Meeting the Needs of Learners
Flexible Learning at itÕs Best!
Best Practice at GippsTAFE
Case Study Overview
Welcome to GippsTAFEÕs ÒMeeting the Needs of Learners Ð Flexible Learning at itÕs BestÓ Case Study. This case study firstly provides an overview of the current practices used at GippsTAFE in the areas of Medical Terminology, Certificate IV in Disability Work, Certificate III in Government, Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing, and Certificate II in Hospitality. Secondly this presentation will detail the common themes across each of these flexible learning programs to highlight the key elements of a successful program that meets the needs of learners.
Medical Terminology
Description of Learning Cohort
The current student base enrolled in this program
includes students from Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Although this program is delivered using Institute profile funding for
students based in Victoria, interstate students enrol under a fee for service
arrangement.
Typically the student undertaking this program are
adult learners currently working in organisations such us Medical Clinics,
Hospitals, Health Insurance Funds and other health related industry bodies.
All students undertaking this program enrol in ÒUse
basic medical terminology in order to communicate with patients, fellow workers
and health professionalsÓ (BSBMED201A) and ÒUse advanced medical terminology in
order to communicate with patients, fellow workers and health professionalsÓ
(BSBMED301A) within the Business Services training package.
Marketing
The Medical Terminology program was originally
promoted using a three-pronged approach.
Firstly the program was advertised in the Saturday
Age newspaper. Given that GippsTAFE
is a small regional Institute this is the first time a program had been
advertised in this manner.
Secondly, targeted electronic promotional material
was sent to a range of peak industry organisations such as the Australian
Regional Health Group and various Divisions of General Practice.
Thirdly, hard copy advertising material was sent to
target groups such as medical clinics and other health related bodies.
Enrolment process
Enrolments for the Medical Terminology program were
only taken online via the TAFE Virtual Campus. By only allowing online enrolments the teacher could be
reasonably confident that the majority of students have access to the Internet
and that each student is able to navigate the Internet and complete simple
online tasks such as entering information into online form.
This strategy for enrolment, although useful, does
not ensure that 100% of students will be internet savvy.
Resources
Although additional learning and assessment tasks and
strategies were developed by the teacher of the program, the vast majority of
learning materials where taken from the ÒDay at the DeskÓ resource which is
freely available from TAFE frontiers via the TAFE Virtual Campus.
Model of Delivery
The Medical Terminology program is delivery in a
solely online environment via the TAFE Virtual Campus and makes heavy use of
online facilitation skills. The
strategy of encouraging student interaction in a stepped, supported approach
has been critical to achieving a 98% completion rate among students.
The program has clear start and end dates, and
provides students with weekly deadlines for progress and is delivered in an
asynchronous manner with fortnightly one hour synchronous activities such as
phone conferences.
Although students are expected to adhere to a set
timeframe for task completion the predominately asynchronous nature allows
students the flexibility to choose the time and day for study within a given
week.
Assessment strategies
The Medical Terminology course makes full use of the
learning and assessment tasks contained within the TAFE frontiers resource ÒA
Day at the DeskÓ, however additional assessment methods including the use of
fortnightly group phone conferences and individual phone calls, between the
teacher and each student, have also been built into the program to assess the
studentÕs linguistic capabilities.
Tips from the teacher
The teacher of this program is Lynn
Huguenin and her top five tips for ensuring the success of an online course
are: -
One
Make use of phone conferences to allow students to
practice their pronunciation skills.
Phone conferences are also a great way to encourage students to connect
with each other.
Two
Provide regular, individual feedback on assessment
tasks.
Three
Make use of set timelines for assessment tasks. This also helps to keep students on
track and prompts the idea of a group being connected by activities and not
individuals studying in isolation.
Four
To keep students on track, email or telephone
participants who fall behind in their assessment tasks.
Five
Promote the idea of a supportive online community by
having regular and consistent online communication with students.
Certificate IV in Disability Work
Description of Learning Cohort
The students enrolled in this program tend to fall
into two categories: -
Firstly, students currently working within the
Disability field including many community and residential unit workers. Secondly, students attending
traditional face to face classes.
