Summary
In order to integrate tutoring as much as possible in the system as a whole and to match tutoring as clearly as possible with students' needs and expectations, a revised model for tutoring was set up in the Dutch Open University and is now being implemented. Parallel to this development the use of telematics has been given increasing attention. This paper goes into both model and telematics usage. It is not intended as a research report, but rather as a status report.
Dutch Open University
The Open University of the Netherlands (OuNI) is an institute for higher distance education with open access, open curriculum, freedom of time and pace and place of study.
There is no academic year: students can register all year round and can study at their own pace. The curriculum is completely modular and students can choose from more than 250 courses. There is a measure of variety in the design of the courses and in the usage of printed materials, audiovisuals, computer programmes and personal tutoring. All course materials are sent to the students' homes. There are 18 study centres.
The Concept of Tutoring
Tutoring can be offered in many forms: individual and in a group, at a distance or face-to-face, asynchronous and in real time. In the table below the different modes of tutoring are presented (Gastkemper et al., 1990; Schlusmans et al., 1992).
The Original Tutoring Model
In the first years of the OuNI, tutorials were organised for most courses and especially for the first level courses in most study centres. These tutorials took place about once every three or four weeks. In most cases attendance was not compulsory. Although subgroups of students expressed positive opinions, dissatisfaction increased over the years, as expressed by tutors as well as students. Van Meurs (1990) showed that the average attendance at the tutorials was low. A number of students were not very satisfied with the way the tutorials were organised and found that their own needs were not adequately met. The groups attending the tutorials consisted of students who were all at different stages in the course. Few of the students had bothered to contact the tutor individually to discuss problems with the course. In contrast to this, the regular long-term OuNI students started to complain that they felt lost in the system and that studying in isolation for years on end was not proving completely satisfactory (van Staa and van Meurs, 1992). The tutors grew dissatisfied because the ever-changing groups made it difficult to get a group process going and it was discouraging to have to show up for only two or three students at a time.
At the same time the OuNI was confronted with the problem that the dropout rate was very high, about 50 per cent. Moreover the number of courses students studied per year was much lower than expected.
The Revised Tutoring Model
In 1990 (Gastkemper et al., 1990) and later in 1992 (Werkgroep Studiebegeleiding, 1992) a working committee was formed to develop a more systematic model for organising the tutoring at the OuNI. This model set out to meet the individual students' tutoring needs and at the same time to reduce the high dropout rates of beginning students and the alienation of the long-term students. First, a literature survey was carried out, of the characteristics and functions of tutoring in a distance teaching situation, compared with pre-programmed materials (Schlusmans et al., 1991). It was established that the flexibility of personal interaction, together with emotional support, are the basic reasons for introducing personal tutoring (see also Rowntree, 1990). In developing the revised tutoring model the different functions of tutoring should be clearly distinguished so as to enable all students to know what to expect. In the model a clear distinction was made between instruction and feedback (part of a course), study support and trouble shooting (backup service).
Type 1 tutoring: Instruction and feedback
Type I tutoring is used as an instruction and feedback device when the pre-programmed materials do not sufficiently enable students to attain the learning objectives. It is compulsory for the students to contact their tutor or to attend the tutorials.
Type 2 tutoring: Study support
Type 2 tutoring offers additional noncompulsory study support for those students who need extra help or social contact. Many OuN1 students need this kind of support at the start of their studies and it might help to decrease the dropout rate and to increase the study pace. It is limited to students who have registered for three or more courses, and there is an extra tuition fee. However, all foundation courses include free group tutorials for all students because students who first come to the OuN1 have not got a clear picture of what to expect from distance learning and from tutoring.
Group study support
The OuNI offers group study support for combinations of three or four courses, which take up 12 months of study. These courses have to be studied in a fixed order and at a fixed pace. Students register for the whole combination and they all start and finish at the same time. There are tutorials about once every three weeks. A mentor responsible for guarding the study progress, is appointed for the whole group of students.
Individual study support
Students who study three or more courses in a year, but are not interested in the specific combinations which are offered, can get an individual mentor with whom they can draw up a study contract which specifies their personal study programme, the support the mentor will offer and the study progress they are aiming at.
Type 3 tutoring: Back-up service
Type 3 tutoring offers the students the opportunity to contact a tutor when they experience difficulties, when there are problems they cannot deal with or when parts of the course need clarification.
Implementation and First Experiences
The new tutoring model was developed in 1992-93 and is now being introduced in the OuNI system. Here it is only possible to show how the model is implemented in the organisation. First evaluation results will be available in the summer of 1995.
