Part 3

Lessons of Experience

 3.3 What is the learner support strategy and purpose of the strategy? 

As indicated above, learner support is seen in all six case studies to be an integral part of the programme rather than an “add-on” option. In all six cases, the general strategy seems to be to offer a wide range of learner support options, which are usually not compulsory. The purpose of the strategy can be summarised as being “there to answer questions and queries and act as an ear to problems of learners” with a view to ensuring that learners are able to complete the programme successfully. It is important to note that for all the case studies where information was available, the programmes have very high retention and success rates. The following table offers a summary of learner support as operationalised in the six programmes: 

	ACCESSDL&T: ECD	UNISA: ABET	UOFS: BML	UP: B. Cur	Wits: FDE
Main mode Þ	Print	Print	Mixed, but print + contact important	Print	Print + contact
Learner support   ß
Contact: lecture	N	N	N	N	N
Contact: Group tut.	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Contact: Indiv. Tut.	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Email	N	N	Y	N	N
Family	?	Some	?	?	?
Fax	N	N	Y	Y	N
Feedback on assignments	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Financial	N	Glencowie	Advice	Y	N

 

	ACCESSDL&T: ECD	UNISA: ABET	UOFS: BML	UP: B. Cur	Wits: FDE
Main mode Þ	Print	Print	Mixed, but print + contact important	Print	Print + contact
Orientation: Pre-regist.	N	Glencowie	N	N	N
Orientation: Supp.	N	Glencowie	N	N	N
Peer groups	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Practicals	Y	Y	N	N	N
Previous learners	As tutors	Some informal	N	N	N
Radio	N	Sometimes	N	N	N
Study centres	N	Y	N Centralised	Y	N
Tapes: audio	N	Y	N	N	N
Tapes: video	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Tech. training	N	N	Y	N	N
Televised interactive lectures	N	N	Y	N	N
Telephone	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Website	N	N	Y	N	N
Work place	Some	Some inf.	N	Y	N

One of the striking features of this table is the fact that in all six programmes, a wide variety of different support options are made available. There is an important lesson of experience here for providers of open and distance learning courses: the more open the access to the programme, the wider the range of needs and interests of the learners and the wider the range of types of support that will be needed to support individual needs. As Nonyongo and Ngengebule (1998) observe: 

“organisations need to realise … that some of the key strengths of distance education provision are that it offers learners the flexibility to take responsibility for their learning and for making decisions about the type of support they require and for determining when they wish to get such support. Usage of services should thus be determined by learners’ needs and in most cases resources play an important role in accessing the services. As practitioners of learner support services one principle that we need to constantly aim at achieving is the development of a broad range of support services from which learners can choose according to their needs and the resources available.” 

A second striking feature of the table is the way in which different support services have evolved to meet the different needs of varied target groups. Only one programme, UOFS: BML, makes extensive use of email and website technology, as most learners on the featured programmes do not have access to the appropriate information technology.  

Although an institution may have such a service, it may not be accessibible to the type of learners on a particular programme and therefore cannot be used as a key form of support. For example, the University of Pretoria also has email capability, which is used on other programmes, but not on the programme featured in the case study as few nurses have access to computers or the necessary computer literacy skills.  

The University of Pretoria case study also offers an interesting response to how to deal with a target group of learners who work shifts and cannot easily take time off to attend contact sessions by making use of televised interactive lectures and DSTV broadcasts (which can be received in some hospitals and learners’ homes), backed up by video recordings of the broadcasts. Neither the UOFS: BML nor the UP. B.Cur programmes can easily make use of compulsory residential contact sessions such as those for the WITS: FDE programme, which is aimed at teachers who have regular school holidays. 

A third striking observation from the table is the omission of some activities associated with learner support as outlined in Part 1 which do not feature in the table as they did not come up in our interactions with programme stakeholders. These omissions could mean that the programmes concerned do not have these forms of support or that some of them may be there but are not seen as contributing to learner support, at least not in a significant way. 

The omitted activities are offered here for reflection as possible areas of need that may still need to be explored or prioritised: record management; learning and teaching contracts; newspapers (mass media and internal); career guidance; support and provision for disabled learners; support and provision for minority sub-groups; support services linked specifically to helping adult learners who may never have completed a formal programme of learning or who may have been out of a formal learning situation for some time; support for speakers of languages other than that used as the medium of instruction (usually an ESOL consideration in South Africa); sensitivity to acknowledging cultural diversity among learners and the organisation of social events.

 Whilst the table offers an interesting comparison of the range of strategies employed, it does not offer any insight into how these different strategies are implemented. From the table alone we cannot determine how the form of mediation is linked to the academic, social and personal, and access to resources and information needs of learners. Neither does it illustrate the extent to which the transactional distance concerns raised by Moore (see Part 1) are addressed by the particular combinations of strategies or the ways in which the strategies are implemented. The interaction between the SAIDE researchers and the programme stakeholders in compiling the case studies suggests that, in general, practice is not underpinned by theory in this way. None of the interactions really elicited the distance learning theoretical basis on which support strategies were chosen and implemented. It is partly for this reason that SAIDE has decided to invite all of the stakeholders to a meeting to discuss the draft report and to tease out some of the more philosophical and theoretical underpinnings for current practice. There are, however, a number of lessons of experience related to the forms of support that do feature in the summary and which are discussed below. See 3.10, rec.s 4 – 6.

