Fast-tracking eLearning to mainstream marine studies at tertiary institutes

1. Fast-tracking eLearning to mainstream marine studies at tertiary institutes Laurie Barwell Martie van Deventer Althea Adey Environmentek, CSIR Richard Knight University of the Western Cape Jansie Niehaus Depart. of Science & Technology

2. Ecological Informatics Problems of deploying eLearning The use of the Internet for providing training in environmental management is neither new nor novel, Tertiary Institutes still largely teach without using eLearning Most Tertiary Institutes have eLearning strategies Successful and widespread deployment of true eLearning remains elusive ? Many eLearning solutions in the Market Place

3. Problems of deploying eLearning /continued Where eLearning has been deployed, it usually remains little more than electronic versions of conventional lecture notes with minimal learner interactions. What are the barriers to adopting eLearning? Initiated a one year Distance-based curriculum in Ecological Informatics at UWC in combination with various public agencies Our experience: use a more pragmatic approach to the tools deployed and variety in their implementation

4. National Information Society Learnership in Ecological Informatics What is NISL-EI? Its an Honours-level Learnership delivered using distance-based resources and through a cooperation of University and public sector organizations. CSIR is the managing agent and UWC does curriculum certification. Integrated Coastal Area Management Information Systems Management • GIS • Remote Sensing • Open-Source tools • IEM & Tools for Sust. Dev. • Conservation Planning • Env. Resource Economics • Policy Development Environmental Management Practice Marine Studies • Conservation Biology • Climate Change • Sustainable Livelihoods • Invasion Biology Societal Issues

5. At the onset a “Social Constructionist Pedagogy was deployed for NISL-EI courses” • CONSTRUCTIONISM • People actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment • Knowledge cannot be "transmitted" by reading/listening • Learning is effective when constructing something for others to experience How does one do this for Distance Learning? • SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM • Social group constructing things for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts • Knowledge is progressively strengthened with exposure

6. Selection of Learners Candidates with Degrees in the Natural Sciences Identified from a register (Department of Trade and Industry) All but one came from an HBU (Historically Black University) Tape Interviews at CSIR (Pretoria) All Candidates were Black and 50% were Female Majority had neither Biology nor the normal 60% entrance requirement No face to face instruction The identical course was also delivered to UWC full-time-students with opportunities for face to face communication

7. How has NISL-EI changed our Teaching? Lesson 1 Simply putting up text electronically is ineffectual. Most people will not read copious notes on a screen! Use of a “Voice Over” greatly increases learner’s attentiveness since it requires the use of a “headset” and exclusion of external stimuli. Lesson 2 Getting specialist people to contribute is easy, provided it is not open-ended Getting learners to contribute to a discussion forum and construct “knowledge” that is MEANINGFULL to the group is the challenge!

8. Structure of a typical NISL course Assignments & Assessments Summarize ONE out of choice of research papers summarizing it as a narrated Power Point to use as additional lecture material Model a species distribution or an impact of development on an ecosystem Contribution to a Discussion Forum Multiple Choice Self Quizzes Multiple Choice Tests Lectures Divided into 12 Chapters Power Points were narrated & converted to Flash content Presentations are searchable by keyword & thumbnail Used Interactive exercises

9. AVG 100 Learners 64% 90 Students 55% 80 Overall Course Marks 70 Students did better on the more language related assignments e.g. Discussion Forum 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 How they did? Learners vs. Students Learners did better with the more technically-related assignments such as the expert systems

10. 90 80 70 60 50 40 Performance in the Quiz 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Learners 72% Students 55% Explaining the gap: Learners vs Students Learners had better grasp of the content (see optional quiz marks) Learners language skill were the downfall Learners were at a disadvantage due to being the first to do the course –major implication was the discussion forum Learners did use headphones for instruction and worked under supervised conditions of employment (8h00~16h15) Learners had the advantage of having done courses such as GIS first (so Computer Skills are better)

11. In their own words how did Learners respond to using Social Constructionism for the NISL-EI courses? The response by UWC students was less enthusiastic I would like to become an Instructional Designer! I enjoyed the Expert System I could contribute! NISL-EI Evaluation

12. Conclusions and the future The Learnership programme is successful and the design of curriculum largely right. The distance learners appear to have enjoyed the course more than our students The honours students need a structured time-table and work in a more office-like environment The workplace is a good environment to advance learning and discipline DST is to fund NISL-EI2 50 learners to be identified Laptops and Internet subscription 5 regional centres across SA Need a Learning Management System to track learner performance CSIR is implementing the training design of NISL-EI1