Artefact 2 - Gender Issues: A Case Study from Greece - MDDE 651

Establishing communication among a group of people who have to work together but are located in different parts of the world is of the utmost importance. We employed Google Docs, Skype and WhatsApp as communication and document sharing tools and used them as often as we could (3.1). I was not aware of the WhatsApp application and how it works but it proved quite helpful since one of the members of our group, often had to do fieldwork and was away for short periods of time. This application made it possible to keep in touch with her when the need arose (3.2).

During the first phase of our assignment, when we were supposed to choose the e-learning program, it was urgent that we have a synchronous meeting, to be able to exchange ideas, make suggestions and finally reach a consensus, so we used Skype as the best means of diminishing the distance among us (3.3). I had already looked around and decided to propose that we work on the e-learning program “Training Adult Educators”. I explained to my group members what this program is and how it works, and volunteered to arrange a meeting with one of the administrators which is what I actually did (4.1). When we met again, I had a lot of information to share, from the talk with the administrator to the brochures advertising the program and providing essential details (4.5).

It was time to decide on the perspective we would like to present in our assignment. We reviewed the literature and found out that there were some papers presenting the students’ perspective on learning design and support systems in distance education but we found none presenting the instructors’ and administrators’ point of view (5.4). So, we decided to delve into theory and based on this to formulate the research questions. The work by Tisdell (1998) and Johnson (2004) provided us with the insight needed to complete our interview questionnaire. We opted for questions that asked about what was taken into consideration when designing the course, whether the course materials were chosen by having in mind the differentiated needs of female students, and the barriers women might face in distance education and what support is provided by the institution to overcome these (5.1). The term positionality was unknown to me up until then and I was surprised by the fact that I probably held biases unconsciously due to the social and political context of my upbringing (5.2). This awakening deeply moved me, forcing me to seek out different perspectives and this was evident from our choice of questions.

There were eleven questions, some open-ended and some with multiple choices. We had agreed to translate the questions in Greek and create a Google form so that the questionnaire could be sent to the research participants by mail. We were not given their email address so as to maintain their anonymity but sent the link to the Google form to the secretariat of the e-learning program and they forwarded it to the instructors and administrators that had the option to take part in the research or not according to the ethics of a research process (5.11) Google forms was the best tool for conducting this study because we could send our questionnaire, gather all the answers anonymously, and also have some charts made automatically regarding the multiple choices answers (5.10). 

The open-ended questions that outnumbered the rest, made the whole process like a short interview, which was our intention. If we wanted to find out the rationale and mentality behind the course design we would have to give the interviewees the opportunity to freely express themselves and provide explanations and justification for their choices (5.5, 5.9).

 Analyzing the findings was an exciting experience and successfully completed group work. We read the answers carefully and tried to find what they had in common. It was a difficult job because I needed to read between the lines and try to understand what they were trying to say beyond the words, to allow myself to look at things from their own perspective. I needed to put aside my own prejudices and be aware of my own positionality. This is a skill much needed in qualitative research and this experience has taught me not to be intimidated to look deeper and further. By doing so, we found out that from the participants' experience, although women are less confident using the technology needed for completing the e-program, they are much more active. Additionally, the female instructors admitted to having their authority questioned mostly by women.  I came to realize that nothing can be taken for granted and that trying to gain a deeper understanding of a situation you need to exhibit a great deal of empathy (5.6).

I attribute the fact that we quickly reached conclusions regarding our research, to shared responsibility among the group members. What I mean is that each one of us had taken on some task and worked on it and then we put all the bits together, just like the pieces of a puzzle, in order to complete the bigger picture. We were efficient and quick, did not waste any time and kept within time constraints (6.5). Personally, I was focused and worked hard because I did not wish to let any of the other members down and impede our group assignment's progress. Additionally, putting together the information that we had compiled by analyzing the questionnaires, led us to picture the existing situation of e-learning in Greece. The distance learning industry in Greece is on the rise, a great number of people opt for this mode of being educated, mostly women. It was also clear that women need a lot more support regarding the use of technologies, a matter which was taken into consideration when creating a support system. As the results also showed, inclusive and constructivists' approaches are used when designing online programs, which is a positive thing (5.6, 6.1). 

We would have to post our presentation on the designated forum space on a certain date and then, moderate a forum discussion. We chose to use PowerPoint slides to create our presentation, record the description over it but we exported it as an MP4 video which was published on YouTube. It proved more efficient to provide a link rather than upload a presentation (4.6). Exporting a video from a presentation was something I had not done before and we had to ask for some help, but it turned out to be very easy and has been a skill that I have often used, ever since.

Working on the PowerPoint presentation demanded a lot of negotiation about what to include, which theories and how to interpret our findings, and we had to reach a consensus because we did not always see eye to eye. What I did was to express my opinion freely and support it with valid arguments. I was also open to what the other group members had to say and tried to think and justify any of my choices (4.8). I suppose this is why all three of us feel it was such successful cooperation.

We wanted to provoke a vivid forum discussion and we chose our questions accordingly, asking questions to the point. I was surprised to see how all our peers responded and shared so many personal stories about biases and obstacles they have faced in their lives because of their sex. The fact that I had access to all these people from around the globe talking about their personal experiences certainly broadened my perspective of the world. I was also touched by the impact they claimed this discussion had on their work and personal life. Here is a screenshot from the forum, demonstrating just that:

 This is exactly how I felt when all this was over. We had presented an authentic case study, surveyed ordinary people who depicted real conditions regarding this e-learning program in Greece, helping us identify some current trends.