Direct human contact

All five programmes make use of some form of direct human contact. Generally speaking, this form of support is operationalised in three broad forms in the wider distance-learning context in South Africa:

·        Mass lectures

·        Small group tutorials

·        Individual tutorials.

It is not always clear initially which form is meant when programmes talk about ‘contact sessions’. 

None of the programmes involved in this research make use of mass lectures. Interestingly, mass lectures are a form of delivery commonly associated with full-time courses that are often seen as being at the opposite end of the spectrum from distance learning. However, there may well be a greater distance between learner and tutor, and less opportunity for interaction, in a traditional first year contact lecture than a distance learning alternative such as the UP: B.Cur televised broadcast option which provides for at least some interaction, even though “learners reported that they are not allowed to stay long on the telephone to ask questions as they are told that it is expensive to conduct the question session.”

The use of a televised broadcast approach with a video tape back up also represents an improvement on a key problem of the traditional mass lecture: “Learners indicated that they are able to take notes during the broadcast but they have to be fast to keep up with the speed of the broadcast”, however they can also “record the lecture for future reference” – an option not usually available in a traditional setting. However, the UP: B.Cur observations point to the difficulty in making a televised broadcast a truly interactive experience: learners may need to be guided in asking questions and group activities may need to be devised which lead directly to engagement with the broadcast material. Considerable pre-planning is required to promote meaningful dialogue and increasing learner autonomy. 

All five programmes make use of direct human contact in the form of small group tutorials. Such tutorials offer opportunities for the following kinds of interaction:

·        Interacting with materials, dealing with problems and exploring ways of approaching them

·        Discussing preparation for and feedback on assignments

·        Sharing ideas and drawing on experiences

·        Providing social support and building confidence

·        Providing opportunities for the application of theory

·        Encouraging a network of shared values. (WITS: FDE) 

82% of learners on the WITS: FDE programme rate the compulsory two-week residential sessions as an essential part of the programme and 63% rank the mid-cycle workshops as essential.  

The high level of importance attached to this form of direct human contact is reflected in all five case studies, with these sessions enjoying a high level of attendance.  

However, there are some potential difficulties with this form of support in that, even with decentralised contact venues, attendance at the sessions usually involves additional cost for the learners in the form of transport, and sometimes also for accommodation, up to R50 a night according to learners on the UP: B.Cur programme.  

In addition, the learners on the featured programmes are all adults, many of whom have family commitments, which can make a long absence from home problematic. Where such sessions are needed, it is vitally important that they are planned well in advance and that the dates, topics, venues and times are clearly communicated (UP: B.Cur). It is also important for learners to be able to see a clear link between the contact session and the materials and that the methodology supports the agreed outcomes – for example, if the contact session is supposed to foster the sharing of ideas, then the tutor needs to adopt a facilitating role and encourage group interaction and the exploration of divergent viewpoints (ACCESSDL&T: ECD). Clearly, the value of the contact session depends largely on the tutor who needs to be able to elicit group needs and encourage active participation. ACCESSDL&T’s approach of offering tutors a guide to the structure and outcomes for these sessions would seem to offer a good model to follow. 

Two of the case studies suggest innovative alternative approaches to some of the above problems. For the UP: B.Cur programme, the University of Pretoria has entered into partnerships with other service providers, namely Technikon South Africa, National Private Colleges, Damelin and Future Kids to avoid duplication of services whilst still providing a network of support centres that take the programme closer to where the learners are. On the UNISA: ABET programme, on the other hand, learners and tutors negotiate times and venues.  

The latter approach means that arrangements can usually be made that suit most of the participants. However, it is still not always possible to accommodate everybody’s needs so there are still some problems such as contact sessions which occur on a Sunday (sometimes the only time when everybody is available) when transport is scarce; a clash of interests which was not foreseen, such as the return of boys from an initiation school; and the fact that some venues, whilst being accessible, are not optimal for learning.

A third option available is the individual tutorial. Learners on both the ACCESSDL&T: ECD  and UNISA: ABET programmes indicated that in general they find it more convenient to telephone rather than visit the tutor and that most of their queries relate to administrative matters. As indicated above, the cost and difficulty of transport is an important militating factor. However, even at contact sessions, learners make very little use of the opportunity for a formal one-to-one interaction. For the UOFS: BML programme, one of the lecturers makes the important point that for individual support to be effective a personal relationship needs to be developed and so speculates that “if learners had more contact and exposure to the same lecturers . . . learners would make more use of individual support.”  It is interesting to note that in all the programmes, even where specific times have been scheduled as in the afternoons of contact sessions on the UP: B.Cur programme, the initiative for seeking individual support is expected to come from the learner. 

The fact that the learner is responsible for initiating individual support is complicated by a number of factors related to logistics and perceptions, as suggested by tutors on the ACCESSDL&T programme who suggested the following reasons for the limited use made of individual support:

·        Not enough time

·        Lack of transport

·        No or limited ACCESSDL&T to telephones

·        The course is ‘self-explanatory’

·        Unavailability of tutors (especially those who teach)

·        Perception that tutors are “too busy”

·        It is part of the culture of the learners not to ask for help

·        Learners are too shy to ask for help

·        Second language speakers do not have the “right tools” to talk about their problems. 

