UNITAR'S Experience with Online Live Tutorials

• Autores: Zaid Ali Alsagoff
• Localización: International journal of the computer, the internet and management, ISSN 0858-7027, Vol. 12, Nº. 2 (AGO), 2004 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Suplemento: Proceedings of the International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society), págs. 45-56
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The main objectives of this paper are to explain what online live tutorials (OLT) are, to examine students and facilitators perceptions, preferences, and practices of OLT at UNITAR, based on a survey we conducted (586 student and 35 facilitator respondents) in 2003, and to provide advice, useful tips, and basic guidelines for new comers to OLT based on UNITAR’s experience. At University Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) students participate in scheduled Online “Live” Tutorials (OLT) with facilitators, 1-4 times per course, in addition to face-to-face classes, online forums, and self-learning. The OLT (also referred to as Virtual Classroom or Live meeting) allows instructors to conduct tutorials synchronously or in real-time mode with students over the Internet. We are using Centra Symposium as our engine or realtime delivery platform for OLT. This paper will especially be useful for new comers to OLT, and those colleges or universities that are implementing or planning to implement it on an institution-wide basis. It will also reveal that the overall satisfaction-level for OLT at UNITAR is relatively low (2.83 out of 5.00). This could be due to many reasons, however based on the survey it indicates that the main problems are related to connectivity and access. Finally, this paper will discuss several key areas that need to be examined and implemented to ensure that OLT is a meaningful, relevant, and effective component of teaching and learning, such as appropriate technical infrastructure (internal and external), monitoring, scheduling procedure/process, training, and OLT culture.