远程学习效能感的结构和影响因素研究

本研究采用自编的远程学习效能感问卷对207名远程学习者进行测查。因素分析结果表明,远程学习效能感可以分为一般效能感和特殊效能感两个维度。特殊效能感又包括技能效能感和课程学习效能感两个子维度。测查结果显示,就远程学习效能感的两个维度而言,学习者的特殊效能感显著高于一般效能感。通过对可能影响远程学习效能感的因素进行考察后发现,计算机知识水平高的学习者的远程学习效能感要比计算机知识水平低的学习者高,而不同性别和不同年级的学习者之间的远程学习效能感没有显著差异。     

远程学习者学习障碍分析

为提高远程教育的学习质量.应该正视远程教育中学习者所面临的现实条件和种种闲难。远程学习者可能面临的障碍主要有：个人问题、依赖性的问题、归属感的问题、技术障碍、动机和自我激励、自我管理、情感交流等问题。     

大学图书馆在现代远程教育中的远程支持服务

图书馆远程支持服务是现代远程教育的重要组成部分,资源的数字化和服务的网络化是图书馆远程支持服务的关键。大学图书馆应肩负起开发网络资源的职能,以数字图书馆为核心构建现代远程教育文献信息资源保障体系,成为开放型的“学习服务中心”和“文献信息中心”,为现代远程教育提供便捷、高效的远程支持服务。     

Teaching gender studies via open and distance learning in South Africa

The University of South Africa (UNISA) has recently redesigned its honors degree in Gender Studies. The course design team members have been mindful of three key factors while redesigning this degree. First, we are aligning our course design with the demands of open and distance learning (ODL) and UNISA’s institutional move to online delivery of all teaching materials. Second, we are guided by the theoretical principles of feminist pedagogy. Third, we are committed to producing graduates who can take on the challenge of being gender change agents in a country with an escalating rate of gender-based violence. This article charts the development of the Gender Studies curricular initiative at UNISA with reference to the pedagogical insights provided by feminist scholarship on teaching, learning, and technology. We hope that our experience will provide insight into the parameters and process of creating an effective program in Gender Studies within an ODL context.     

现代远程学习

现代远程学习是现代远程教育中教与学体系的一个重要组成部分。本先界定了现代远程学习的内涵,然后从原则、技术手段、模式特点等诸方面对现代远程学习进行了分析和探索,并预测现代远程学习在未来的发展趋势。     

Learner agency in language learning: the story of a distance learner of EFL in China

Learner agency plays a key role in self-regulated learning. Yet, there is a paucity of research into its role in the distance learning context. Using reflective narratives written by a distance learner of English in China, this longitudinal case study aims to investigate the ways in which learner agency mediates the language learning in the distance mode. Findings from the study suggest that agency has a major impact on learners’ self-efficacy, identity, motivation, and metacognition—four constructs which are instrumental in determining language learning success, in particular in the distance learning context. Analysis of the data indicates that positive changes in these four constructs, in turn, lead to further agentic engagement, hence forming a virtuous circle of mutual enhancement. Implications are discussed in relation to fostering distance learners’ goal awareness, enhancing their self-efficacy, maintaining their motivation, and encouraging metacognitive efforts.     

Self-efficacy and the recognition of prior learning

Abstract

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a relatively new concept in South Africa, which has been introduced as a mechanism grounded in the educational transformational policies of the African National Congress (ANC) to redress the historical legacy of apartheid. This paper attempts to determine the impact of the RPL outcomes of a module on the self-efficacy of in-service educators involved in a BEd (upgrade) programme. The methodology included the gathering of quantitative and qualitative data through the administering of pre- and post-intervention self-efficacy questionnaires and focus-group interviews. Other foci were the biographical background of the students and the portfolios of evidence they produced during the course of the module. The data generated reveal a statistically significant improvement in the participating students’ self-efficacy over the course of the module, but draw attention to the negative impact of context in previously disadvantaged South African schools. The significance of this research lies not only in the interrogation of an innovative approach to dealing with RPL issues in an academic programme, as well as its possible influence on teacher self-efficacy, but also in its contribution to the academic debate about the RPL process currently taking place both locally and internationally.     

Experiential learning in doctoral training programmes: fostering personal epistemology through collaboration

There has been increasing recognition for the need to reform doctoral training practices to foster students’ personal epistemology. This study describes the design and evaluation of a learning experience designed to help students understand the scholarly publication process. Firstly, this study discusses the design of the learning experience, describing the collaborative process of writing an interdisciplinary publication using both online and face-to-face learning. Secondly, this study evaluates the effectiveness of the learning experience by examining students’ reflections. We show that participation in the learning experience helped students to develop their academic writing proficiency, collaboration and teamwork, intercultural competence, and ability to engage in reflective practice. Importantly, we show that each student also created more individualised knowledge, gaining insight into how they and others think. This study, therefore, demonstrates that personal epistemology can be fostered through collaboration in a doctoral writing group context.     