Most students in this program are adult learners.
Marketing
This course does not make use of the TAFE Virtual
Campus for advertising instead more traditional marketing approaches are used
such as direct mails outs, student handbooks, flyers and local paper
advertising. A more traditional
and localised approach to advertising this course is used given the blended
nature of delivery.
Enrolment process
Students typically enrol in this course via
traditional means. Where a student
does not wish to attend traditional classes they are required to meet with the
coordinator to discuss the delivery method and course content. This allows the teacher to feel more
confident that these students have suitable access to Òon the jobÓ learning
strategies and supports. During
this interview the coordinator also discusses with the students possible
suitable Internet access options.
This program is able to meet the needs of students
who are currently working in the field, while also allowing more traditional
students to enroll. Non-working
students are given a greater opportunity to gain skills and knowledge from
those students who are currently active within the industry.
Resources
The teacher of this course has developed all content
used within the program, however these materials do not make use of multi media
technologies and instead are developed using simple Microsoft Word documents.
The subject matter addressed in this course heavily focuses on the studentÕs
ability to effectively use soft skills such as empowerment strategies,
understanding and working with a range of people and values, attitudes and
beliefs with a critical focus on the development of strategies to work with
people. Therefore a significant
amount of content material is delivered via class discussion.
Model of Delivery
The coordinator of the course helps each student to
develop an individualised training plan detailing the appropriate mix of
face-to-face teaching and online learning options. This means that students attend classes weekly or may attend
a single workshop once a month. All
students are expected to participate in the group, and small team discussions,
throughout the studies via the online discussion board within the TAFE Virtual
Campus.
The Certificate IV in Disability Work course makes
heavy use of online facilitation techniques to maximise student support. This interaction increases the learning
outcomes for students. Using this
delivery strategy, students move through the program together to achieve common
timeframe goals and learningÕs, however the asynchronous nature of the online
discussion allows studentÕs flexibility to choose the time of day for their
online study to best suit their own weekly needs.
The teacher of the course believes that online
facilitation is the key to this programs success and improving learning
outcomes for students.
Assessment strategies
The discussion aspect of this online course is
expected of students and is sometimes used in the assessment of the program
particularly for students who borderline.
Clear instructions about assessment are posted to the TAFE Virtual
Campus using Microsoft Word and students submit their assessment material via
email directly to their teacher.
Tips from the teacher
Jan Bruce is the teacher and coordinator of this
program. JanÕs five tips to ensure
best outcomes for learners are: -
One
If you are a first time online teacher donÕt get
caught up in HTML and techo talk.
Word documents are a great way of uploading content.
Two
Content can be delivered using discussion boards if
you use online facilitation techniques.
Three
Set regular times aside to teach online, much in the
same way you would in a face-to-face environment. If you donÕt build online teaching time into your day the
volume of work will overwhelm you.
Four
Make sure that you have a good understanding of how
to file electronic work so you can find it when you need it.
Five
Online teaching is a great way of ensuring that you
meet audit requirements. The TAFE
Virtual Campus is great for keeping track of student work and activity.
Certificate III in Government
(Integration)
Description of Learning Cohort
The students undertaking the Certificate III in
Government (Role-specific -Integration) are typically mature aged students who
have recently, or are currently returning to the workforce. Unlike many other programs all students
enrolled in this program are working in either a paid or volunteer basis within
a school environment as a schools services officer (SSO).
Marketing
This program has a specifically designed online
portal for School Support Officers and is advertised via the Department of
Education (DE&T) website-SOFweb, via the TAFE Virtual Campus and through
forums such as the Victorian Government Schools Business Managers Network and
SSO Regional workshops.
To further enhance the marketing of this course print
advertising material was sent directly to many Gippsland based schools. However the coordinator of this course
now reports that most new Enrolments are gained via word of mouth
advertising.
