomy
in learning is thus one of the major tasks of
education (Bembenutty, 2011), (Dillner, 2005),
however little has been done to implement it.
Everything interferes with this task in the college:
the curriculum, course syllabus, course structure,
instructor’s authority, teaching habits and tradition
of classroom management and control; finally,
educational standards and formal tests. The
regulations and practices of organized class provide
students with poor preparation for highly innovative,
flexible and team-based knowledge economy where
routine is the enemy of innovation and risk
(Hargreaves, 2003, p. 14).
The CIEL Handbook states, “Learner autonomy
indicates a number of dimensions in which learners
move away from dependence on the teacher and:
- Take responsibility for their own learning and
learn to learn;
- Involve themselves in an interactive process in
which they set short and long term learning
objectives, reflect on and evaluate progress”
(CIEL Handbook, 2000, p.5).
Such an approach requires a new vision of
teaching and learning where the focus will be on
helping students maximize their autonomy. This
leads to the idea of learner-centered education which
is directly related to the principles originating from
the views of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky, and to
the concept of independent or self-directed learning
(Hiemstra, 1982). The principle of learner autonomy
correlates with learner-centeredness of education,
social constructivism and collaborative approach.
Online learning by definition is a form of
independent study, even if an institution delivers it,
and promotes self-directed learning due to its own
nature. An online learner, being separated from the
school and instructor by space and time, gains the
benefits of a more convenient self-study
environment, individual learning style and pace,
flexibility of scheduling, together with access to
unlimited internet resources, but loses organized,
mandatory, bonding face-to-face classroom activities
(Serdyukov and Serdyukova, 2012, 42), which may
affect their ability for autonomous learning.
Regrettably, online students generally have
limited communication with the instructor, fewer
opportunities to work collaboratively with their
peers, do not usually have continuous and engaging
face-to-face interactions with other participants of
the learning community, and do not receive critically
important instantaneous feedback, which is readily
available in a live classroom environment.
Moreover, lack of F2F interactions does not foster
the development of personal relationships in the
class, which inhibits the feeling of belonging to a
community and trust among peers. This may
negatively affect learning outcomes as learning is a
social activity which requires participation in a
social group (class) and interaction with members of
the group (Vygotsky, 1962), (Bandura, 1997).
ClassLivePro, SKYPE and other
telecommunication technologies may partially
ameliorate this situation, however they do not
significantly compensate for the dearth of true
connection. Another option to develop a learning
community is offered in blended or hybrid classes.
Yet, the necessity to attend live classes at scheduled
times definitely restricts student independence and
undermines the asynchronous learning mode.
Social networking presents a unique opportunity
for independent, flexible and collaborative learning
providing students with an individual learning space
and communication capabilities outside rigid course
frameworks. Moving a part of the learning process
into the freedom of social networking is a viable
option for boosting independent learning, at the
same time integrating the student in a rich
communal space. The new model of contemporary
learning can be portrayed as a loose organization of
a number of stakeholders, where a student remains
autonomous even when connected to the college and
instructor, while participating together with other
students in the external learning community created
for a particular course.
CSEDU2013-5thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation
230
3 INVESTIGATION OF ONLINE
STUDENT INDEPENDENCE
One of the goals of contemporary technology-based
education is to engage students in truly independent,
life-long learning where the motivation is to attain
excellence in learning that leads to higher
performance on the job. To understand what
contributes to and what interferes with independent
learning in online classes we investigated students’
attitudes and self-evaluations related to independent
learning. A survey was designed for this study and
run in 14 groups of the postgraduate teacher
education program in the School of Education at
National University in 2012 using a specially
developed questionnaire that addressed key issues
affecting student independence and autonomy in
online classes. In all 65 students completed the
questionnaire. Sample standard deviation was
calculated for the first two sets of data (tables 1 and
2). The present paper will focus on the survey’s
major findings.
First, students were asked two questions:
1. Do you prefer to learn on your own
(independently, without enrolling in a college
program) or in an organized college class?
(learning format)
2. When you take a college class, do you prefer to
study alone (independently) or to collaborate
with others? (learning style)
According to the responses to the first question
(Table 1), the majority of students – 62.0% prefer to
take organized college classes, and only 34.9%
would prefer to learn independently, outside college,
while 3.1% would be comfortable in either format of
learning. It appears working adult students are
generally not enthusiastic about learning
independently.
Table 1: Student preferences for the learning format (%).