If these observations are valid, they suggest the need for tutors to take a more proactive role in initiating individual support by identifying learners at risk and inviting them to meet for support at a mutually convenient time and venue. Lewis (in Lockwood, 1995) identifies key stages in the programme cycle when this more pro-active role might be needed:

·        Before the course

·        Entry to the course

·        Early days of the course

·        Mid-course

·        Examination/leaving point

·        After the course. 

Suggesting a more proactive role for the tutor is, of course, not without complication in itself. Apart from budgetary considerations such as the cost of telephone calls and possible ad hoc travel arrangements to venues, a more proactive role for tutors raises questions relating to the underpinning philosophy of a particular programme, summarised by a lecturer on the UOFS: BML programme in relation to contact sessions in general as: “Contact sessions are not compulsory as this would contradict the principles of Open Learning and undermine the idea that adults are responsible learners”. This perspective needs to be balanced, however, by Glennie’s (1996) perception, quoted in Part 1 of this report, that in South Africa, “The prospective learners are likely to lack many essential learning skills and, in general, are underprepared”. If Glennie is correct in this perception, and there is substantial research available to support that she is (the PEI report, for example), then although programme participants are adult learners, they may not be educationally experienced and mature enough to be able to recognise when they need to seek help. Perhaps, a compromise strategy could be adopted in which tutors assume a more pro-active, guiding role near the beginning of the programme and gradually wean learners off tutor support, onto peer support and eventual independence of action. It would be interesting to find out if any institutions have adopted this sort of strategy and how well it is working. 

See 3.10, recommendations 7 – 13. 

E-mail

Only the UOFS: BML programme makes regular use of email. Despite the fact that this is an efficient, cost effective means of communication, very few learners in South Africa have access to email or the necessary computer literacy skills. It would seem, therefore, that for the immediate future, email is unlikely to be a central learner support provision, and that it will take some time before access and skill reach the level of use indicated in the Open University, UK, B.Ed programme where email interaction between learners on the programme has, in some ways, overtaken interaction between learners and the institution. This move is key step in the growing autonomy and independence of the learner discussed in Part 1. Nevertheless, email could be a fairly inexpensive and reliable means of communication between decentralised support centres and a central administration centre, and does offer the potential for leaner and tutor support as an alternative to a somewhat slow and unreliable terrestrial mail system. See 3.10, recommendation 14.

Family support

Learners on the UNISA: ABET programme indicate that support from family members, such as relief from some domestic responsibilities or financial assistance, is an important factor for them. Learners on the UP: B. Cur programme indicate that long contact sessions present difficulties for learners with family commitments. It seems clear that although family support is not usually considered part of the institution’s responsibility, the institution should nevertheless acknowledge the importance of family support and commitments in its planning and, where possible, conscientise family members regarding the demands placed on learners having both to work and study. This could perhaps be done through a letter, an institutional newspaper or in an open day presentation. In addition, programme planners should seek to plan contact sessions by involving learners where possible in discussions about times and venues (as in the UNISA: ABET arrangement). Tutors should also be supplied with contact details of support agencies so that learners can be referred to people with relevant expertise in the problem areas. Increased attention to encouraging family support partly addresses the need of learners for social and personal support, and in transferring some of the responsibility away from the tutor and the institution, is a step towards the growing independence and autonomy of the learner. See 3.10, recommendation 15. 

Fax

Although all the institutions involved in this research have fax facilities, only two programmes indicated that these facilities were used as a form of learner support. Access to fax machines is limited, although a growing number of privately run photocopy shops, private postal companies and post offices now offer fax facilities at a price. Established full-time study centres often have fax facilities, and in the ACCESSDL&T: ECD programme this is indicated as a communication tool for staff support. It is worth noting that for some learners writing out a question or query can help them to express their need more clearly and that they can then receive a written reply, which is useful for record keeping and subsequent reflection, more quickly than when relying on the normal postal service. The fax machine can therefore play a role in encouraging dialogue, offering academic support and improved access to information. It would be desirable for all learning centres to have fax facilities. See 3.10, recommendation 16. 

Feedback on assignments

All of the programmes involved in this research indicate that feedback on assignments is an important form of learner support. A turnaround time of one month or less and substantive feedback designed to:

·        show learners where they went wrong

·        help with further study

·        encourage and motivate (ACCESSDL&T: ECD)

are important indicators of usefulness for both learners and tutors. It is important for most learners that the institution makes provision for interaction between tutors and learners on assignment preparation and feedback and this is indicated as an important feature of contact sessions. 

The quality of feedback on assignments is an important indicator of their usefulness but none of the institutions involved in the research provide their tutors with formal training or guidelines on how to use feedback on assignments as a teaching tool. Moreover, only the UNISA: ABET programme indicated a process of quality control for assignment marking (in line with general UNISA policy), which seems otherwise to be left largely to the discretion of the individual tutors concerned. Few learners have had experience of quality feedback, and so most seemed content with the service and more interested in the marks awarded. However, some learners are clearly aware of what can be done as illustrated in the following comment from a UNISA: ABET programme learner: 

“With feedback I get for my assignments, I can not get any further because if I got 50% there is no elaboration on how to improve. I sometimes think of scoring up to 80% but I can not get that mark because feedback is not enough.” 