Enrolment process
In order to successfully complete their enrolment,
SSOs undertake a two-step process. Firstly, SSOs flag with the respective
training organisation in the RTO Network their wish to undertake training
within the SSO Program by submitting an online training plan application via
the SOFweb website. Accompanying this online form is a privacy statement that
alerts the SSO where their information will be used. Secondly, SSOs must then
submit an online enrolment form via the TAFE Virtual Campus. This online form
is the equivalent of the hardcopy enrolment form all students complete during
the enrolment process at a TAFE Institute.
Although students are offered an online payment
option, 95% of students nominated to pay via cheque or money order and receive
their receipt details via the mail.
Resources
All materials used within this program are available
on the TAFE Virtual Campus and were developed in conjunction with the
Department of Education (DE&T). The SSO Accredited Training Program is
their only endorsed training program for SSOs in Victoria. These resources are currently only
available to the eleven training organisations across Victoria that forms the
RTO Network in the SSO Program.
South West Institute of TAFE, as managers of the SSO
Program on behalf of DE&T, also work in tandem with the RTO Network by
supporting delivery and undertake maintenance of the resource material. The
purpose of this network support is to assist TAFE organisations implement the
Certificate III in Government within their Institute and via the online
environment. For more information
about how to access these resources contact Sandra Fitzgerald at South West
Institute of TAFE (fitzgesc@swtafe.vic.edu.au).
Model of Delivery
During the first year of delivery of this program at
GippsTAFE, students used the existing materials in a self-paced manner to allow
open entry and exit points to the course.
However after reviewing this delivery method, the course now has clear
start and end dates. The current
delivery model for this program makes intensive use of online facilitation
skills to move the group as a whole through the training. This change in approach has seen
student completion rates increase from approximately 20% to 90%.
Assessment strategies
The assessment strategies used within this course are
detailed within the existing resources available on the TAFE Virtual
Campus. DE&T staff ensure
relevance and contextual accuracy prior to publishing and review all material
including assessments. This has enabled the teacher of this course to feel
confident that these assessments tools have been appropriately mediated to
ensure a consistence and appropriate standard.
Tips from the teacher
Lynda Jobling is the teacher and coordinator for this
online program and her five tips for ensure best learning outcomes for students
are: -
One
Be an active facilitator. DonÕt just expect students to contact you, it is the
responsibility of the teacher to engage students.
Two
Respond quickly and regularly to student discussion
postings, questions and requests.
Three
Give online students the same level of support as you
would to a student standing in front of you.
Four
Always use a positive tone when communicating with
students.
Five
Clearly communicate with management about how to best
allocate teaching loads to online delivery.
Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing
Description of Learning Cohort
The Certificate IV in Professional Writing and
Editing course attracts a range of students of all ages, and backgrounds from
across Victoria and interstate.
Although Victorian students are able to capitalise on profile funded
enrolment places, interstate students enrol on a fee for services basis.
Marketing
While this course makes use of online adverting
opportunities associated with the TAFE Virtual Campus online catalogue this is
only one strategy to attracting students.
For example the course makes use of the more traditional marketing
techniques such as local paper advertising, Institute flyers and
handbooks. In more recent times
the course coordinator has explored the use of more direct marketing strategies
such as advertising in industry specific magazines and publications.
Enrolment process
Where a student chooses to undertake the Certificate
IV in Professional Writing and Editing course in a solely online environment
they must enrol online via the TAFE Virtual Campus. By only allowing online enrolments the teacher can be
reasonably confident that these students have access to the Internet and can
navigate the Internet.
This strategy for enrolment, although useful, does
not ensure that 100% of students will be Internet savvy.
Resources
Although the original resources used for Certificate
IV in Professional Writing and Editing are freely available via the TAFE Virtual
Campus teacher catalogue, the current materials used have been gradually
customised over time and have been enhanced with a range of online
communication strategies. Now in
its third year the majority of the resources used in this program have now been
completely redeveloped by the teachers using Microsoft Word. Although the teachers of this course
would like to make more use of HTML technology their ICT skills do not allow
this. Instead these teachers are
happy to use Microsoft Word to develop their materials and to date have not
received any negative feedback about these materials from students.
