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Keeping it Human Traditional Values in a DL Environment

Dr. Fiona Robertson-Snape explores the importance of maintaining good learning relationships in distance learning. Learn about the International Studies Programme and how it fosters inclusion and belonging among distance learners.

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Keeping it Human Traditional Values in a DL Environment

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  1. Keeping it Human Traditional Values in a DL Environment Dr Fiona Robertson-Snape Award Leader, International Studies Programme

  2. Introduction: My Starting Point New technologies are essential to distance learning but so are good learning relationships. Distance Learning is a way of learning remotely and normally involves no face-to-face communication. Other forms of contact are therefore particularly important. Time and effort is required to ensure a sense of inclusion and belonging amongst distance-learners: a distance learning award is more than a correspondence course and requires a serious commitment in terms of staff hours and staff development.

  3. Talk Outline • Background on the International Studies Programme. • Module Design • Points of Contact • Building a Learning Community • Teaching via distance learning at the BA level. • Future possibilities

  4. The International Studies MA Programme The programme started 15 years ago with an MA International Relations. It is taught entirely via distance learning and was highly innovative and ground-breaking at the time. It was the brain-child of Dr Sita Bali. • This programme incorporates 4 distinct MA awards • MA International Policy and Diplomacy • MA International Relations • MA International History • MA Intelligence and International Relations (MOD)

  5. It attracts students from all over the world • There are currently 142 students on the programme from (amongst others): • Austria Bahamas Bosnia • Dominican Republic Canada China • Central African Republic France Germany • Indonesia Japan Jordan • Kenya Malaysia Nepal • Netherlands Nigeria Spain • United Arab Emirates Uganda United Kingdom.

  6. High Calibre Students with practical experience. • Head of Declaration Assessment Team, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – the man in charge of the removal of all chemical weapons from Syria. • Chief Legal Advisor to the International Atomic Energy Agency. • Country Director for Central African Republic, Mentor Initiative. • Field Worker in Uganda for Department of International Development.

  7. In addition: At least one serving diplomat. Satellite engineer with the European Space Agency. Evidence Custodian at UN War Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. A range of military personnel from many ranks and in diverse roles. An aid worker teaching children who have fled ISIS in Northern Iraq.

  8. Module Design • The modules are text based andstudents are given a step-by-step programme of reading over a normal 12 week term. They then have an additional 4 week assessment period. • Compulsory reading materials are provided in a course pack and in 3 textbooks. • At the end of their reading students answer a question and post it onto a discussion board.

  9. Point of Contact: The Discussion Board • The discussion board is the main point of contact not only between the tutor and the students but also between the students themselves. • The first task in any module is for the students to introduce themselves to each other and to the staff member. Giving distance learning students a sense of who they are studying with is important. • Students quickly get to ‘know’ each other on the discussion board. • Each module Blackboard site has a student café where students can ‘talk’ to each other.

  10. Regular formative feedback • Students receive feedback from the tutor on all their discussion board posts. • Students really appreciate specific comments on their work as is made clear in module evaluation. • Students also comment on each other’s work, and a learning community develops. A successful discussion board is intellectually stimulating for all involved. The key aim is to make sure that the discussion board is a place where all students feel they belong. • Student involvement is rewarded with a participation grade.

  11. Virtual Seminar Presentation • Each week a student posts a virtual seminar presentation and formative feedback is given publicly. • Open feedback is essential to establishing good academic practice. Students can learn a lot by reading the feedback on each others’ presentation. • On the board tutor engagement is visibleto all the students. • Students also comment on each other’s presentations. This is almost always supportive and reinforces a sense of shared-learning.

  12. Other points of contact • The Blackboard Organization is an essential tool and regular announcements and new materials are added to give a sense of inclusion and activity. • E:mail is the key form of communication and swift, detailed e-mail responses enhance student satisfaction. • Some students choose to telephone rather than e-mail and it is a good way to establish a relationship between tutor and student. • Students are invited into the University for tutorials or offered a tutorial via Skype. • This year we had our first MA trip for distance learning students to The Hague..

  13. facebook • Facebook is where our attendance undergraduates, our MOD students and our MA students can all interact, both with staff and together. • Blogs, commentaries, articles, photos are all put up daily to encourage student participation and comment. This is particularly important during the summer as Facebook is a way that students still engage with us. • Making undergraduates aware of other activities of the department and our other students has also been very constructive.

  14. The strategy appears to work!

  15. BA MOD Top-Up Degree • This summer our first cohort of BA distance learning students will graduate. • Teaching undergraduates has led us to further innovations to encourage participation and provide even more support. • Students must attend an induction day and are trained in-house on the use of Blackboard, have a library and study skills talk, and meet the lecturers. • Staff have offered audio lectures for accessibility and have piloted a new approach to the discussion board

  16. Looking Towards the Future • Possibilities for BA by distance learning? • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36703778 • the next stage for online learning will be leading universities offering mainstream undergraduate courses online with full degrees. • Professor Koller: "I'm absolutely convinced that will happen - and it will be a lot earlier than 10 years. The societal need is there.”

  17. Can Staffordshire Lead the Way? • Staffordshire University led the way on MA online degrees, why not BA ones too? • We know what works, how to ensure good student learning and satisfaction. • Why not build on this knowledge and experience? • Dr Fiona Robertson-Snape

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