Tutors offering feedback need to walk a fine line between not offering enough feedback for learners to be able to see how they can improve, and offering so much feedback that the learner is discouraged. This fine line can be managed well if tutors and learners have the opportunity for interaction on the assignment both before and after it has been written. In the UOFS: BML programme, assignment one is marked by the director while learners sit with him and engage in discussion about the process of marking and the criteria for assessment. The learners then rewrite and resubmit the assignment and express satisfaction with the process.  

While such an intensive approach might not be possible for a programme catering for large numbers of learners, it does present certain useful suggestions for practice which other institutions should take cognisance of:

·     the importance of clarity on the purpose of an assignment, the marking process, assessment criteria and the purpose of feedback

·     the opportunity to resubmit once the learner fully understands what is required

·     the importance of providing a mechanism for learners to respond to feedback. 

The UNISA: ABET and WITS: FDE case studies offer some examples of assignment feedback that seems to meet the requirement of being both motivating and helpful. 

The feedback offered is both personally motivating and explains how the learners can take responsibility for their own improvement. 

Efficient and professional administration of assignments is as important as the quality of feedback provided. Learners need to receive feedback on one form of assessment before they must submit the next or write a related test, otherwise they have no opportunity to effect improvements. In addition, a learner’s individual performance is a confidential matter between learners and the institution and support staff working with assignments need to be trained to respect this confidentiality. The above requirements indicate the need for careful planning and monitoring of the assignment handling process and the need for deadlines for various aspects of the process. To allow for some compromise between efficiency and deadlines and openness and flexibility, institutions should give consideration to providing for extra-ordinary forms of assessment where learners have valid reasons for missing deadlines, as is the case with the UP: B.Cur programme. To encourage a formative approach to assessment, institutions might experiment with the UNISA: ABET model of optional and compulsory assignments or the UOFS: BML model of feedback, interaction and resubmission. See 3.10, recommendations 17 – 21. 

Financial support

Many of the learners involved in distance education programmes in South Africa have limited financial resources. It is therefore in the long-term interest of institutions offering distance learning programmes to offer some form of financial support: perhaps in the form of advice (as with UOFS: BML), and/or by providing a loan scheme (as with UP: B.Cur) or even finding sponsorship for learners’ fees (as with the Glencowie centre in the UNISA: ABET programme). See pages 1 & 2 of the WITS case study as well as 3.10, recommendation 22. 

Orientation: pre-registration

Many institutions rely upon advertising to recruit learners. At the Glencowie centre of the UNISA: ABET programme, however, staff also offer pre-registration workshops to “conscientise and motivate” potential learners about the ABET field and learners indicated that they gained more information about ABET in general and the certificate course in particular from the coordinator before they decided to register. Although similar things might happen in other institutions, it is interesting to reflect on the fact that only one of the stakeholders interviewed during this research spoke about pre-programme orientation and none at all spoke about an ‘after sales service’.  

This perhaps indicates the need for a more formal process of discussion and dissemination about leaner support theory and practice among programme stakeholders, perhaps along the lines of what support could and should be offered at the key stages identified by Lewis above (see p. 149). See 3.10, recommendation 23.

Orientation: support

The practice of the Glencowie centre discussed in the previous section also indicates another possible need that does not emerge from the other case studies, and that is the need to orientate the learners into the support services available.

So, for example, the Glencowie tutors organised for their learners to visit the extensive library on UNISA’s main campus.  

Most institutions seem to rely upon printed materials to convey the range of support services available in a society that the PEI research found not to have a ‘reading culture’. It may be, therefore, that learners do not avail themselves of all the support services provided simply because they are not aware that they are available or have not understood their purpose or how to access/use them. It may be that an early contact session should be devoted to orientation around the programme as a whole including the purposes and access features of the support services available. Such a session would need to begin the dialogue around the overall purposes and learning and teaching strategies in the programme, especially if the support services available will change as learners become more independent. See 3.10, recommendation, 24. 

Peer groups

All of the case studies indicate peer group learning as a form of support. In the WITS: FDE programme, learners identified a number of advantages and disadvantages of peer group work: 

Perceived advantages

·        it creates a platform to share and exchange ideas

·        it enhances understanding of materials

·        it helps each other fill gaps

·        it improves communication skills

·        in the groups they can motivate each other

·        learners share costs by sending one person to visit the lecturer for queries

 Perceived disadvantages

·        geographic distance makes it difficult to get together

·        some people dominate

·        negative criticism of some group members

·        withholding information due to competitiveness

·        not keeping commitments to partners or members of the group

·        some come unprepared for discussion

·        discussion of irrelevant issues which waste time

·        differing study needs which can lead to a clash of interest. 

In many ways peer support is linked to the assumption permeating the diploma that it is important to recognize what the learners already know as a result of their previous experiences as learners and from their experiences as teachers, family members and members of communities. It is recognized that colleagues are an important resource, and this reaffirms that teachers themselves are active participants in the construction of knowledge. The peer system also contributes to the programme aim of ‘enabling and fostering collegial and co-operative ways of working among teachers’ and its aim ‘to provide for dialogue with and among teachers.’