Model of Delivery
The Certificate IV in Professional Writing and
Editing course is delivered in a solely online environment and makes heavy use
of online facilitation collaborative online teaching and learning techniques.
In particular this course is predominantly delivered
via online discussion boards encouraging students to share their thoughts and
learningÕs while still allowing participants the flexibility of 24 hour access
to the discussions and course content.
The emphasis of using online discussion as a key
element of delivering content within the course has continually increased over
the last two years and teachers report a corresponding increase in student
retention rates.
Assessment strategies
Given that the Certificate IV in Professional Writing
and Editing course requires students to develop a number of written documents
to display a range of writing styles, including editorials, factual,
professional reports and fictional pieces, a portfolio style of assessment is
used within this program. Although
students are assessed individually on the basis of their portfolio, students
are encouraged to share their working documents with each other via discussion
boards and emails as a way of refining the quality of their assessment pieces.
Tips from the teacher
Kylie Andrew-Ruyters is the teacher and coordinator
of the Certificate IV in Professional Writing and Editing course. KylieÕs top five tips for meeting the
need of students are: -
One
Consider integrating the use of online discussion
into your course. This way the
students will feel more supported and less isolated.
Two
You donÕt need fancy web pages to get the message
across donÕt be afraid to use Word documents.
Three
Participate in an online facilitation course so you
know how to communicate with your students.
Four
Set clear timeframes for your online students so that
they donÕt fall too far behind.
Five
Make sure that fellow workers understand when you are
working online. Just because you
are not in front of a class, does not mean you are not teaching.
Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations)
Description of Learning Cohort
In the Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations) VET
in schools program, students are in year 11 and 12 from schools across South
Gippsland including Foster, Inverloch, Welshpool, Phillip Island, Mirboo North,
Korumburra and Leongatha. As
individual schools, no one school has a large enough student population to
support viable groups for this course.
However by using an online solution GippsTAFE has been able to combine
clusters of students to create viable class sizes.
Marketing
Although this course is advertised using the
traditional methods of Institute handbooks, flyers etc, the course coordinator
firmly believes the majority of students enrolled in this course are attracted
to it by word of mouth advertising and direct marketing strategies such as
targeted presentations.
At the end of each year, the course coordinator
visits each secondary school within South Gippsland, preferably during course
information nights for students moving from year 10 to year 11, and presents
directly to staff, students and parents.
Most importantly, now in its 5th year, the
course attracts a number of students through word of mouth advertising,
particularly within families.
Enrolment process
Given that the Certificate II in Hospitality course
has been designed specifically to meet the needs of VET in schools students the
enrolment process for this program is streamlined with an MOU between the
individual schools and the Institute.
GippsTAFE has an agreement with each school to enrol students into the
course that clearly highlights the responsibilities of all parties, including
payment details.
Resources
The Virtual Hotel materials developed by OTTE
combined with the TAFE Virtual Campus version one were the original learning
materials used in the delivery of this program. However, over time this course now uses the TAFE Virtual
Campus (WebCT) and updated online learning materials were developed in
Microsoft Word. Although Word
documents are not the most sophisticated tool for developing online learning
materials, the teacher of this program believes that in most cases Microsoft
Word is more than adequate to develop the suitable learning resources
particularly if these materials are coupled with the effective use of online
communication strategies.
Model of Delivery
The Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations)
program is delivered in a hybrid method.
Students complete online activities within set timeframes on a weekly
basis. These activities often
require students to complete readings and collect information from a range of
freely available industry websites, often in a webquest teaching style.
To enhance the learning studentÕs gain from online
activities, the facilitator makes heavy use of the TAFE Virtual Campus online
communication tools. Much in the
same way students learn via face-to-face sharing, online facilitation
techniques are used to increase student outcomes via effective online
communication based teaching.
Finally students attend a fortnightly face-to-face
class, allowing the teacher time to work with any issues raised during the
previous fortnight, which may be best addressed in a face-to-face class
environment. These more
traditional classes also allow the teacher to concentrate on consolidating
theory with practical demonstrations.
