Slowing Things Down: Taming Time in the Neoliberal University Using Distance Education

What is this research about?

While the current scale of online education is a direct result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this paper, published in 2018, attends to larger trends within online learning.

Online learning exists in a neoliberal governmental context. Neoliberalism in education encourages institutional “cost-containing” measures and prioritizes generating as much profit as possible. These efforts to reduce cost and maximize profit have many consequences, including an emphasis on “efficiency” and expectations of labour flexibility and adaptability.

Many critical education scholars perceive the rise in online education as an extension of neoliberalism. Online education often allows universities to increase the number of paying students, while reducing the number of paid faculty members. When approached in this way, online learning allows universities to maximize its profits while minimizing its costs.

Neoliberalism also creates pressures to be as efficient as possible. This has created a climate where there is a constant “scarcity of time” for both students and instructors. This paper explores how online education interacts with the ways that students and instructors use their time in online social work programs.

This research is part of a larger project regarding critical pedagogy and online social work education in Canada. 28 participants were interviewed by the research team. All individuals interviewed had first-hand experience either teaching or learning within two online, social justice-oriented, social work programs in Canada – one based in Toronto at Ryerson University, the other in Victoria at the University of Victoria.

The final sample consisted of 12 full-time faculty members, 10 part-time or sessional instructors and 6 recent student graduates (3 Bachelor-level and 3 Master’s level). The open-ended interview questions explored teaching strategies, reactions to challenging  course content, and management of tensions experienced in teaching or learning strategies.

Researchers analyzed this data by focusing on connections and contradictions between participant accounts. Attention was also given to the social and historical contexts of the participants’ responses.

What did the researchers find?

Interviewee responses converged around three themes:

1. Workload intensification faced by faculty members within online education

Both full-time faculty and part-time sessional instructors  described ways that workload expectations were greatly intensified in an online teaching environment. This was often caused by pressures to be universally available, particularly to attend to the needs of students in differing time zones. Instructors also reported that common forms of evaluation in online learning (such as discussion forums) required enormous time investment due to the large amount of content students are required to submit.

Furthermore, instructors described requiring increased planning and preparation time, particularly when there was a need to translate ideas into written communication. Consequently, instructors felt that these increased demands on their time created difficulties in attending to other areas of responsibility, often leading to encroachments on personal time.

2. Potential benefits of “slowing down” online education

While workload intensification was identified as a major facet of online education, both faculty and students reported that they also found ways to ‘slow down’ their scholarship through the use of online platforms. Many found that the inherent delay involved with written replies allowed time for reflection and contemplation in communication.

Participants reported that having more time available to think before responding allowed them to pace themselves and control their use of time. In addition, by having more time to think, they also  felt that they could be more intentional with their responses.

3. Concerns regarding the funneling of non-normative students into online education

Another key concern raised by interviewees was the potential for online learning to represent a lesser form of university education . Students reported that their lack of access to on-campus supports and services may have decreased the value of their education. Furthermore, one Indigenous instructor found aspects of her culturally-based pedagogy impossible to implement online. She also felt less able to support online students emotionally compared to their on-campus counterparts.

Online learning is often emphasized as a way for students from remote communities, Indigenous students, students with varying disabilities and other students who are not “typical” students, to access education.  These “atypical” students are more likely to pursue online education programs because they are considered  “more accessible”. However, if the quality of education provided by online learning is lower than on-campus learning,  then these students are being systematically funneled into a lower quality learning experience. Consequently, concentrating “atypical” students into online learning would represent a serious equity concern.

This research suggests that it is important to carefully consider the expectations that are placed on both instructors and learners in online learning environments.

Online learning can allow students and instructors time to carefully curate their thoughts and responses in ways that are not possible in an in-person environment. This suggests that educational exercises that allow students and instructors to slow down the pace of their work can be highly beneficial.

Researchers also found that workloads are often intensified in online contexts. Issues regarding expectations of constant availability,  and high amounts of content generated for evaluation were both suggested as important causes of this intensification.  It follows that careful consideration of the work involved in assignments – the work required to grade the assignment, and the time it takes for students  to complete it – is important.

Finally, this research highlights how online learning’s “accessibility” has the potential to re-enforce systemic inequity. Consequently, ensuring that the value of online learning is as high as on-campus learning is of the utmost importance.

Kristin Smith, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Ryerson University (Canada). Twitter: @kristin101010.

Donna Jeffery, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria (Canada).

Kim Collins is a PhD student in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto (Canada). Twitter: @miksnilloc.

Reference:

Smith, K., Jeffery, D., & Collins, K. (2018). Slowing things down: Taming time in the neoliberal university using social work distance education. Social Work Education, 37(6), 691–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2018.1445216