PERSONNEL PREPARATION – INNOVATIVE PRACTICES

ICEVI 11th World Conference

Focus Group W6

Room B35 Wednesday 31 July 2002

 

 

Quality Assurance in Technology Mediated Personnel Preparation

 

Feedback Discussion Group 1

 

The group felt that the key to success in any technology mediated Distance Education programme was the setting of clear objectives from the start.  . The programme itself should be suited for delivery through these media.  Students have different learning styles and on-line programmes generally tend to be less flexible.  There has to be a mechanism that allows all stakeholders (including students/clients themselves) to contribute to the development and evaluation of the programme from the beginning through to the end.   The competencies required for entry to the programme need to be clearly established, and standards around which the programme is base must be agreed and upheld.  Ideally the programme would be based around nationally agreed standards/competencies relating to the field of training.  A student should only be accepted onto programmes only if the programme tutor is confident that the student can be properly supervised. Inevitably this may involve some ethical dilemmas.

 

Technology-based approaches to training involving the use of the internet or television/satellite media tend to require more frequent evaluation of teaching and learning and closer assessment of student progress.  Evaluation has a facilitating effect in developing the competencies of students.  The students’ own evaluation of the programme needs to address issues such as the accessibility of the materials, the ease of use of the technology, the learning outcomes.

 

Students need the opportunity to supplement their online learning with opportunities to observe effective classroom practice and to demonstrate their own ability to put theory to practice.  To this end, technological solutions may need to be supported by a local/regional network of mentors.

 

Technology-mediated programmes need to be concerned with developing long lasting quality which allows not only for a development of knowledge, but the opportunity to develop understanding and skills.  It is not enough to demonstrate that a student can pass an online test on a given day.   Pass/fail online tests should not be considered the solution to assessment.  Online assessment also needs to take account of the fact that it is not always possible to be sure that the work submitted is actually the student’s own work.   Technology mediated programmes should not be closed systems of learning requiring right/wrong answers, they need to allow students to generate questions and reflect upon them as they relate to their practice. 

 

Feedback Discussion Group 2

Many of the points raised by Group One were also addressed in Group 2 but the group felt strongly that in any technology mediated programme some opportunities for face to face contact between the tutor and the student were essential if quality was to be assured.  There was a need for observation of the student’s own practice to ensure that the knowledge element of the programme was properly understood and applied. The learning materials themselves should be clear and well structured and, most importantly, applicable to the students’ own setting.

 

Feedback discussion Group 3

The group agreed that in trying to ensure quality, it was important to be clear about entry requirements for students and the level and purpose of the training (eg whether it was aimed at undergraduate/graduate/post graduate/professional development). 

 

It needs to be acknowledged that learning styles differ and that some students simply don’t like learning through a computer. E Learning is different from classroom teaching in many ways and it is important that course designers appreciate this.  Designers can only do this if they have experience themselves of Elearning as a student. 

 

Chatrooms can be a problem for VI users as they are not accessible by speech. But asynchronous online discussions are useful as they help the tutor to identify precisely whether, and to what extent, each student is contributing.  It is harder to do this in conventional verbal exchanges.

 

Some activities work better online than others.  For example right/wrong questions work well, and this approach is well suited to Braille, or to factual information such as the anatomy and physiology of the eye.  However the more “empathetic” aspects are harder to teach and assess online (eg assessment of individual needs, analysis of attitudes etc).  This can be be achieved through case studies where the emphasis not on right or wrong but on an appreciation of the various factors involved.

 

Assesment online can be more varied and more interactive than the traditional approach to assessment through written assignments.  In written assignments,  academic and literary skills may serve to give a false impression of a student’s practical skills and understanding, making them appear more or less competent than they really are.

 

Quality assurance can be compromised if students are observing qualified staff who are themselves not good role models.  The question arises about how the tutor monitors and controls quality in such practical situations if there is no direct contact with the student?

 

S McCall (with thanks to all notetakers)