Issues in the Design and Implementation of Web-Based Language Courses

III. Conclusion
This course work has reviewed literature related to this study: technology in education, the Internet, Web-based instruction, course design in WBI, and implementation of WBI. The next chapter will focus on the methodology, presenting the participants of the study, instruments, data collection, and data analysis procedures used in the study.
This research study investigates the factors that the course designers have taken into account in the design and implementation of web-based courses, how the design and implementation of the web-based courses were effected by these factors, and course designers’ views of possible future directions for developing and implementing web-based courses. The purpose of this study is to make recommendations about design and implementation of web-based language courses for University School of English Language (BUSEL), which is thinking of initiating WBI courses in the near future.
Nine volunteer EFL teachers, at institutions in four different countries, who have designed and implemented web-based courses for higher education settings voluntarily participated in my research study. Eight of them were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting of 29 open-ended questions, and one of the participants was interviewed. The questionnaire was sent to the participants through email in four different sections. The interview consisted of the same questions as the questionnaire. After the data were collected, they were analyzed qualitatively in order to answer the research questions guiding the study:
1 What factors have course designers taken into account in the design and implementation of web-based courses?
2 How were the design and implementation of the web-based courses effected by these factors?
3 Where do the course designers see themselves going in the future in web-based course design?
In this chapter, the findings will be discussed in connection with the literature, pedagogical implications where suggestions are made to BUSEL will be detailed, and implications for future research will be presented.
Discussion of Findings
The main purpose of this study was to find out the factors that the course designers have taken into account in the design and implementation of web-based courses, how the design and implementation of the web-based courses were effected by these factors, and course designers’ views of possible future directions for developing and implementing web-based courses they foresee in order to make recommendations about the design and implementation issues of web-based language courses for BUSEL. Three sets of factors emerged as having the greatest impact in WBI. These factors are student concerns, pedagogical concerns, and technical concerns.
Student Concerns
The participants raised motivation, learner autonomy, and learners’ needs in terms of developing linguistic and computer skills to support academic success as key student issues in WBI. These themes, with the exception of developing computer skills, are not very different from the themes that the course designers take into consideration while designing and implementing traditional courses. Harrison & Bergen elieve that “the first time a course is presented online, it may be similar in format to its traditional counterpart, but developing a successful online course is an ongoing process” .
Student motivation and learner autonomy can be increased by providing them with opportunities to take control of their own learning through WBI. As Dickinson mentions, learner autonomy refers to “the degree of the learner’s taking responsibility for his/her own learning”. Learner autonomy can be achieved by allowing students to take over the class and lead their own learning, as well as work at their own pace. WBI allows the teacher to assume the role of a guide or a facilitator most of the time. Students’ success depends on students’ being selfmotivated and independent learners. However, as Weston and Barker remind us, not all students have the discipline or the tendency to work independently; therefore, learners’ ability to work independently should be taken into consideration before starting the design and implementation of a web-based course.
Meeting learners’ needs is a major issue while designing a web-based course because the main aim of course design is to meet learners’ needs and provide them with the best possible learning environment. Target needs (i.e., what students need to learn and for what purposes), and learning needs (i.e., how they expect to learn and what motivates them) should be in harmony in order to increase the quality of their learning. Learners need to develop both linguistic skills and computer skills in WBI in order to be successful. WBI is not chosen as a new medium of delivery, but it provides learners with CmC tools which help learners to improve their linguistic skills. With the help of visual and audio tools, each student has the chance to improve their linguistic skills. There are a number of software programs that aim to improve different linguistic skills and students can even study on their own without the support of the teacher.
Students’ knowledge of computer skills is another important issue. If the students’ knowledge of the computer skills that are needed for web-based instruction is not sufficient, this lack of knowledge may lead to frustration and failure in web-based instruction. Students need to be familiar with how to send emails, attend chat discussions, and send messages to bulletin boards. Koroghlanian and Brinkerhoff (2000) state that while students may be quite good at reading, sending emails, and surfing on the Web, they may feel less capable when it comes to more technical skills during a web-based course. Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a training program for the students before the web-based course to provide them with necessary computer skills and prevent possible problems that they might have during the online course. Vrasidas and McIsaac also point out the importance of having an orientation, which could be face-to-face, at the early stages of the course. This orientation program could include a training component that may decrease the anxiety level or fear of unknown that students might have for WBI.