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Online Masters Degrees - Aug 3rd, 2004 12:48:17 am - Subscribe
Distance learners are happy with a mixture of old and new Max de Lotbinière Thursday February 19, 2004 Guardian Weekly Go back five years and the obituaries were being written for traditional paper-based distance learning. The age of the internet had dawned and, with the promise of instant communication and virtual classrooms, exchanging assignments and course work by "snail mail" was destined to become a quaint folk memory. But a brief scan of the postgraduate Tesol courses on offer today suggest that these predictions were premature. Far from sweeping everything aside, the internet has established itself as an integral part of distance learning, but students still want to choose the medium and the means by which they learn. One reasons for this is that the speed and quality of access to the internet have not kept pace with its spread. As Richard Stibbard of the Applied Linguistics Research Group at the University of Surrey says, his department is only now starting to explore e-learning alternatives. "The reason for our reluctance has been that many of our students live in parts of the world where cheap and reliable access to computers and the internet may not be available. We have deliberately kept our paper-based delivery in order not to exclude students in this situation," says Stibbard. Universities have to be convinced that there will be big enough demand for an internet version before they undertake the expensive process of adapting existing paper-based courses. And judging by current demand, many students seem to be happy with traditional formats. In 2002 the Centre for English Language Studies at the University of Birmingham started offering all the coursework for its distance MA Tefl/Tesl on CD-Rom. Students get sent the disc and work through the course on their home computer, sending written assignments back by post. But two years on and, as Birmingham says, there is no appetite on the part of students or administrators to take the next step and make the material available on the web. Students also seem happier with a mixture of options, combining distance with face-to-face, paper-based and internet access. The University of Leicester believes that it is well placed to offer this flexibility. As course director Pamela Rogerson-Ravell points out, because its MA in Applied Linguistics and Tesol is entirely modular, students can start out doing distance study but switch to study a module face-to-face if their circumstances or preferences change. But perhaps the most significant development is the emergence of e-learning on campus, which is blurring the distinction between students who are physically present and those who are not. This year Rogerson-Ravell's department is using the new university-wide e-learning system called Blackboard. Known as a virtual learning environment (VLE), all departments can now put course content on to the system, which students can access easily via their web browser. Students can communicate with tutors by email, join discussion forums and work in groups, while tutors set online assessments with automatic marking facilities. Blackboard has meant that the School of Education is able to offer the Computer Assisted Learning module of its MA to distance students for the first time. Now face-to-face and distance students work through the same online material. Nevertheless, Rogerson-Ravell is cautious about how much of the rest of the course will be put on Blackboard. "You have to sit back and decide what will work online," she says. In contrast, Glenn Fulcher, who heads the University of Dundee's Centre for Applied Language Studies (Cals), is a VLE enthusiast. Cals's new masters in Teaching Modern Languages to Adults is offered entirely via Blackboard. He argues that because the data files are relatively small, slow internet connections do not hinder use. But it is the breadth of learning tools offered by VLEs, from online access to research articles to synchronous group work, that will bring internet-based distance learning closer in style to face-to-face learning. "We can assess not just students' coursework, but also their role in online discussions," says Fulcher, marvelling at the opportunities on offer. Mood: exhausted (0) Comments |
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