Like the WITS: FDE programme, which actively promotes peer group work in line with the underlying philosophy of the programme, the UOFS: BML programme has an underlying philosophy, based on Vygotsky’s concept of ‘social learning’, which puts peer group learning, and hence direct human contact, at the heart of the provision. However, whilst group work is central to practice during contact sessions, it appears that they do not yet work very effectively outside of these sessions.  

The staff on this programme observe that the groups, if not managed properly, could contribute to the possible loss of creativity and individual contribution, which echoes a concern from the WITS: FDE programme that sometimes peers simply reinforce the worst in each other or interpret a group approach to assignment preparation as meaning that everyone should submit exactly the same work. Clearly, if institutions see group work as a central learning mechanism, they will need to provide guidance on how to set up and sustain groups, how to manage group dynamics, how to overcome the logistical constraints faced by learners outside of sessions and they will need to foster a clearer understanding of the purpose and benefits of group interaction. Assessment criteria will also need to be adapted to reflect the emphasis on cooperative and collaborative learning strategies as opposed to the traditional model of a learner working alone. It is worth noting that this applies to full-time programmes as much as to distance learning programmes.

For the UP: B.Cur and UNISA: ABET programmes such group work as happens is largely initiated by the learners themselves, although some contact sessions make use of peer group learning.  

De Jager and Wasserfall (1996) offer the following useful guidelines on what constitutes peer support as an empowering process. They pose the question what is peer helping support and answer as follows:

It is                                                  it is not

offering to listen                            giving advice

offering to support                         giving sympathy

offering to discuss alternatives      giving solutions

offering time                                   giving therapy

offering spontaneous assistance     giving professional counselling 

They make the important observation that for peer support to work it must be built on respect, genuineness and empathy, which are attitudes that will take exposure and time to develop. Gunawardean and Boverie (in Tait, 1995) found that in programmes with a high degree of group interaction: “… in both traditional and distance classes, satisfaction with the group, and satisfaction with group processes were the best predictors of overall satisfaction with the learning experience.” 

Reflecting on experiences at Manchester and Roskilde Universities, Johnston (in Tait & Knight, ?) offers the following insight into why programmes should make use of group work and how tutors need to respond to changing group needs by adopting different roles: 

“At Manchester, the group activity unit has the following aims:

to provide a forum for students to engage in a student-centred and student-managed group project to provide an opportunity to engage in experiential learning to develop an explicit awareness of the dynamics of groups and in particular those features that are requisites of success and those elements that constitute barriers to success to demonstrate an ability to define objectives and work through collective agreement to the successful achievement of those objectives.”

In order to achieve the above aims, the tutor needs to be sensitive to the changing needs of the group and to respond by adapting his/her supporting role accordingly, as Johnston indicates in the following table based on the stages in a group project: 

Stage	Main activities	Typical problems	Typical teacher involvement
Introduction	Getting to know each other; developing a common orientation to the exercise	Learning to operate as a group; uncertainty about norms and frames of reference	Enabling a structural framework; clarification of parameters; development of appropriate climate
Choice of topic	Topic identification related to interests and values of the individual group	Struggle for influence; choice of topic in which all are interested	Helping steer towards promising topics by raising questions and challenging
Problem formulation	Precise formulation of problems – preferably in question format	Disagreements and conflicts; limiting and focusing the topic	Bringing conflicts into the open; holding the group to its decisions
Planning and organisation of activities	Making a time schedule; planning division of labour; making contacts and establishing routines	Choosing workable procedures and sticking to them	Mediation on information and contacts; reference to relevant materials
Investigation or other planned activities	Data collection and analysis; continuous evaluation and adjustment of procedures	Practical and content problems; coordination; attendance; sharing of findings/activities	Inspiring self-reflection by the group on its own processes and progress
Production of report	Decisions about form and media for presentation	Pressure of time; structuring and producing material for presentation	Moral and practical support; pointing out errors and possibilities for improvement
Evaluation	Presentation of the product and evidence of processes to the assessors on time	Practical arrangements; nervousness; involvement of all group members	Providing a realistic orientation to the presentation and assessment
Post-evaluation	Conscious reflection to develop perspectives on for further study and action	Unconditional openness; willingness to admit what has been learnt	Holding the group fast to meaningful reflections and avoiding recriminations

 Encouraging peer group work, during and between contact sessions, is way to fulfil the social and personal support needs of learners whilst encouraging dialogue and greater learner independence from the institution. Ideally, peer group discussions will increasingly determine the direction of, and perhaps even come to replace, tutor-led contact sessions. See 3.10, recommendation 25. 

Practicals

Many of the learners on the ACCESSDL&T: ECD and UNISA: ABET programmes are new to their respective fields and therefore practical sessions involving visits to operating centres, lesson observations and teaching which is assessed by experienced practitioners is an essential form of learner support – described by one ACCESSDL&T learner as “the highlight of the course”. 

It is generally easier if the institution can make these arrangements for learners and it is also important for the institution to provide the centres being visited with guidelines on what is required.  

