Distance Education

How Lecturers can support and improve the student experience

Being a distance mode student can be a very isolating experience. The camaraderie of being part of a class, learning from other students and the engaging with the lecturer can be easily lost unless deliberate actions are taken to sustain human interaction.

The three most important things for lecturers to do (after preparing their materials in a timely manner) include:

• Open modes of communication with and between students will beneficial. Check out the tools discussed in the Communication and Collaboration report on the Technology Choices page or look into ways to supplement your courses online .
  
• Be a personality - rather than seeming to hide behind impersonal language, write to students personally, as you would speak to them, show them a photo of who you are (doing something silly is always a nice touch), tell them about what's been happening on campus
  
• Keep in touch - follow individuals up privately by phone or email if they seem to have gone astray. Regular communication can help allay problems before they become insurmountable.

It is also important to provide students with clearly described and well structured information about the course (e.g. the Course Outline , Learning Guide, Resource materials, etc.) well in advance of the semester start so that students can organize their studies properly.

 

 

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