Learning support in an on-line environment

Title

Learning support in an on-line environment

Author(s)

Ms Jan Counsell, Ms Tanya Wadwell, Ms Helen Hornsby, Ms Tricia Whannell

Presentation Goals

To share with our colleagues a local response to a more 'global' issue: the provision of learning support which is inclusive, relevant and targeted. We know that there are issues with the effectiveness of generic learning support. Students tend not to transfer the information or skills from one context to another and time poor students are reluctant to engage with “additional tasks” even when these tasks are seen as beneficial. We think that the more focused and integrated our learning support materials are, the more likely students are to use them. Since our entire course is online, and our numbers are increasing, the provision of online learning support seems a logical strategic response to the needs of our students.

Subtheme

Distinctive to Us

Presentation Type

Spotlight on Practice

Keywords

learning support, online, distance, interactive resources

Room

Social Sciences 209

Time

14.05-15.05

Abstract

The Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre offers a completely online Bachelor of Dementia Care (BDC) degree to a diverse range of older learners, many of whom have never studied in a tertiary environment before.  This can involve a blend of technical, personal and learning support, delivered simultaneously.  Our current practice is to use the telephone and email which is effective but time consuming and only allows us to interact with a small proportion of our student cohort.  The focus of this presentation is on learning support. When we offer learning support, it is vital to relate it to the tasks students are undertaking in a timely and strategic way. Since we do not meet with our students face to face we have recognised the need to interact with students in a shared space- the Common Room in MYLO.  In that space, we aim to develop a learning support presence which is inclusive and gives a distinctive flavour to our site and our course.  The value of our presence in this place is accessibility for all of our students and establishing a stronger and more integrated link between the course material and learning support. A presence here is also a strategy towards changing the style of the Common Room into a more proactive site. To this end we have developed a set of inter-active learning support activities focused on the skills of summarising, paraphrasing and referencing which are the topics our students most often seek assistance with. One measure of the engagement of students with the material is a pre and post evaluation of the use made of the site and any changes to the student appreciation of the importance of these skills and their confidence in applying them.  Another is to compare the records of plagiarism before and after the learning support materials are provided.