Assessment of the Effectiveness of the CAD eLearning certificate Daniela Giannini-Gachago, Ann Munene, Marilyn Lee, Spoon Mafote Centre for Academic Development, University of Botswana

eLearning at UB Introduced in 2002 Definition: appropriate organisation of ICTs for advancing student-oriented, active, open and life-long teaching-learning processes Focus on blended learning approach Use of WebCT CE4.0 (upgrade to CE6.0 planned for July 2007) By May 2006: 446 courses, 146 designers (18% of UB staff), students in last semester Lecturers are trained by eLearning support team

UB eLearning community

The CAD eLearning certificate Introduced in 2003 To train academic staff embarking on eLearning Focus on technical and pedagogical skills 4 Areas: eLearning, Information and Computer skills, Multimedia Production and WebCT Offered mainly as half day WS on monthly basis Completion by attendance and application (evidence of application in T&L) By May 2006: 208 WS, 680 participants, 66 certificates

Awarding the certificate Acting Director CAD Marilyn Lee awards certificates during eLearning launch

Purpose of study First evaluation of certificate in 2004 Results: 23 completed certificates, but only 7 (30%) had online courses Immediate action: include evidence of application in completion requirements Request for a more detailed study to investigate usefulness and effectiveness of individual workshops and certificate in preparing lecturers for eLearning

Literature review South Africa examples of innovative staff development in eLearning: Durban Institute of Technology (Online Pioneers), University of Cape Town (multifaceted staff development programme), Tshwane University Common elements: structured programme, combination of skill workshops with online learning, collaboration / development of COP, peer support and mentoring, research, accreditation / recognition of prior learning

Research methodology Quantitative and qualitative Workshop evaluation questionnaire (771) eLearning certificate effectiveness questionnaire (82) SPSS v12.0 for quantitative data Content analysis for qualitative data (open ended questions) in questionnaires to confirm/explain findings of quantitative data

Findings 1.What are the reasons staff attend the eLearning Certificate? 2.Do participants apply knowledge and skills of the eLearning Certificate workshops? If yes, which skills? If no, why not? 3.Is the way the Certificate is currently offered conducive to change lecturers’ way of teaching and learning to reach EduTech’s goal – to make Teaching and Learning more learner-centred, collaborative, active and lifelong?

Q1: Reasons to attend workshops On average 1-4 workshops attended 15.9% of respondents completed the certificate Predominant reasons to attend: –Acquire technological skills (95.1%) –Use eLearning for teaching (87.7%) –Wish to obtain certificate (63.4%) –General interest (59.8%)

Q2: Application Top 5 workshops (only 1 eLearning related!): 1.Principles of Course Design, 2.MS PowerPoint, 3.Introduction to eLearning 4.Management Information Techniques 5.Online Information Gathering Skills applied: yes (74.4%), mainly use of MS PowerPoint, search engines, information management Only 17.4% had put course online

Q2 ctd. Reasons for not putting skills and knowledge in practice (23.2%): –Time constraints –Preference for traditional teaching/learning methods –Limited facilities at faculty level –Limited accessibility to computers and the Internet for students

Q3: Change of T&L? Main reason for attending workshops is acquisition of technical skills Favorite workshop however is Course Design (focusing on innovative teaching and learning methods) But application mainly centers around technical skills (e.g. PowerPoint, Information Gathering and Management)

Discussion Workshops successful, well attended and perceived as useful Big gap between attendance and application, especially where eLearning and the use of innovative teaching and learning methods are concerned But definition of eLearning at UB is very wide (encompasses all use of ICTs in T&L) Therefore high demand for basic IT related topics understandable and part of EduTech’s mandate But current format not conducive for eLearning application in stricter sense (development of online course in learner-centred way)

Recommendations Phase out current certificate Move basic ICT skills workshops to IT Training Unit Redesign eLearning certificate -Concentrate on eLearning core workshops -Stricter structure (beginning and end, sequence of workshops) -Provide combination of workshops and online course (experience as online learner) -Parallel development of online course (immediate application) -Promotion of Community of Practice (COP) -Mentoring -Biggest challenge: loss of flexibility, but outweighed by impact of new certificate on participants’ teaching and learning

Ref. Staff Development in SA Cox, G. & Carr, T. (2006). A multi-faceted staff development approach to integrating technology into University courses. 1st International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training, UNCC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Book of Abstracts, pp ICWE: Berlin, Germany. Peté, M & Fregona, C. (2004). Sustaining online learning during times of change through a multi-disciplinary community of practice. Conference proceeding of Ed Media 2001 World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Norfolk, VA USA. Retrieved 13th of June 2006 from Media2004.pdfttp://emerge2004.net/connect/site/UploadWSC/emerge2004/file73/PeteEd Media2004.pdf Tshwane University (n.d.). Information about the Programme. Retrieved June 29, 2006, from

Contacts Daniela Giannini-Gachago, Manager, Educational Technology Unit, CAD, University of Botswana Ann Munene, Research Assistant, Marilyn Lee, Associate Professor, Nursing, School of Nursing, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa, Spoon Mafote, Online Media Developer, Educational Technology Unit, CAD, University of Botswana,