This paper reports on a research project aimed at identifying the preferred approaches to learning of mature students in an online graduate programme. Interest in this issue was generated by the positions taken by certain theorists who argue for less focus on interaction and collaboration as the basis for learning in the online environment. They contend that the learner as an individual should be acknowledged. A questionnaire, operationalizing four learning modes, was used to solicit responses from graduate students. The modes were independent learning, instrumental learning, interactive learning, and collaborative learning. Factor analysis confirmed the four as student preferred learning modes. In addition it allowed for the emergence of specific attributes of each. While instrumental learning emerged as a strong factor, the most dominant construct emerging was a dimension of collaborative learning. It is envisaged that the findings of the study can inform the design of online teaching-learning strategies for this category of students.
Olahisi Kuboni is a lecturer in educational fechnoloyy at the Faculty of Education, University of the West lndies, St Auyustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West lndies. ~~~~~~~~~ AbstractIn Trinidad and Tobago, educational television is developed for the general secondary school population and is not generally designed to address specific iearner needs. In this study, an instructional video production was developed and targeted to low-achieving students of the secondary school population, in the Junior Secondary sector. Content was drawn from the social studies curriculum and the focus of instruction was the acquisition of concepts and generalisations. There was sufficient evidence that the video production facilitated a moderate level of learning. It was also evident that there were areas of the production where instruction was not adequate. Two aspects were identified for further work. First, given the wide range of achievement levels noted in the current evaluation, there is need to identify more precisely the learning needs of the mainstream of the Junior Secondary population. Secondly, attention must also be paid to designing productions that could facilitate learner capability to link items of information and attain more complex levels of learning.Educational television became a feature of secondary education in the developing world during the 1960s. In Trinidad and Tobago, it was introduced within the framework of an expanding secondary school population, initially as a broadcast system. The broadcast facility was shortlived and ultimately, with the growing popularity of videorecording, there emerged another system to develop educational television materials for distribution in videocassette format to secondary schools. This system still exists today.One of the consequences of the expansion of secondary education in Trinidad and Tobago was that the secondary school population became less homogeneous. Up to the early 1960s there existed only one type of secondary school, namely the seven-year grammar school which included a two-year sixth form programme and which was patterned after the traditional English grammar school. This system has evolved over the years into a more complex one in which each new set of institutions introduced into
A key component of conventional distance education organizations has been the network of local study centres, set up to serve as a bridge between students and the educational organization. With the capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable direct contact between the educational institution and its dispersed students, it is arguable that the local site is no longer necessary. This article reports on a study that explores the factors that suggest the need to revisit the role of the local study centre in view of the growing interest in ICTsupported distance learning. The study, conducted in the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre, comprised a survey of students and interviews conducted with site coordinators. Based on the results obtained, the article makes recommendations for enhancing the student support role of the local study centre. IntroductionThe provision of learner support is a critical aspect of open and distance learning (ODL) and it has gained even greater prominence with the use of Web-based technologies for teaching and learning at a distance. The University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) has paid greater attention to this aspect of its operations during a two-year project to transform its distance delivery mode from one based primarily on a combination of print-based materials and face-to-face tutorials to a distributed learning mode in which almost all of the teaching-learning interaction would take place online, using the learning management system (LMS) Moodle.In this LMS, the two agents responsible for providing support to students are the course coordinator and e-tutors. The course coordinator functions at an overarching level, monitoring and guiding the e-tutor-student interaction across all tutoring groups, and also interacting directly with the tutors in a special course coordinatortutor forum set up to facilitate exchange on matters related to course delivery. Tutors are expected to engage students in ongoing interaction during their study of the course. They are expected to moderate discussions, respond to students' queries, review and provide feedback on learning activities, grade main assignments, provide additional resource material, and clarify aspects of the course materials as required. During the
In examining the provision of distance education in the English-speaking (Commonwealth) Caribbean, it must be acknowledged that, historically, the main providers have been external institutions: the University of London International Programmes and the City and Guilds of London Institute are two institutions that have performed that function dating back to the early 20 th century. In more contemporary times, newer institutions have not only replicated that conventional model but have introduced different modalities for teaching from a distance. For example there are franchising arrangements with locally-based organisations as well as offshore schools (Marshall, et al, 2008).Notwithstanding the continued presence of these external interests, there is an internally driven operation that has been evolving over the last seven decades that warrants attention. It is in this regard, that distance education in the University of the West Indies (UWI), and its predecessor, the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), needs to be acknowledged. More specifically, this paper will examine the activities of key individuals who have emerged as leaders in this area of educational provision within the institution. Outreach through Extra-Mural ActivityIn 1947, the UCWI was established in Jamaica as an affiliate of the University of London, with a single residential campus on that island. However, as its name implied, it was intended to serve the people of all the West Indian islands that were colonies of England. In that regard, it would function not only as a campus-based residential higher education institution but also as the base for reaching out to adults not attending the institution. This outreach function would be carried out through the College's Department of Extra-Mural Studies which was modelled on similar operations emerging out of higher education institutions in England. Like its antecedents, its role was to offer adult education to the wider population.The activities of an Extra-Mural Department cannot really be considered as distance education. The separation of the teaching function from the learners to whom it is directed does not apply here. Nonetheless, its activities are included in this discussion for two reasons. First, while the teaching does not originate from the centre, there is a connection between the core institution and satellite units (University centres) set up to carry out that teaching function in the different islands across the Caribbean. The head of the Centre, known as the Resident Tutor, was responsible for the planning and implementation of the teaching programme locally. Secondly, this outreach operation would ultimately provide the foundation for the building of the more standard distance education operations in the ensuing years. It is therefore appropriate to start at this point. Setting the BoundariesThere are two distinct features about the provision of distance education in the English-speaking Caribbean. First, it is confined to a single institution. i Secondly, its target popu...
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