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Considerations
in offering online courses
Provision
of printed materials
Institutions
offering online courses have to decide first whether they
provide printed materials to students in addition to the
online version of course materials. Cost saving is often
viewed as a prime motive for courses going online, and
providing both versions of course materials to students
may seem to be doubling production costs. Our view is
that better service is a more important factor to consider
than cost. For the OUHK, in our trial online course we
found that students always print the online course materials
with their own printer. We feel that it will not be cost
effective and students do not like the idea of the printing
cost being transferred to them.
Hardware
availability
For online
courses to be accessible to students, they should have
the required hardware and Internet connection. The OUHK
is always aware of students' provision of information
technology when it plans innovations in the use of technology
in course delivery. The OUHK only decided to offer Internet
related facilities in the delivery of our courses when
it found the majority of students possess the hardware,
and when it can offer limited make-up facility for those
students who may not have the facility. OUHKÕs survey in
1999 students reveals that 96% of students have access
to computers (of which 88% are at home) mostly of reasonable
speed and having accessories such as CD-ROM drive and
modem, and 80% have access to the Internet.
The OUHK provides
assistance to students so that they can have access to
the Internet through subscription to commercial ISPs.
The OUHK itself provides limited access to the Internet
by students using a modem and a telephone line, with a
dial-up pool of 144 telephone lines (6 T1 lines).
Availability
of Internet access by tutors is ensured in tutor recruitment:
a) tutors should have access to a PC and modem; b) it
is desirable that they have access to the Internet, but
if they do not, the OUHK provides it (via OUHKÕs dial-in
modem pool). If a tutor who does not have a PC, then either
he/she is encouraged to acquire the equipment before the
offer of the course, or the online version of the course
cannot be offered.
Training
for users
To offer online
courses, we has to ensure that training is provided to
all concerned parties. First, training sessions for Course
Coordinators of online courses are organised in advance.
In turn, Course Coordinators will provide training to
their tutors for the online courses. All Course Coordinators
and tutors concerned should receive the User Guide and
the training video on how to use the online system. As
well, additional face-to-face induction sessions will
be held by Course Coordinators to help tutors use the
environment to teach.
Similar training
should also be provided to administrative staff of the
university such as staff in the Registry. Contents of
the sessions included general introduction and demonstration
of the features of the online learning system, components
of the online courses, responsibilities of Course Coordinators
and tutors.
Likewise,
the User Guide and the training video on how to use the
online system are provided to all students. Part of the
first tutorial of an online course can be devoted to problems
with using the OLE.
Additional
workload for course coordinators and tutors
There is additional
workload for both course coordinators and tutors offering
courses with online support. It is estimated that for
a course coordinator, 10% more work is involved for an
online course. The additional work includes: a) being
familiar with the Online Learning Environment and operating
with the OLE, b) training tutors for online tutoring tasks
(below), c) monitoring tutors online tasks.
Depending
on the requirement of the courses, tutors tutoring in
online courses are required to undertake one or more of
following tasks:
a) Leading
discussions and answering questions raised in the online
Discussion Board: Tutors should take an active part in
leading academic discussions on the subject; they should
also respond to students queries raised in the Discussion
Board regularly.
b) Organising online tutorials: Tutors will be required
to hold online tutorials with a small group of students.
c) Handling Tutor-marked Assignments online: Assignments
will be received from students through the Internet. Tutors
will mark them electronically and the marked assignments
will be returned to students and the OUHK for record,
again via the Internet.
It is necessary
to make sure that tutors are aware of the additional work
involved in tutoring an online course. Additional renumeration,
i.e. additional resource is needed for compensation if
the above work is added to existing work.
System
and users support
The departments
and staff responsible for technical user support of the
dial-up service and installation problems, as well support
for access to the Online Learning Environment should be
identified and students be informed in advance. Users
should be able to obtain the support services through
a telephone hotline or by emails. Online FAQ and a user
guide should also be provided for users' reference.
A team of
programmers should be made responsible for the setup and
support of the server and interface of the online learning
system. A backup system should also be developed for emergency
situations. Monthly maintenance work should be conducted
for reliable and smooth operation.
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