Type 1 tutoring
Part of the implementation of the tutoring model was an analysis of all the OuNI courses to establish which courses really need 'type 1 tutoring'. It was found that in the Faculties of Law, Business Administration, Social Sciences, Economics and Liberal Arts about 10 per cent of all the courses really need this kind of tutoring. In nearly all the first level courses and in most of the second level courses the pre-programmed materials appear adequate. In these faculties type 1 tutoring is mainly required in high-level courses which ask for considerable student initiative and independent study or where skills training or problem solving is essential, when students write their final thesis or do their final project. In the Faculties of Technical Sciences and Natural Sciences type 1 tutoring is required for practicals, also in lower level courses.
Type 2 tutoring
In September 1992 some study centres had already started experimenting with group study support. Thirteen experiments were briefly evaluated (Nieuwenhuysen, 1993; Ebrecht et al., 1994). For some of these experiments a questionnaire was answered by a small number of students. Of these, the majority were basically satisfied with the new way of tutoring. Nearly half of them found that study with a group of students was highly motivating.
In September 1994 group study support was introduced on a larger scale, and all study centres offered their students the opportunity to register for combinations of courses with group study support. More than 2000 students did register. Soon after introducing the new system, students who wanted to register for only one course, or who were not interested in the whole combination, started to complain. Accordingly it was decided that those students could 'join in' for the tutorials which were offered for the course(s) for which they were registered, if they were willing to pay the higher tuition cost.
The individual study support should be available at the beginning of 1995. A combination of individual study support and electronic networking is being considered.
Type 3 tutoring
The introduction of type 3 tutoring has resulted in appointing one or more tutors for each course who are responsible for the back-up service. Students from all over the country can phone these tutors at times specified in the students' guide. Soon it will also be possible to contact the tutor via an electronic network.
Perspectives on Telematics
The term 'telematics' refers to the integrated use of telecommunication and informatics, sometimes also indicated by the abbreviation IT&T (Information Technology and Telecommunication). With relation to telematics several aspects or system levels can be distinguished:
- technical infrastructure (hardware, software, protocols, standards etc.)
- communication possibilities (types of information, modes of interaction etc.)
- generic services (e-mail, conferencing, bulletin-boards etc.)
- specific applications (feedback on assignments, collaborative gaming etc.).
Services and applications can be described in terms of communication possibilities, such as the type of information exchanged, the direction and coverage of communication and the mode of communication. With regard to tutoring, basic experiences with telematics in education elsewhere indicate, inter alia, that:
- a critical success factor for the use of telematics is its functional integration with the educational situation it is related to: a course, a practical, a curriculum etc.
- even well-integrated and effective use of telematics will not automatically reduce tutor involvement or the cost of education. In many cases the use of telematics tends to intensify communication between students and tutors and students among themselves and necessitates specific structuring and further organisation of communication.
Bearing these considerations in mind the use of telematics is of great interest to education and especially distance education. Sometimes the distance is felt as a hindrance, for example when highly flexible or individualised feedback on study tasks or collaborative learning is needed. In such cases tutoring by means of telematics can offer a solution.
Within the Dutch Open University it is felt that both the broader impact of telematics and its specific use for tutoring must be justified on the basis of an explicit policy. Such a policy should address functional (including educational) aspects as well as cost analysis and technical aspects. As far as possible, the development of policy, infrastructure and applications should be explicit and consistent. At the moment this is the precise objective of the OuNI by embedding telematics in the framework of the institutional policy for innovation and by development and implementation of infrastructure and applications in parallel. With regard to both concrete applications and infrastructure an approach of step-by-step development has been adopted. However, explicit attention has also been given to the broader significance of telematics in terms of redesign and consequences on the institutional level. As far as possible, research and development capacity is dealing with all immediately relevant aspects, including evaluation of concrete applications.
With regard to concrete applications of telematics for tutoring, it may be assumed that new models or formats for educational situations will be discovered, even though these are only just emerging. For the moment however, to achieve well-integrated and effective use of telematics, the Dutch Ou deals with the possibilities of this new medium within the context of educational design. This is not identical with the choice of a standard scenario for all learning situations, nor with simply providing a technical infrastructure. Educational design will take into account all relevant factors in context: content, objectives, student characteristics, didactics, media characteristics, practical limitations, numbers and costs.
From this perspective, a number of concrete applications of telematics have recently been initiated. These are mostly based upon relatively straightforward and reliable technology. Their common denominator refers to the emphasis on tutoring, in order to overcome some limitations in flexibility and communication of distance education as indicated above. For this reason, these applications are described in the following section according to their place within the revised model for tutoring in general.
