Widening access to distance education using mobile technologies - A pilot project.

Distance learners are typically adults who struggle to find sufficient time for their studies amongst diverse domestic and work commitments. Any technology that allows them to make more effective use of available time would be welcome. Mobile devices – such as mobile phones, digital personal audio devices (mp3 players) and Personal Digital Assistants – hold the promise of extending the time available for study, by allowing learners to access programme materials during miscellaneous commuting time and waiting time. This project represents an initial attempt to explore these possibilities in Oscail. The project consists of two-phases. In the first phase, participants on selected online distance postgraduate programmes offered by Oscail were surveyed to assess their current usage of mobile devices and also to gauge interest in using mobile devices to support learning on these programmes. For the second phase sample educational resources were developed and deployed, which students were invited to access and evaluate

Attaining 21st century skills online: A programmatic approach

This case study reports on the practical use of technology to support a programmatic approach to achieving learning outcomes. This is achieved through the provision of appropriate opportunities for online distance learning (ODL) students to achieve the range of 21st century skills needed to manage the complexity of future problems and continue to be critical consumers and producers of knowledge throughout their lives. A programme-focused assessment strategy is utilised on an ODL Humanities programme with a distributed, modular provision model, in order to satisfy related learning outcomes. This strategy allows for the deployment of a range of assessment types, many of which are only possible through the current affordances of online learning, for example, wiki-building in groups and debates using discussion forums. Both the students and the majority of the academic staff are off-campus, with technology providing the means for interaction and communication relating to assessment of learning outcome achievement. Technology is also the medium through which the off-campus subject experts who develop assessments receive appropriate, professional development such that they understand the pedagogical approaches and technological solutions available for assessment and feedback design and development. This paper will present the model through which this professional development takes place, and the way in which a team-based approach is used to ensure the appropriate design and development of assessments and related feedback mechanisms

Introducing Wimba to Oscail online programmes

This paper reports on a pilot project that investigated the potential for providing synchronous web-based tutorial support for distance education students, and the evaluation of that pilot project. A key challenge for distance education providers is the provision of quality academic support to all students regardless of location. The proven, positive link between attendance at tutorials and academic achievement highlights this aspect of academic support as crucial to distance education student success. In response to student difficulties in attending tutorials and diminishing numbers of tutorial centres, it has become increasingly important to investigate alternative methods of providing tutorial support to distance education students. Following an evaluation of a number of web-based conferencing software, Dublin City University opted to use Wimba Classroom in providing live, virtual classrooms to students. The pilot project involved the adaption of the existing, synchronous, face-to-face tutorial support system, provided to distance education students on the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSc in IT) degree programme from Oscail – DCU Distance Education, such that students attended live, virtual classrooms instead. A particular focus of this paper is the “Enterprise and Emerging Technologies” module of the BSc in IT programme which was specifically redesigned and rewritten for this pilot project. The most successful feature of this software was the archived versions of the live tutorials with 83% of students accessing the archives. The results of this project will have a significant impact on the future delivery of tutorial support, course delivery and assessment in Oscail – DCU Distance Education

Enhancing the teaching and learning experience of distance education through the use of synchronous online tutorials.

Oscail, Distance Education, Dublin City University is at the forefront, like many other distance education providers, in its commitment to adopting new technologies to improve the teaching and learning experience of their students (Cakir and Basak, 2004). Social interaction has been found to contribute positively to knowledge construction, higher order learning (Vygotsky, 1975 ed), achievement (Hrastinski, 2009) and successful completion (Rosenberg 2001, Salmon 2000). Advances in technology have facilitated an enhanced teaching and learning experience for distance education together with the opportunity for social interaction, an aspect often missing from traditional distance education. Following an evaluation of several web conferencing tools, Dublin City University opted to adopt Wimba Classroom to provide live, virtual tutorials. In 2010/2011, Wimba was piloted in the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree programme and the outcomes of this project were reported at the 2011 EADTU conference. Following the positive outcome of the pilot project, synchronous online tutorials were introduced to all Oscail programmes in 2011/2012. The use of Wimba was extended to include webinars, student presentations and student feedback sessions and to provide students with the opportunity to engage in social interaction and knowledge construction. This paper will reflect on the subsequent student and tutor experience of teaching and learning within Wimba. It will evaluate if the findings of the pilot project translated to the larger provision of online tutorials

WIMBA - The story so far! Introducing Wimba to distance education programmes.

Wimba Collaboration Suite is a suite of products that replicates the classroom environment online. Products include Wimba Classroom, Wimba Pronto and Wimba Voice. The main focus of this paper is Wimba classroom which consists of features such as audio, video, chat and whiteboard. It is a web based live classroom tool which allows participants to interact synchronously mimicking a traditional face to face classroom