Support Issues for Educators

1. Support Issues for Educators Konrad Morgan & Madeleine Morgan University of Bergen, Norway MASSIVE Seminar 1 Barcelona 7th and 8th November 2005

2. Purpose of Presentation • To review the key support areas which are of relevance to educators using E Learning within Traditional Universities.

3. Issues for the Educators • Many educators have little expertise in the design of digital learning materials and courses • We have conducted further extensive research into the issues related to providing effective support for educators using E Learning in traditional Universities.

4. Issues for Educators • Educators need support in several separate areas including but not limited to: • Training to cope with the introduction of new technology • Training for new ways of designing, delivering and evaluating courses • Provision of dedicated technical support • Raise awareness of how temporal and geographical independance changes access and response expectations of students

5. Training to cope with the introduction of new technology • Many teachers need training in quite basic IT skills before they can even begin to consider using educational technology within their classes • Many Teachers fear being seen to be less competent in IT than their students • This fear holds many back from adopting new technology in classes • Training sessions need to be provided at times and locations that does not add to their workload

6. Training for new ways to design, deliver and assess courses • Once competence in IT has been achieved educators need training how to adapt their traditional class materials into digital formats • Some provision of courseware designers may be needed or extensive education in instructional design • Support also needed to help in designing how materials will be made available to students and how assessments will be handled

7. Provision of technical support • If classes are provided using digital media or new technology then support must be provided to ensure that the systems function correctly whenever they are required by staff and students

8. Raise awareness of how temporal and geographical independance effects e-learning based education • E Learning attracts non traditional students and educators need support to cope with • Flexible deadlines for lifelong learners • Extra support for non traditional learners who fall behind • Alternative credit accumulation schedules, with delayed examinations and class graduations away from a fixed academic calendar

9. The Need for Additional Learning Support Systems • Difficulties can arise for students using e learning systems when they have a problem understanding some part of their studies.

10. Design of Questions Related to this Area • The MASSIVE Team have worked to develop a detailed set of survey instruments that allow a peer review panel to assess an Institution in terms of its actual provision of support to Educators. • These survey instruments have been embedded into a detailed methodology that allows a uniform approach to data gathering in each Institution.

11. Summary • We have reviewed some of the issues involved in the design and use of digital education systems • Seen importance of the presence of an adequately trained and resourced human facilitator • Developed a detailed set of survey instruments and a methodology that permits not only an assessment of the current support for educators but also permits comparison between institutions.