Assessment strategies
Students are assessed via the combined use of
assignment work and practical placement activities. At the beginning of each learning competency students are
provided with all assessment information via the TAFE Virtual Campus assignment
tool. Students are given set time
lines for submitting work and assessment on the job during practical
placements.
Tips from the teacher
Linda Austin, coordinator of the Certificate II in
Hospitality (Operations), five top tips for meeting the needs of flexible
students are: -
One
Set clear timelines for students. This helps students to stay on track.
Two
Encourage students to communicate with each other via
discussion boards. Students feel
more supported when this happens.
Three
Make sure that you can easily update your learning
materials. You donÕt need flash
materials if you have supportive techniques for students.
Four
Always be aware of online tone and the impact it can
have on participants.
Five
Make effective use of online facilitation techniques.
Common Key Elements of success
Description of Learning Cohort
There does not appear to be a common learning cohort
across the courses showcased within this case study. However upon more in depth discussions with each online
teacher and coordinator the following common themes became evident when
selecting an online learning cohort.
Choose a target group, that have suitable access to
online technology and skills to use online technology. As one teacher puts it ÒWhy would I
want to attempt to teach online with students who donÕt have computer access or
know how to use a computer? It is
hard enough to teach online without having to be a computer guru to my
students.Ó
Marketing
Although many of the GippsTAFE online programs are
advertised via traditional methods including newspapers, flyers, and course
handbooks, it would appear that direct marketing via email and mail outs, and
word of mouth advertising is the most success method of advertising your online
program.
Many teachers and coordinators mentioned that direct
advertising allowed them to gain direct access to potential students. Furthermore all teachers highlighted in
this case study made comment about the impact word of mouth advertising has had
on their program.
If the word of mouth advertising is as strong online
as it is face to face then institutes must ensure that a studentÕs online
experience is positive to attract more students.
Enrolment process
When collating these examples of practice for this
case study it was highlighted that some solely online programs only accept
online enrolments. This is to help
ensure students are Internet savvy and familiar with basic online tasks such as
sending and receiving emails, completing online forms, and navigating basic
websites. However all teachers
using this method did make some comment that this strategy although useful does
not mean some poor Internet users will Òslip throughÓ.
Perhaps the most common theme on the enrolment
process was the consideration given by the coordinators to tailor the enrolment
process to the learners needs including flexibility in payment options.
Resources
The vast majority of resources used by GippsTAFEÕs
online teachers are available via toolboxes, TAFE frontiers or the TAFE Virtual
Campus. However many teachers
commented on how easy it was to make additional online content via simple word
documents, digital images and online discussion. As one teacher said ÒI use discussion all the time in the
traditional classes as a way of getting students to understand concepts and the
application of these concepts, so I do this online as well.Ó
Model of Delivery
Each one of the online programs highlighted in this
case study has a definite structure that uses start and end dates. In fact some teachers made direct
reference to the need to move away from solely online self paced open and entry
online learning techniques.
The common theme was to use supported online
facilitation techniques to encourage students to become part of a group and
although the individuals within the group have control of the time of day they
participate in online activity, the group as a whole is expected to move
through the content in a stepped manner using 72 hour weekly time frames.
Assessment strategies
Most
material used by online teachers at GippsTAFE have already been developed,
including suggested assessment strategies. Although the assessment will vary from subject to subject,
all teachers indicated they were not overly considered about Òstudent cheatingÓ
as the teachers have regular contact with students via discussion boards and in
some cases phone conference and/or face to face interviews. These techniques help the teacher to
feel comfortable that the work submitted by the student was their own.
Tips from the teacher
There are many teacher tips available in this case
study, however the following are five collated tips.
One
Supporting the student via online facilitation
techniques
Two
Set clear time frames for students
Three
You can deliver content without fancy HTML
documents. Word documents are fine
as long as they give clear instruction
Four
Respond quickly to student comments, questions,
requests and assessments in a positive tone
Five
Take time to chase students up who fall behind