There may be some problems where assessment is outsourced to these centres, as is the case with the teaching practice assessment in the ACCESSDL&T: ECD programme where programme tutors do not undertake classroom practice observations themselves but nevertheless feel the assessment given by the teachers at these centres to be “often unrealistically high”. The practical teaching observation is outsourced because the transport and accommodation costs involved in ACCESSDL&T tutors visiting nearly 1200 learners would be too high. With the growing number of distance education teaching programmes in South Africa, this has become a critical issue. Possible ways of meeting the challenge include:

·     institutions sharing practical teaching observation so that a tutor from one institution might undertake the observations for other institutions who have learners in the same area

·     providing for micro-teaching at contact sessions

·     institutions collaborating to build up a network of schools which are regularly used for practical experience and in which skilled mentors can be nurtured to provide practical classroom support and evaluation

·     designing assignments which require learners to implement theory in practice and to provide evidence of reflection on this practice as well as samples of learning materials developed by the teacher and learners’ work. 

The other three programmes are all aimed at practising professionals and it is incumbent on the institutions to provide opportunities for participants to reflect on this practice along the lines indicated by learners on the UOFS: BML programme who say that “lecturers bring in the theory while learners bring the experience”. Learners on these programmes believe that contact sessions give them the opportunity to challenge lecturers and that it is a growing process for both learners and lecturers. This is an innovation in a country in which education and training has traditionally been dominated by teacher-talk, theory and rote learning of uncontested ‘fact’. The inclusion of practical experience in programmes accords well with recent Department of Education and Department of Labour initiatives and can be traced back to the overall purpose and philosophy of the programme. There will be similar implications for the issue of workplace support. See 3.10, recommendations 26 – 29. 

Previous learners

In two of the programmes, previous learners also provide learner support. In the case of the ACCESSDL&T: ECD programme, high achieving participants have been recruited as course tutors. On the UNISA: ABET programme, some learners have a more informal contact with previous learners, which they find useful. The use of previous learners to provide learner support, or for a second year group of learners to provide support to a first year group of learners, is not a common practice in South Africa. However, it is interesting that it is raised as an issue in this research as a tertiary institution will open in South Africa in 2000 that is premised on this sort of self-help model as a way of providing affordable education. If this institution is successful in providing a quality service, as it apparently has been outside of this country, it could revolutionise the way in which education is provided, and we could see more institutions adopting similar approaches to ACCESSDL&T. Previous learners could play the kinds of mentoring roles outlined in part 1 of this study, and this could be a way of maintaining dialogue whilst creating greater structural flexibility, in obviating the need for fixed contact sessions, and greater autonomy. See 3.10, recommendation 30. 

Radio

For the UNISA: ABET programme, radio is used both to advertise the programme and also occasionally for teaching purposes. However, radio is otherwise not mentioned in connection with learner support in the programmes reviewed. 

In other countries radio has been used to disseminate information, as there is really very little difference between listening to a radio broadcast and sitting in a mass lecture in which the lecturer only talks and no questions are asked. In fact in this instance a radio broadcast might be preferable since it can be taped and reviewed later. In addition, there is a strong tradition in South Africa of talk radio and phone in programmes, a practice that could be tapped into for learner support. Why radio is not used more extensively could be a question for further research. Radio tutoring may be better placed after face-to-face contact sessions in which learners have been offered study skills support in listening to information, extracting main points and making notes. See 3.10, recommendation 31. 

Study centres

Although most of the programmes involved in this research offer decentralised contact sessions of one form or another, these do not always take place in a formal study centre. Such sessions are often held in a government school or a church and are therefore frequently poorly resourced with no support service being available outside of the contact sessions. The location of study centres has implications for the quality and extent of the service that can be provided as well as their accessibility for learners, most of whom are usually dependent on expensive, unreliable and sometimes unsafe public transport. 

According to Nonyongo and Ngengebule (1998), Mills (1996) and Tait (in Lockwood, 1995), ideally a study centre will provide the following facilities:

·      adequate space for tutorials, group discussion and quiet reading

·      a library with basic and course specific reference materials

·      office/administrative space for staff

·      office/administrative space for learner representatives

·      assignment boxes for delivery and receipt of assignments

·      sufficient lighting and running water

·      recreation space for learners

·      facilities to borrow and watch videos and listen to audio tapes

·      access to information technology

·      provision of information, guidance and counselling to the general public

·      access to local guidance, counselling and administrative information, including pre-study advice

·      facilities for taking examinations

·      telephone, fax and email links to the central office

·      laboratories for practical work

·      storage and collection facilities for study materials. 

In addition to the range of facilities that might be offered, attention should be given to the fact that the study centre should be accessible to learners when they need it, which could imply ultimately that it should be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and manned by shifts of workers.  

It is certainly the case that a study centre open only during normal office hours during the week would not be of much use to the target learners for the programmes reviewed in this research. 

It seems clear from the extensive list of needs indicated above that no one institution will be able to set up and sustain a network of study centres that will meet the needs of all learners. The only way to begin to address this need would seem to be to build on the partnership model used by the University of Pretoria as discussed in the section on contact sessions above.  

