Working with student expectations of tutor support in distance education: testing an expectations‐led quality assurance model

Action research studies in the United Kingdom with Open University students have shown that students come to distance education courses with variable expectations of the levels of service and support they will receive from their tutors. It has been further suggested that a specific expectations-led quality assurance process that enables the sharing of these expectations before a course starts could be of mutual benefit to the student and the tutor, as well as generally improving the overall quality of tutor support provided by the distance learning organisation. This process, it is argued, would be appreciated by the students, have beneficial effects on student satisfaction with tutor support, reducing student drop-out and increasing course completion rates. Could such a process that asks tutors to collect student expectations before a course begins be instituted effectively into a distance learning organisation and how would students and tutors respond to it? This paper reports on a large-scale project carried out by Oscail (the Irish National Distance Education Centre) aimed at developing and testing how students and tutors valued being involved in just such an Open and Distance Learning expectations-led quality assurance process. In the study reported here, all 96 tutors on an Oscail B.A. distance learning programme were asked two weeks before their course began to circulate the student expectations questionnaire to the 950 students on their tutorial lists. Tutors were asked to collect the questionnaires, reflect on the expectations of the students and consider how their tutorial practice and student support might change as a result of the exercise. Tutor and student views on the effectiveness of the exercise were also gathered through questionnaires and focus group meetings. The findings suggested that the majority of students and tutors involved in the study did see the value of the process and that it did help tutors (especially newly appointed ones) consider and respond to the type of support students hoped to receive. The practice of issuing student expectation questionnaires has now been embedded in Oscail introductory courses

Office 365 For The Improvement Of Learning Quality In Online Tutorial And Online Practicum

One of the main means to enhance student’s learning quality is by adopting a new technology in their learning activities. Nowadays, many universities in the world had applied this method because of benefits that it offers. Universitas Terbuka (UT) is one of distance learning institution in Indonesia that had applied this method for its students. Therefore, this research intends to investigate students and tutors’ perceptions in utilizing the features and facilities of Office 365 in online tutorial and online practicum. Furthermore, students and tutors’ perceptions that was analyzed include the use of standard applications contained in Moodle and their expectations in utilizing Office 365 features and facilities for online tutorials and online practicum. This study employs online survey that consists of 11 items. Students’ perception regarding the Office 365 features is influenced by age, gender, education, online tutorial training and online tutorial activities. The students’ responses of Office 365 facilities are affected by age, gender, education, employment, training and online tutorial activities. Office 365’s features and facilities are most likely to influence the effectiveness of the distance learning process since students have the opportunity to interact with their teachers, peers and learning materials. Moreover, Office 365 enable student to access the material through this facility. The other benefit is the existence of forum that could be used as a means of discussions between students and lecturers. Hence, we recommend that all online activities should be designed to achieve the optimization of distance learning such as strengthening the online tutorial and online practicum, improving the ICT competence of academic staff and their involvement in online tutorial and online practicum, improving services to all UT’s stakeholders and developing an upgrade of standard application training of Moodle and Office 365

An evaluation of i-Tutorial: a multimedia learning material in Open University Malaysia

In distance learning both the instructor and students are separated, thus learning material plays a vital role in filing the gap which is not only a source of disseminating knowledge and information but also for motivating the learner to learn independently. As an open and distance learning institution, Open University Malaysia (OUM) provided a suite of learning materials for its learners which includes print and digital material. i-Tutorial is one of the digital learning material that is used in some of the courses in the university. It is a visual clip of a lecturer presenting content by using pen device on power point slides, digital movie/pictures or digital tablet. This research aims to investigate the perceived effectiveness of i-Tutorial by evaluating four major aspects of multimedia materials, they are: design, elements, instructional messages, and interactivity. A well-designed media-rich i-Tutorial will not only enhance learning and translate into better learning outcomes but provides a stimulating environment for learning and retaining information delivered. The research data was collected via an online survey and a focus group. The findings from the survey and discussion indicated that i-Tutorial was well received by the students for all the four multimedia factors and also regarded supportive in their learning. (Authors' abstract

IMPLEMENTING CONSTRUCTIVISM LEARNING THEORY IN ONLINE TUTORIAL

The advanced development of information and communication technologybrings a significant impact on the way of how human learn. The e-learning orInternet-based and online learning has been widely used in a variety of learning activities as a suplement to the conventional in-class learning, flipped classroom etc. The term e-learning refers to learning activities conducted by the use ofInternet. Universitas Terbuka (UT) utilizes e-learning program in the form of online tutorial. The online tutorial is basically a form of learning support provided by UT to facilitate student to learn. The online tutorial consists of three major learning activities including reading, discussion and assignment. During online tutorial student must complete the assigned activities and interaction with peers, tutor and digital learning resources. Online tutorial can be seen as an instrumental tool that provide an opportunity for students to expandhis/her knowledge and skills beyond the provided printed and digital module. Tutors should be able to design online learning programs that can be used to facilitate students in expanding their knowledge and skills. The purpose of this study is to elaborate conceptually the use of constructivism learning theory in online tutorial of the open and distance learning higher institution