Options\
Format
Independent
learning
Organized
learning
Both
Preference 34.9 62.0 3.1
(Sample standard deviation = 3.4)
Based on their responses discussed further, many
students obviously rely on a straightforward course
structure and unambiguous organization of the class,
direct leadership, support and even pressure from the
instructor. So they are willing to trade the benefits of
independent study for the security of instructor-
facilitated class, thus demonstrating their
dependence on outside factors for their success
rather than on their own skills and abilities. It may
be suggested that in an online learning environment,
where they study predominantly autonomously due
to its nature, some students feel lost and unsure of
their ability to cope with course demands. The need
in externally imposed structure, organization and
obligation might be explained by students’ lack of
confidence in their abilities to accomplish their
learning independently which comes, as the survey
demonstrated, from poor learning habits and time
management skills, lack of diligence, persistence
and effort, as well as insufficient learning skills
(reading, writing, critical thinking, and research),
low motivation, deficient self-evaluation and scant
support from family and employers.
Surprisingly, within a college class 76.9% of the
same students prefer to study independently, while
only 18.5 % do not mind collaborating with their
peers and even fewer, 4.6%, enjoy both options
(Table 2).
Table 2: Student preferences for the learning style (%).
Options\
Style
Independent
learning
Collaboration Both
Preference 76.9 18.5 4.6
(Sample standard deviation = 5.1)
These numbers imply that even when students are
taking an organized, instructor-facilitated class, the
majority of them prefer to do their work
individually. This was quite an unexpected finding
in view of the growing trend for collaboration and
cooperation in college education. Team work,
according to students’ responses, is fraught with
difficulty in organizing and managing and
characterized by distraction and uncertainly.
Moreover, students do not have confidence in their
potential partners and feel uncomfortable to depend
on the people they don’t know.
So, though the majority of students prefer to take
classes in an organized university program, an even
higher percentage of them try to avoid studying
collaboratively and prefer to work independently.
This paradox may be a manifestation of students’
individualism which, however, is not equivalent to
autonomy supported by self-sufficiency and self-
efficacy. Therefore these students count on the
college and instructor for guidance and support,
while rejecting collaboration for fear of being failed
by potential partners.
Current research identified a number of
challenges students face in learning that interfere
with their success the class. Students expect a clear
structure and organization of the course; reasonable,
meaningful and explicit course requirements and
expectations, and the instructor’s more effective and
StudentAutonomyinOnlineLearning
231
personalized teaching style. At the same time,
students point to their own flaws that affect their
learning, such as attention issues, poor time
management skills, low motivation, lack of
confidence and independent learning skills.
The current research showed the ways to make
significant improvement in the courses to develop
student autonomy:
- Fewer restrictions and prescriptions of what and
how to do;
- The right for students to critically review the
course, offer suggestions for its improvement,
identify their personal goals and participate in
defining their own learning trajectory;
- Meaningful, developmental and creative
assignments that do not impose heavy constraints
on implementation;
- Availability of continuous, open and productive
interactions, relationships, communication and
collaborative group work in the class;
- Effective, specific, clear and prompt assessment of
student performance, supportive feedback and
objective evaluation together with effective self-
assessment and reflection;
- Opportunities to offer and execute their initiatives
in the course, modify some assignments, freely
select implementation strategies, suggest their own
activities, apply their professional and life
experiences, and take part in situations requiring
their demonstration of leadership qualities;
- A space outside the course where students can
communicate and collaborate on course
assignments through social networking.
The instructor’s responsibility is to provide
continuous individual support and guidance in
developing student autonomy through effective
facilitation the interactions in the course. There are
numerous other opportunities in online classes to
offer students learning tasks and activities that foster
their independence.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Developing autonomous learners is clearly one of
the main goals of education, particularly at the
college level. As the current research demonstrates,
however, the majority of our online students prefer
organized, teacher-facilitated college classes to
independent learning. At the same time, within
collective college group environments the greater
part of students prefers to study individually. In both
cases many students lack self-confidence as well as
trust in their classmates. Research also points to an
inadequate student preparation for advanced college
studies and, in some cases, flawed dispositions.
Further research involving students of various
levels of study (undergraduate, graduate and
postgraduate) will help identify other critical factors
as well as effective methodological tools and
techniques that are instrumental for enhancing
students’ autonomy in online college classes. The
effect of social networking in college education on
encouraging student autonomy deserves special
attention.
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