The five stages in an e-learning programme

Salmon's five-stage model

Gilly Salmon's s five stage model can be found on both http://www.atimod.com/e-tivities/5stage.shtml and in her book on E-moderating (details below). The following overviews of each stage rely heavily on this text.

Stage 1: Access and motivation

Participants need information and technical support to get started online, and strong motivation and encouragement to put in the necessary time and effort. Mastering the system can be fairly daunting to start with. Most learners will need some form of individual technical help at this stage as well as general encouragement to overcome their fear of the technology and any frustration they experience when 'the system' doesn't respond as expected. Access to technical support needs to be made available, for example through a telephone helpline, particularly when the participant is struggling to get online on his or her own.

Students who are used to having the teacher direct the learning process may expect a great deal of input from the e-tutor, especially at the start of a new programme. It is important to clarify roles from the beginning, in order to reduce the likelihood of unreasonable expectations arising.

Nearly every participant, new or experienced, worries about how much time it takes to be online. With no (or very few) fixed time periods for ‘lessons’, learning online can seem endless. It helps to give learners a clear indication as to how much time the online interactions should take, and how often they are expected to log in.

Stage 2: Online socialisation

Some learners are initially reluctant to participate in written discussion forums, and they should be encouraged to read and enjoy others’ contributions for a short while before taking the plunge and posting their own messages. When participants feel at ease with the online culture and reasonably comfortable with the technology, they can contribute more confidently.

The e-tutor has an important role to play in helping participants to develop a sense of community. This is founded on social presence as discussed in Unit 1. Think of the techniques we use in face-to-face teaching, such as icebreakers, brainstorming ideas in a group and writing them up on a flipchart, taking tea breaks and so on. E-tutors need to set the scene by promoting mutual respect, defusing any potential conflicts between individuals and helping participants with similar interests and needs to find each other. It is essential to create an atmosphere where participants feel respected and free to express their views.

When participants start to share a little of themselves online, they will be ready to move into the next stage. Obviously socialising will continue to take place during all the stages, but it is worth noting that participants who have been given a good induction into the online environment report benefits in their later online learning.

Stage 3: Information exchange

In this stage, information starts to flow and participants generally become excited about the immediate access and fast information exchange. They also express concern about the volume of information suddenly becoming available and the risk of potential information overload. E-tutors can help participants to develop good time management and organizational skills.

Two kinds of interactions are required from participants: interaction with the course content and interaction with people. It is essential for participants to know where to find the various resources they need - whether on the Web, in a CD Rom or a set of printed materials, and to understand clearly how the interactions with peers and tutors can help them achieve their learning goals.

At this stage, many participants are likely to need help from the tutor in developing or refining their seeking, searching and selecting skills. Some people may be overwhelmed by the mass of content and may need help to focus on the essentials. You can expect many queries about where to find things online. E-tutors need to provide guidance without inhibiting the free-flowing communication between students, as students derive an enormous amount of motivation and enjoyment from this personal communication.

Stage 4: Knowledge construction

As interactions unfold and expand, many (but not all) participants engage in some active exploration, and in the process widen their own viewpoints and appreciate differing perspectives. By now, learners should be interacting and starting to collaborate in their knowledge construction. Problem-based and practice-based tasks are appropriate at this stage. E-tutors have an important role to play in building and sustaining groups.

The e-tutor now needs to apply 'weaving' skills - a bit like weaving a coloured thread through a cloth to create or highlight a pattern. Weaving involves pulling together the participants’ contributions by, for example, collecting statements from a range of individual learners and relating them to concepts and theories from the course. The tutor enables development of ideas through discussion and collaboration, summarizes from time to time, ensuring that diverse views are given consideration, and helps keep the discussion on track.

At stage four participants start to become online authors rather than transmitters of information. Knowledge construction occurs when participants explore issues, take positions, discuss their positions in an argumentative format and reflect on and re-evaluate their positions.

Stage 5: Development

Participants begin to explore their own thinking and knowledge building processes. It is common at this stage for participants to reflect on and discuss how they are networking and to evaluate the technology and its impact on their learning processes. These higher level skills require the ability to reflect on, articulate and evaluate one’s own thinking. Learners become responsible for their own learning and need little support beyond that already available. Experienced participants often become most helpful as guides (or technical stewards, as described in Unit 2) to less experienced peers, and may feel confident to confront e-tutors and provide them with feedback to help improve the learning process.

Linking the five stages and the four quadrants

The diagram below shows how the five stages of Salmon's model can be integrated into our four-quadrant model of approaches to learning and teaching. 
 

Reflection

1.  Which of the activities discussed in Unit 2 do you think might help learners to move more quickly through Stages 1 and 2?
2. In stage 3, learners typically try to manage their time by using the following strategies:

• Trying not to read all messages
• Removing themselves from interactions that don’t interest them
• Saving or downloading discussions to read later
• Reading everything and spending an enormous amount of time online
• Reading everything but not responding to much;
• Sharing the workload in teams.
• Which of the above strategies do you think are likely to be most helpful? Do you think all of these strategies might be helpful at different times, in different situations? How do you think the tutor can help learners decide which strategies are most appropriate?

1. According to Salmon, in Stage 4, knowledge construction occurs when participants explore issues, take positions, discuss their positions in an argumentative format and reflect on and re-evaluate their positions. Can you think of any examples in your teaching where learners are encouraged to do these things?
2. Some people say that the learning curve described by Gilly Salmon is unlikely to be completed during a single online course. In the course that you teach, what level of learner engagement is required? Is it sufficient for learners to reach Stage 3, or do they have to demonstrate Stage 4 or 5 behaviours in order to pass? What does your answer say about the way in which your institution views the nature of learning? What are the implications for your teaching practice?
3. Salmon’s five stages were conceptualised in relation to fully online courses. Do you think the stages would be the same for courses in which learners also meet face-to-face, or do you think that learners in blended environments have to deal with different challenges?

Concluding comment

The 'five stages' model has been an immensely influential in helping educators think through course design for e-learning. There are various versions of five stages in various publications. For example, in  Facilitating Online: A Course Leader's Guide prepared by the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town, a five level model is proposed: 1. Arriving, 2. Conversing, 3. Facilitating, 4. Creating, 5. Applying.   

Additional resources

1. Salmon, G. 2004. E-moderating: the key to teaching and learning online, 2nd edition, London: Routledge.  www.e-moderating.com.
2. Salmon, G. 2002. E-tivities: The Key to Active Online Learning, Kogan Page, London.