Simple email and asynchronous conferencing still have a lot going for them

In the mid-late 1990s I was quite closely involved in starting off some online distance learning courses which have stood the test of time, including the South Yorkshire FE Consortium's Learning To Teach On-Line course (LeTTOL) and, the Sheffield College's GCSE English Online; and I have written previously about the range of online courses that the college now runs.

These courses are characterised by:

• reliance on email and asynchronous text-based conferencing for most of the learner/learner and learner/tutor interaction;
• modestly designed, simple, web-based learning materials,  developed at a relatively low cost per learner hour of material;
• course development, maintenance, and delivery in the hands of a team of tutors;
• more-or-less all team members required to complete the LeTTOL course.

The college's courses are outstandingly successful in two senses. They:

• reach learners who would not normally manage to start, let alone stick with, a college course;
• have unprecendently high examination pass-rates.

Of course you can read too much into awards. Plenty of organisations do not bother to enter for them, which does not mean they have nothing good to show; and there are examples of awards being won for suspect activities. Nevertheless, I think it is significant that on 9/11/2006, in a bid organised by the South Yorkshire eLearning Programme (eSY), against competition mainly from the corporate sector, the English Online team and eSY won the national 2006 Award for the "best example of supporting learners on-line", organised by the magazine e-learning age. Currently I am encouraging Julie Hooper, who leads the team at The Sheffield College, has agreed to write a Guest Contribution for a future issue of Fortnightly Mailing. (See also Donald Clark's drinking champagne from shoes, a report from the awards ceremony.)

Comments

[Denee Lamontagne]

«more-or-less all team members required to complete the LeTTOL course.»

Good prerequisite, should be a condition in the hiring process!

All team member share at least one same experience and have a better understanding of their job for the student.

Bravo