The Development of Online Tutorial Program Design Using Problem-Based Learning in Open Distance Learning System

This research aimed to evaluate of online tutorial program design by applying problem-based learning Research Methods currently implemented in the system of Open Distance Learning (ODL). The students must take a Research Methods course to prepare themselves for academic writing projects. Problem-based learning basically emphasizes the process of problem-solving, active learning, and collaborative learning in order to develop problem-solving skills and self-learning abilities. It is expected that the program will be implemented for the students as a learning program as eligible criteria for learning as well as for a good presentation in ODL systems. This research adopted the methods of Research-Based Development (Borg& Gall 2005), and several steps of research-based development methods were used to create effective problem-based learning for the Online Tutorial package of the Research Methods course. The researcher divided the research and development into five stages, namely, Need Analysis, Research Design, Materials Development, Formative Evaluation Design Program, and Implementation Program. The population of study was all students in Semester 2015.2 who took the Research Methods course. The study sample consisted of 20 students, facilitated by two Online Tutor facilitators. Sample selection was carried out randomly regardless of ability or particular capacity. At this stage of development of the learning models, the evaluation model of learning was developed using the expert research method (expert judgments) and designers of learning. The tool is a measuring instrument used in the Evaluation Instrument of the Program. The finding of this research shows that Online Tutorial Program Design has already developed the criteria for learning as well as criteria for a good presentation of students’ Open Distance Learning. Keyword: Program Design, Online Tutorial, Problem-Based Learning, Research Based- Development, Research Methods, Open Distance Learning

UNDERSTANDING STUDENT EXPECTATION AND SATISFACTION TOWARS ONLINE LEARNING IN THE OPEN UNIVERSITY: A STUDY IN ARCHIPELAGIC AREA IN INDONESIA

The online tutorial is one of the learning methods used by students at the Open University (OP). One main obstacle in delivering online tutorial in OP is the accessibility of the internet, especially for the students living in archipelagic areas in Indonesia. This study aims to analyze the level of student satisfaction towards online tutorial activities at OP, especially for the Distance Learning Unit of OP Ternate that located in an archipelagic area with limited internet facilities. The population was the second-semester students come from various regions in Ternate. Research data were collected by distributing online questionnaires. The sample consisted of 24 respondents. Results showed that, in general, students were satisfied with online tutorial services. The level of student satisfaction towards internet access in the online tutorial was 96.04%, and for the aspect of presenting the learning materials, the satisfaction level was up to 100.77%. These findings indicated that student satisfaction exceeds their expectations. Furthermore, student satisfaction level towards the interaction aspect in the online tutorial was 89.92%. For the class assignment, the student satisfaction level was 97.05%. Keywords: access, assignment, learning material, online tutorial, student satisfactio

Open and Distance Learning: Engaging Learners through Innovation and Creativity

Open learning has increased in importance over the years as seen in the increasing number of universities offering open and distance learning programmes. Research in the area has also increased over the years, covering a multitude of topics and concentrating on areas such as e-learning, interactive learning and collaborative learning. The authors of this research suggested that academics and practitioners should explore how teachers or tutors can influence learning designs and strategies with the aim of engaging learners through innovation and creativity. This paper explores the avenues that can be pursued by Open University Malaysia to incorporate innovation and creativity into its blended learning mode. Data were gathered from a literature review on open and distance learning, print module, online learning, and face-to-face tutorial. The research thus provides information on the current practices of open and distance learning programmes in Open University Malaysia; and the basic principles of implementing these open and distance learning programmes. In particular, the findings provide the characteristics of an effective print module, online learning, and face-to-face tutorial. At the end of the paper, some innovative and creative ideas that can be implemented in Open University Malaysia were suggested and discussed. (Authors' abstract

PROMOTING GUIDED-DISCOVERY LEARNING THROUGH WHATSAPP TO STUDENTS IN OPEN UNIVERSITY

Long-distance learning uses an online platform to transfer the knowledge. It has become a breakthrough in this modern era. The online learning brings many benefits to students, but it is also challenging to be implemented by the tutors in distance education universities. This paper tends to investigate the use of the guided-discovery learning (GDL) method in the psycholinguistics online tutorial class. The participants are the students of the English Education program in Universitas Terbuka, who take Psycholinguistics subject with online tutorial service. The methodology of this research is qualitative by using a case study. The researchers use the WhatsApp application as the platform in conducting the course. The students are required to follow the lesson step by step through WhatsApp. Based on the finding, this research reveals that there are two perspectives of the use of GDL toward psycholinguistics online tutorial class. The first perspective is in students that has two major advantages. The second can be seen from the learning perspective which also has two benefits of the use of GDL