Current Applications
According to the revised model for tutoring as described above, current applications of telematics for tutoring in the Dutch Ou can be listed as follows:
Type 1
- Information technology and management Within this course, students prepare computer programmes, send these back to their tutor by means of e-mail and get personal feedback. All feedback is stored in a database by the tutor for further use.
- Software engineering Within this course students have to build and improve a computerised filing system. Where applicable, students work on this assignment in collaborative fashion, using e-mail. The resulting project documentation is sent to the tutor by e-mail for feedback and evaluation.
- Practical strategic marketing Students work together in fours, simulating the management team of a company. They jointly produce a marketing plan and formulate marketing decisions in eight successive stages. Each decision is sent to the tutor/game administrator using computer conferencing. All decisions by different groups are run through a simulation programme, and the output of this is sent back to each group as input for the next decision. After eight decision periods each group writes a marketing audit and a strategic marketing plan for the next five years. They send this to the tutor and receive feedback as a group.
- Practical international business Same approach as described above, but including interaction between groups and interaction with the tutor on a daily basis. Both students within the country and international groups of students are participating in these practicals.
- Management of environmental conflict Roleplaying by groups of students supported by their tutor as a moderator. This requires a specific format of computer conferencing for this course. Students alternately play the role of the conflict manager and one of the other actors in the conflict.
- Ethology Within the framework of this course, students from different faculties first participate in a live discussion session. Follow-up discussions between students are organised via computer conferencing.
Type 2
Individual study support as described in section 4 is offered by means of e-mail and computer conferencing, supplemented by additional interactive instruments (e.g. information system, progress administration etc.).
Type 3
As a result of the availability of electronic communication facilities, type 3 tutoring will be automatically offered electronically in all the above cases. As a special case, this also applies to the Practical Production Control. This practical is offered to students in the format of a case study on CD-ROM, covering three stages of complexity. After each stage students send their case reports and their log files to the tutor by means of e-mail for formal evaluation. As such this application cannot be seen as an example of type I tutoring, but rather as an example of electronic examination. However, as indicated above the availability of electronic communication facilities does enable students to use these for type 3 tutoring.
Most of the students involved will be able to use electronic communication from their homes or work situations, but if not, they are free to use facilities in the nearest study centre. This last option might be slightly more complicated when frequent communication between students is desirable, as several of the described applications imply.
Follow Up
At the time of writing, additional applications of telematics with various different Ou-courses are prepared. These new applications in some cases show more technical complexity. However their implementation and evaluation will take some time yet. This is different for the applications as described in the previous section: first experiences and results will be available in time for presentation in addition to the evaluation of other and broader aspects of the revised model for tutoring.
References
Ebrecht, B., Dreteler, C., and Schlusmans, K. (1994), Rapportage van de eerste ervaringen met trajectbegeleiding aan de Open universiteit, OTIC document 26, Heerlen, Open universiteit, Ondewijstechnologisch innovatiecentrum.
Gastkemper, F., Saraber, M., Speelman, A., Starren, A., and Wigman, M., (1990), Begeleiding van Oustudenten in de vorm van persoonlijk contact, Rapport van de werkgroep Didactiek Studiebegeleiding, Heerlen, Open universiteit (U90/21387).
Meurs, C. van (1990), Onderzoek naar het gebruik van initiele studiebegeleiding bij de Open universiteit, Heerlen, Open universiteit.
Nieuwenhuysen, T., (1993), Evaluatie Experimenten Trajectbegeleidung, Heerlen, Open universiteit. Centrum voor Onderwijskundige Produktie.
Osch, M. van, Schlusmans, K. and van Heule, K. (1993), 'Trajectbegeleiding aan de Open universiteit', Paper presented at the Onderwijsresearchdagen 1993, Heerlen, Open universiteit.
Rowntree, D. (1990), Teaching through self-instruction, How to develop Open Learning materials, Revised Edition, London, Kogan Page.
Schlusmans, K., van Heule, Wigman, M., van Osch, M. and Dreteler, C. (1992), The human factor in Open Learning. Een literatuuronderzoek naar persoonlijke begeleiding in open onderwijs en naar de deskundigheidsbevordering van begeleiders, Heerlen, Open universiteit, Onderwijstechnologisch Innovatiecentrum.
Staa, A. van and Meurs, C. van (1992), 'Studeren op vals plat. Kritische kanttekeningen van studenten bij de Ou-studie', Jaarlijks Onderwijs Onderzoek, Rapport 1992–IV, Heerlen, Open universiteit.
Werkgroep Ontwikkeling Studiebegeleiding (1993), Persoonlijke begeleiding bij de Open universiteit. Van model naar paraktijk, Heerlen, Open universiteit.
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