Student satisfaction with short learning programmes at a distance learning institution

Abstract

The relevance of short learning programmes as an alternative to full time tertiary degree courses at open and distance learning institutions forms the primary focus of this article. A new kind of student is on the increase in higher education: the mature student who prefers to study part-time in order to combine his or her studies with the advancement of his or her professional life. This kind of student is often interested in short duration, non-degree courses, such as short learning programmes, which have a high degree of specificity in order to update or expand the knowledge needed to enhance their occupational lives. Course applicability and effectiveness, evaluated as student satisfaction with these programmes, are vital in terms of the strategic planning of institutions. This article reports on an analysis of the dimensions that determine satisfaction with short learning programmes at a distance learning institution. Data was obtained by an electronic survey of students who had completed short learning programmes. Findings indicate that teaching staff, teaching methods and course administration are key elements to achieving satisfaction, and students’ loyalty to the institution is expressed in their intention to continue with their studies and to recommend the programmes to other prospective students.     

Embracing distance education in a blended learning model: challenges and prospects

Abstract

Distance education reaches out to non-traditional students in geographically dispersed locations, who are unable to attend face-to-face classes. Contact institutions have been quick to realise the many advantages of distance (online) learning, such as easy access to learning materials, interactive activities, assessment and communication tools. However, the path to anything approaching dual-mode provision has not been without obstacles. In South Africa in the early 2000s, the Council on Higher Education reinforced the mandate of distance education universities and decreed that contact institutions should not encroach on this territory. Subsequently, various frameworks and guidelines emerged which can inform current consideration of dual-mode provision. This practitioner report presents two case studies (University of Pretoria, South Africa; and University of Oxford, United Kingdom) which explore the implications for contact institutions in expanding their provision to include distance education.     

Hybrid e-learning tool TransLearning: video storytelling to foster vicarious learning within multi-stakeholder collaboration networks

E-learning and storytelling approaches can support informal vicarious learning within geographically widely distributed multi-stakeholder collaboration networks. This case study evaluates hybrid e-learning and video-storytelling approach ‘TransLearning’ by investigation into how its storytelling e-tool supported informal vicarious learning, while it was applied in multi-stakeholder collaborations called ‘Regional Ateliers’. TransLearning was meant to supplement learning within RAs about running rural sustainable innovation projects. The e-tools’ video-stories were thematically coded for content analysis. Stakeholder workshops in which the e-tool was used, as well as gathered user experiences, were transcribed, analysed inductively and juxtaposed. Findings indicate that stakeholders vicariously learned by (1) creative association and (2) collaborative creation of new stories, based on watching individual or multiple videos, respectively. However, the e-tool’s learning content seemed rife with conceptual knowledge, indicating an absence of concrete experiences that are essential for rich(er) vicarious learning. Storytelling e-tools developed for vicarious learning in novice collaborations may inherently encounter this. To conclude, hybrid storytelling approaches like TransLearning seem to support informal vicarious learning best if they employ (1) processes in which learners actively co-create content (selection of topics and storytellers), (2) extensive storyboarding (3) and learning facilitators that encourage learners to collaboratively compare videos and think associatively.     

Students' accounts of the need for continuous support in a distance learning programme

This paper looks at a qualitative case study of distance learning at Universiti Utara Malaysia as described by a small group of distance learners as they progress through their courses at the institution. It concerns the learners – it is their story, their experience, their perspective. In particular, this thematic report looks at learning support in distance learning as it surfaced as one of the central findings of this research. This is an issue that arose from discussions with the students, rather than being predetermined by the research design. Conclusions have been drawn regarding the role of learning support to facilitate distance learning at Universiti Utara Malaysia. The concept of need and support is important as it relates to the different requirements from support into action that enables the learners to connect with their teachers, the course content and with other learners.     

The learning alliance: ethics in doctoral supervision

This paper is concerned with the ethics of relationships in doctoral supervision. We give an overview of four paradigms of doctoral supervision that have endured over the past 25 years and elucidate some of their strengths and limitations, contextualise them historically and consider their implications for doctoral supervision in the contemporary university. Two common threads across the four paradigms are a view of doctoral supervision as pedagogical practice and that supervisors have primary responsibility for the supervision of doctoral students. We challenge these assumptions. In their place, we propose that the goal of doctoral supervision is praxis and that this involves a learning alliance between multiple institutional agents grounded in a relational ethics of mutual responsibility.     

