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Achievement of Pedagogic Objectives in Post-Graduate e-learning in an International Setting

Achievement of Pedagogic Objectives in Post-Graduate e-learning in an International Setting. Richard J Self Senior Lecturer in Business, Informatics and Information Governance University of Derby www.derby.ac.uk/staff-list/richard-self. Background.

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Achievement of Pedagogic Objectives in Post-Graduate e-learning in an International Setting

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  1. Achievement of Pedagogic Objectives in Post-Graduate e-learning in an International Setting Richard J Self Senior Lecturer in Business, Informatics and Information Governance University of Derby www.derby.ac.uk/staff-list/richard-self

  2. Background • Programme Leader for the MSc in Strategic Information Technology Management • e-Learning Teaching Fellow • 5 years experience • 5 different VLEs • Students in 20 countries

  3. Definitions E-learning Spectrum

  4. The e-Learning Spectrum- a Model for Clarification

  5. Classroom Based

  6. Differentiated Learning

  7. Fully on-Line

  8. Blended Learning

  9. Analytical Framework • 6 (of 7) Rs of Strategy • Reach • Reaction • Responsiveness • Refinement • Reconfiguration • Redeployment • (Reputation)

  10. The Issues for UK Projects • Pedagogy, design and delivery • Accessibility of materials to the students • Student / student and student / teacher interaction • Costs of creation of teaching materials • Costs of e-tutor support compared to face to face

  11. The Issues in Developing Countries Projects • UK Issues plus • Cost of Ownership of IT • Donor Funded IT Projects • Internet Infrastructure Provision and Performance • Culture

  12. Pedagogy, design and delivery • MSc = Critical Thinking and Critical Evaluation (subject content as context) • BSc = Facts + Critical Thinking

  13. Accessibility of materials to the students • MSc = text + e-resources + discussion

  14. Student / student and student / teacher interaction • MSc = asynchronous email and discussion fora

  15. Costs of creation of e-teaching materials • MSc = low (they find source materials and explore and answer the “difficult questions”) • 70 to 100 Hours per module • Practical = high (all materials provided for them to use and interact with) • ?? (interactive MSc modules 1000 hours +)

  16. Costs of e-tutor support compared to face to face • MSc = low (2 to 3 hours per student) • MSc = interactive (10 hours per student • Practical = high (constant interaction) • F2F far more cost effective, even at MSc level for more than 15 students!

  17. Cost of Ownership of IT – Learning Centres • $1450 p.a. per connected PC (A Muluubya, 2006) • Only 1/3 of cost = purchase costs • Rest is maintenance!

  18. Donor Funded IT Projects • Normally only fund acquisition costs, not annual maintenance costs • Tend to impose western project style -> failure due to inappropriate cultural contexts (Anon, 2006) and (Walsham, 2001)

  19. Internet Infrastructure Provision • When and how much? • Electricity • Eg – Malawi and Botswana ~280MW each • Telecoms • Major cities and towns • Internet • Dial-up and v-low speed “broadband” (126 kbps max) • Connection costs – high

  20. One SADC Country Anon, 2007

  21. Internet Infrastructure Performance • Bandwidth is critical factor • Typical e-learners in SADC = <10kbps • Typical MSc academic resource 250Kb to 5MB (200 seconds to 1.11 hours), need 20 to 30 per module • Multi media resources (Web 2.0) large files (e.g. Flash, MP3 and RAudio) > MB

  22. Culture • Walsham • Clash of cultures and IT • Unwin • Modernisation vv People centred models

  23. Conclusions (1) • Accessibility of academic materials is a significant issue for ‘distant’ e-learning students. • Student / student and student / lecturer interaction is often adversely affected by bandwidth and cost, thus limiting the achievement of critical thinking skills • e-learning is not a ‘cheap option’ for delivery of learning materials to students. It can, in fact, be a remarkably expensive option.

  24. Conclusions (2) • Internet bandwidth ‘as delivered’ in many parts of the world is insufficient to deliver adequate online materials to MSc students to allow the development of critical thinking skills. • The bandwidth restrictions in developing countries often preclude using any modern Web 2.0 types of facilities such as improved / cheap voice and video communications

  25. Bibliography • Anon, 2006, A Comparison of Donor Funded IT Project Management Styles, MSc Dissertation, University of Derby • Muluubya. A, 2006, Total Cost of Ownership of PCs in Uganda, MSc Dissertation, University of Derby • Unwin, T, (Draft), 2008, ICT4D, CUP • Walsham, G., 2001, Making a World of Difference; IT in a Global Context, Wiley

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