In this regard, SAIDE could act as a clearinghouse for information by dedicating a section on its website to providing descriptions of study centres already available, their locations, facilities and contact details. Where no suitable study centres currently exist, several institutions with learners in this area could collaborate to set one up. Where study centres do exist, institutions could subsidise their running costs by allowing access to the learners of other institutions, perhaps for a per capita fee or on the basis of a reciprocal support arrangement. In the latter scenario, we should, however, take cognisance of some research by Mills (1996) that indicates reluctance on the part of some learners to use the facilities of another institution, possibly because the support staff have not been adequately trained to support all learners equally. See 3.10, recommendation 32. 

Study skills

Only the UOFS: BML programme makes formal recognition of the fact that learners are often unprepared for study by offering a general study skills session within the contact session. The aim of these sessions is:

·     to show learners ways of studying and give practical examples, e.g. using mind maps and colour

·     to assist learners to become independent learners who are self-reliant

·     to help learners adapt to changes related to studying and potential role conflict, e.g. balancing study, family and work commitments

·     to build on and enrich the BML.

Although the programme is still too young to provide evidence that these aims are achieved, the fact that 13 learners, 59% of the group, have visited the facilitator of their own volition to ‘develop skills’ suggests that the learners recognise their need, and that perhaps other programmes would benefit from offering a similar support service. 

Solomonides and Swannell (in Wisker & Brown, ?) offer the following guidelines on study skills support needed in ‘making the passive active’:

attempting to make students more actively engage with courses by offering Learning to Learn (LTL) workshops which involve:

·        reflecting on past experience

·        describing approaches to study

·        describing conceptions of learning

·        discussion of how to show quality in learning

·        memory and learning activities

·        organisation

·        self-evaluation

·        reflection.

They, however, warn of the danger of simply encouraging surface learning by offering study techniques. 

They point to the importance of peer evaluation of workshops and lectures and of learner feedback in planning and improving interventions, as well as the importance of giving attention to appropriate assessment strategies and assessments or learner workload. They note that interventions offered in isolation do not necessarily alter the approach to study of learners and that a conscious effort must therefore be made to contextualise study skills support within the needs and demands of the programme.

 

It seems clear that if one of the aims of a particular programme is to nurture autonomous, independent learners then helping learners reflect on how to learn should form part of that programme’s content. See 3.10, recommendation 33.

 

Tapes: audio and visual

All of the programmes reviewed offer learners access to videocassette tapes. In most cases learners can borrow and watch the videos in their own time. The available videos are not always used during the contact sessions due to constraints of time, individual tutor preferences and, in many instances, lack of appropriate facilities at the learning venue (ACCESSDL&T: ECD; UNISA: ABET). Videos are expensive to make, especially if the potential of the medium is fully exploited in the presentation of case studies, practical demonstrations, animation, graphics etc. and they do not simply feature a ‘talking head’. Therefore every effort should be made to use them so that the investment is not wasted and institutions and programmes should consider sharing what is already available before investing in new creations. It should be borne in mind that a video can result in a very passive attitude on the part of learners and that tutors will need to mediate the video in such a way as to invite learner participation, perhaps by stopping the video at certain places and promoting discussion. Where videos are provided with the course pack, it is important that there are activities in the course pack that help learners to engage with the video and make personal sense of it.

 

Only the UNISA: ABET programme supplies audio cassettes. Very few of the learners whom the researchers spoke to actually made use of the audio cassettes, however. This suggests the need for further research to find out the extent to which learners in general make use of the audio cassettes and whether or not this should continue to be an area of learner support investment. As with videos, it is important that the course material includes activities that guide learners in their use of the audio cassettes.

 

Technology training

Only the UOFS: BML programme offers learners training in the use of technology and 82% of learners in the case study survey had used this support service with 77% finding it useful. With information technology increasingly finding its way into the workplace, programmes aimed at working people will need to consider whether they can fulfil their programme objectives without offering this form of training as part of the course.  

Ideally, learners would be encouraged to complete their assignments electronically at a study centre so that they will develop the computer literacy skills that more and more workplaces require. In programme planning, thought needs to be given to providing practical training and support in the use of other ‘tools of the trade’ such as the effective use of an OHP on the UP: B.Cur programme. 

Televised interactive broadcasts/ telematics/ technology

Only one of the programmes involved in this research makes extensive use of technology in the form of ‘telematics’, which the University of Pretoria defines as follows: 

“… a comprehensive system of flexible learning which emphasises the use of technology to enhance the teaching and learning environment, mostly over a distance … Telematically delivered programmes are based on the integration of contact tuition; paper-based distance education; electronic education through technology-driven learning packages that use interactive multimedia, virtual campus technology that integrates with other technologies, such as the internet, and interactive television teaching and video conferencing.” 

For the University of Pretoria, telematics is seen as a way of providing education to learners in such a way as to obviate the need for them to constantly come to its main campus. An advantage of this approach is that the broadcast is also available on DSTV so that learners can watch the broadcast at a designated centre, at a hospital with DSTV installed or even at home, if they are among the growing number of homes who have DSTV technology.

