Choosing & Using Technologies in Education & Training

Management Of Learning

Managers and teachers have always used technologies of the day to assist administration as well as delivery of education and training.

Print, the postal service and the telephone are taken for granted; facsimile and email are now core parts of managing educational programs behind the scenes. Technologies such as audio and videoconferencing, Web-based interactions and data management, and the various forms of computer-managed learning are becoming more common. They can free up time and place constraints on the management of learning, and may improve efficiency, effectiveness and quality in course development and delivery.

Further reading on:
	Management of Learning
	Organisation Management and Change
Case Studies

Communications technologies and multimedia to support the management of learning may be categorised as:

Management Of Course Development

Course design	Email and computer conferences Web-based discussion groups Hypermedia software and templates Facsimile & print Audioconference & audiographics Telephone & voicemail Videoconference – room & desktop Face to face interaction
Collaborative project management	Email and computer conferences Facsimile & print Audioconference & audiographics Telephone & voicemail Videoconference – room & desktop Face to face interaction

Clearly, the choice of online learning technologies for delivering a course will require that the processes of course design also include use of those technologies. However, the way in which the technologies is used is likely to differ from the teaching/learning processes. For example, videoconferencing is an increasingly common technique for enabling course developers at different sites to work collaboratively on course preparation, but the layout and equipment required for that purpose may well differ from that required for teaching via videoconferencing. An institution must take into account the different uses to be made of the (apparently) same technology when choosing hardware and software.

The new communications technologies can greatly assist the development of virtual course teams who may be located on different campuses, in different cities, or different countries. Today’s problems of technical compatibility (e.g. for document transfer) are being gradually resolved, but managers and teachers need to take such issues into account when setting up dispersed course preparation teams. 

[Top]  

Administration Of Student Learning

Further reading on:
	Management of Learning
	Organisation Management and Change
	Computer Managed Learning
	Audioconferencing
Case Studies
	Using e-mail to improve access for students with disabilities in a distance education setting

Assignments and feedback	Print & facsimile Email & attachments Telephone & voicemail Audiotape Videoconference – room & desktop
Assessment	Computer managed learning ‘Hard copy’ (e.g. print) Interactive Voice Response System for results Email for results
Student administration	Online enrolment (local/remote) Interactive Voice Response System for enrolment & fee payments Voicemail & telephone Print & postal service

The 1993 report by the Flexible Delivery Working Party – A Guide to Implementing Flexible Delivery – identifies the issues affecting the administration of flexible delivery, including:

• Providing course information
• Ensuring counselling provision
• Recording enrolment and providing general information
• Providing ongoing administrative services – e.g. for withdrawals, refunds, course changes
• Recording assessment and providing certification of results
• Archiving records

Increasingly, communications technologies are being used both to facilitate such tasks, and to integrate them with the processes of teaching and learning, especially through computer managed learning systems. In Australia, voicemail and interactive voice response systems have become especially popular for providing information, conducting enrolments and issuing examination results, while facsimile is a very common method for submission of assignments. Online enrolments will become increasingly prevalent as more courses are offered entirely online, and in order to open registration more easily to distant and international students.

[Top]

Student Learning Support

Further reading on:
	Management of Learning
	Computer Mediated Communications
	Computer Managed Learning
	Student-Centred Learning
Case Studies
	Using e-mail to improve access for students with disabilities in a distance education setting

How to use technology	Online training Computer managed learning Print & A/V materials Lockstep/drop-in classes
Study skills	Print Online training Email & conference groups Face to face interactions
Information literacy	Online training Email & conference groups Web searches Computer managed learning
Pastoral care (mainly one-to-one)	Face to face Email Telephone & voicemail

To date, student learning support in Australia has been mainly provided in face to face situations, either as a one-to-one relationship, or through group interactions. The diversity of students’ backgrounds, learning styles and support requirements have become more marked in recent years with rapid enrolment growth, leading student support personnel to draw on communications technologies to provide support at times and in places that suit student needs. The combination of support strategies and appropriate technologies outlined above is in its infancy but can be expected to strengthen and grow rapidly in coming years. In particular, programs on using technology, information literacy and study skills will be available online, supported by computer managed learning software and/or computer mediated communications.

[Top]
Please add your case studies or comments to this site

[Entry] [Feedback] [Search]