Instructional design for distance learning

An intrinsic link exists between instructional design (ID) and distance learning (DL). Their inextricability in the real world raises specific problems of interest in the field of ID. In no other teaching/learning situation is ID so essential as in DL. The conditions of DL make it a necessity to have long-term instructional planning, cost analysis, curriculum and course development, instructional materials development and maintenance, delivery plans, and detailed evaluation rules. Without all of these components, DL simply could not happen. It took some time for this neccessity to be acknowledged, as can be seen in the history of DL. However, ID becomes even more critical as increasingly costly and complex means are used. Conditions of learning have special features in DL, such as the role of media, since the professor, teacher or instructor is replaced by media for either transmitting information or for organizing learning activities. In this paper, the term distance learning will be used to mean media-based, remote or asynchronous learning supported by an instructional system. This paper introduces general features of DL and examines essential aspects of ID for DL, with special emphasis on ID methodologies and on media selection.     

远程开放教育环境下自主学习模式的探讨

随着电大远程开放教育的深入发展,加强学生自主学习能力的培养,使学生学会自主学习,提高学生参与学习的主动性和积极性,对保障教学过程顺利进行,提高教学质量具有重要意义。     

Team modes and power: supervision of doctoral students

Currently, team supervision in doctoral studies is widely practised across Australian universities. The interpretation of ‘team’ is broad and there is evidence of experimentation with supervisory models. This paper elaborates upon a taxonomy of team modes and power forms based on a recent qualitative study across universities in a number of states and territories in Australia. Team modes, described as de facto dyad, segmented and collaborative are defined, explained and presented in diagrammatic forms. Team modes are understood as being fluid, oscillating along a continuum according to particular contextual factors such as thesis stage and personal/professional circumstances of team members. Operating parallel to team modes are forms of power, defined as ‘power to’, ‘power over’ and ‘power with’. The article concludes that to maximise collaborative knowledge making within team supervision it is necessary to background social status. As the performance of social status is diminished the focus of the team endeavour is the creative exchange of ideas, creating ‘power with’. The intention of this article is to provide more information to supervisors and doctoral students on team structure so that the needs of all parties might be met more reliably and productively during the intense and sustained period of thesis production.     

Engaging distance and on-campus students in problem-based learning

The University of Southern Queensland in Australia offers multiple entry pathways to a suite of integrated programs delivered to on-campus and distance-education students. The programs cover 2–5 years in nine majors. A specially designed strand of four integrated courses using problem-based learning (PBL) was incorporated into programs and replaced some traditionally taught (lecture) content-based courses. The first offer of the new foundation course took place in 2002. It has since been recognised through a number of national and international awards. For the initial offer, delivering a PBL course to distance engineering students working in virtual teams had never been done before in the world. It is currently delivered to approximately 400 students annually. Student feedback indicates that the course successfully inculcates attributes such as teamwork, communication and the ability to solve technical problems. All these attributes have been identified as being desirable by professional and industry bodies around the world.     

Student performance in Introductory Microeconomics at an African open and distance learning institution

Abstract

Introductory Microeconomics as offered by the University of South Africa (Unisa) is a compulsory module for a Bachelor of Commerce, a Bachelor of Accountancy or a Bachelor of Administration degree. Success or failure in Introductory Microeconomics directly impacts on the number of years students take to complete their degrees, and eventually also on the throughput subsidy to Unisa.

A number of exceptional institutional rules and regulations impact on the teaching of Introductory Microeconomics at Unisa, as an open and distance learning (ODL) institution. Unlike many residential institutions, Unisa does not require Mathematics at school level for registration for Introductory Microeconomics. This article reports on research done at Unisa to determine how student success in Introductory Microeconomics is influenced by variables such as race, home language, whether the students passed mathematics at matriculation level, matriculation exemption1 1. Matriculation (“matric”): In South Africa, the final school exit certificate, which is awarded with or without university exemption (“endorsement”). , gender and the passing of assignments. Although this research confirms previous research that home language and age do impact on student success, it finds that the successful passing of assignments has the greatest impact on student success.     

DirectShow技术在远程教学系统中的应用研究

研究了Microsoft公司的DirectShow技术的特点及其在远程教学系统中的应用,设计了基于该技术的远程教学系统框架,并在设计的系统上实现了教学多媒体数据的实时采集、编码和传输。     

基于碎片化学习的远程开放教育移动学习模式探讨

人类学习方式经历了私塾求学、课堂学习及网络学习三个历史阶段,现代远程开放教育是社会发展的必然要求。移动学习(M-Learning)能够针对现代社会学习者流动分散的学习特征,利用碎片化学习方式,实现最佳学习效果,运用越来越广泛的移动学习必将成为未来学习过程中不可或缺的学习方式,是未来远程开放教育中的最佳学习模式。