 The way in which the technology is currently used, offers the following lessons of experience:

·     with this technology it is essential to have a video back-up in case the satellite link fails

·     the remote centre needs to be serviced by an adequately trained technician, who appreciates the need to arrive on time to set up the equipment

·     for dissemination of information, a television broadcast is at least as effective as a traditional face-to-face mass lecture and has the added advantage of a video tape back up so the lecture can be reviewed

·     it is tempting to use broadcast technology to promote a transmission style of teaching; it still takes considerable effort and cost to use this technology to promote a truly interactive model for learning

·     presenters need ongoing training and support to use the technology well and to supplement talking with graphics, animation, etc. 

·     this type of technology changes rapidly and it is expensive to keep updating; in this regard a television studio plus telephone line pairing, has already been surpassed by computer mediated broadcasts which allow for interaction between presenters and the learners even during the broadcast, allowing the presenter to modify his/her presentation as he/she goes along. 

Since the University of Pretoria already has telematics technology, and experience in how to use it, and similar capacity exists with other institutions not involved in this research, such as the University of Stellenbosch, the University of the Witwatersrand (for its management programmes), the private company Africa Growth Network, as well as, of course, both public and private broadcasters, it would seem to make more economic sense for other distance learning programme providers to explore partnerships with these institutions before deciding to invest in the technology themselves. Providers interested in the use of this technology would benefit from subscribing to the free email TAD update service provided via SAIDES’s Neil Butcher (visit www.saide.org.za for more information). See 3.10, recommendations 34 – 37. 

Telephone

All five programmes offer telephone contact between learners and the institution. In almost every case, however, telephone contact is at the learner’s initiative and expense and does not really feature as part of the planned learner support provision. In the case of the ACCESSDL&T: ECD programme, tutors are available telephonically only at certain designated times and tutors report that most enquiries are about personal or administrative matters rather than being academic in nature. UNISA: ABET learners have their tutors work and home telephone numbers and are therefore able to contact their tutors outside of normal working hours. Most UOFS: BML learners have telephoned the institution at least once during their course of study, for (in descending order of frequency) assignment queries, administration queries, personal problems, academic issues and examination queries. In the UP: B.Cur programme, the telephone also provides the medium for interaction between learners and presenters at the end of the broadcast lecture, while 95% of WITS: FDE learners indicated that telephone contact is either essential or quite important.

Clearly telephonic contact has become an important medium for communication between learners, tutors and the administrative staff in the institution, and access to telephones is now quite widespread. It is therefore a little surprising that so little use is made of tutor-initiated contact or tele-conferencing and that none of the programmes offers a voicemail system or toll free number. The issue of when learners are able to access support in this way also needs to be revisited: since most of the learners involved in the programmes reviewed are working, some involved in shift work arrangements, telephonic support needs to be available also outside of normal office hours. See 3.10, recommendation 38. 

Website

Given the limited access to information technology and the low level of computer literacy skills, it is not surprising that as yet the use of an interactive website does not feature in the programmes involved in the research, although both the University of the Free State and the University of Pretoria make use of website technology in other programmes directed at different target audiences.

Perhaps if more study centres offered learners access to information technology, and if the government’s pilot programme of installing internet terminals in post offices is implemented nationally, greater use can be made of this technology for communication between learners and institutions. Interactive website, and CD-Rom technology, could transfer more responsibility for learning to the learner, but interactive activities need to be built into the software in much the same way as they need to be built into effective printed materials. See 3.10, recommendation 39.

Workplace support

Learners on the UP: B.Cur programme indicate that support from the workplace can be either a motivating or debilitating factor, depending on the attitude of their employers. Given that most of the learners on the programmes involved in this research are working, the need to conscientise employers, perhaps in the same way as the need to conscientise family members as discussed earlier, could be seen as an area needing greater attention. Staff involved in the UOFS: BML programme, for example, fax letters to employers explaining when learners need to be absent from work to write examinations.

However, if the marketing campaign for programmes were to be focused more towards employers, explaining how their organisations would benefit from having a more highly-trained staff, then perhaps learners would enjoy a higher level of workplace support. With the Skills Training Levy about to be introduced, and employers now required to draw up and implement a Skills Development Plan for their workforce, an opportunity to reorientate marketing campaigns in this way is about to present itself. Such a change in focus could also result in better financial support, and greater security of income for institutions, with perhaps more learners being sponsored by their employers. 

What emerges from the discussion above is the need for a responsive, developmental model for learner support which, in the words of Ross and Brindley (in Mills & Tait, 1996) takes cognisance of: 

·        the importance of context in developing a service model

·        integration of services

·        importance of staff development

·        use of technology

·        collaboration

·        importance of evaluation.

 

Leach (ibid) also remarks on the need for an evolving, responsive system: “Student support would seem to be a process though which understanding is both created and transformed, rather than a ‘provision’ to be ‘managed’.”

Because of the context-sensitive nature of learner support, no single combination of strategies can be recommended as the ideal. In fact, it is probable that the same programme offered in a different context would require that the learner support strategy be reviewed. It is therefore unlikely that a programme as offered in one place will be exactly replicable in another. Decisions about changes and replicability of models presuppose ongoing research and a suitably supportive database of information.

As indicated in Part 1, and again above, decisions about how particular strategies will be employed are as important as decisions about what strategies are used, and these decisions need to be informed by the pedagogical concerns of the course: we must ask ourselves what kinds of learning and teaching we wish to nurture. It is likely that we would wish to employ different strategies in different ways as learners increasingly more independent and critical.