Leapfrogging 1 st Generation Distance Education into 4 th and 5 th Generation Distance Education at Makerere University: A Study Materials Writers’ Experiences Stella Achen and Ruth Nsibirano Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 1

Presentation Outline  Introduction  Identification of course writers  Tasks for course writers  Findings  Challenges  Recommendations 2

Introduction  Greatest development and growth of new technologies in the 20 th and 21 st Centuries than any other century.  New technologies and systems are increasingly being used in education among other sectors.  Makerere University through the department of Open and Distance Education(ODL) has run a 1 st generation mode of distance education(DE) programs 3

Introduction Cont’d  In 1991,ODL was launched with two academic programmes – Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Education  In 2001, two more academic programmes added- Commonwealth Diploma in Youth in Development Work programme (CYP) and Bachelor of Science (External)  Student enrolment rose from 246 (1992) to 8,000 students in

Introduction Cont’d  Successful proposal to NORAD  ODL sought to leapfrog DE from 1 st to 4 th and 5 th generations of DE  A number of activities including developing course materials fit for the 4 th and 5 th generations DE programme 5

Aim  Writers, Trainers, Project Administrators and reviewers (in and out of Mak)  Personality & context issues  This paper examines the experiences of the 20 course writers for the fifth generation modules 6

Methods Used  Study designed  Qualitative and qualitative data was collected through  Study population = 20 course writers for the fifth generation modules 7

Identification of course writers  Course writers were identified by the committee for DELP  Lecturers and practitioners from various disciplines  DELP conducted a series of workshops  Understanding a distance Learner  curriculum development for DE learners  Content for the 4 th and fifth generation of DE. 8

Tasks for course writers  Writers were given time lines (month) for drafts of courses  Effects from change of working environments  Conflicting demands  Writers transformed their course materials to online  Poodle & moodle  Infrastructural issues  Uploaded MUELE  About 20 courses uploaded on MUELE. 9

Findings  90 percent writers had never participated in such an activity.  A challenge to develop interactive online content “It is much harder to writer materials for distance education learners because you must write content in form of a dialogue. It is also more time consuming because a lot of planning must be done”. 10

Observations  Much easier to conduct face-to-face lectures than online lectures  Easier to drop out  University calendar affects scheduling of training workshops  Even harder to transform content to online learning materials with activities 11

Best Practices and Lessons Learnt  Time constraints due to push and pull factors  Writers must be learners first  Communication & commitment is essential  Interpersonal skills (soft skills) needed  Embarrassment of writers by some facilitators. 12

Recommendations  The University should train more human resources with skills for curriculum development of DE materials befitting the 4 th and 5 th generations.  The University should start more online DE programmes to decongest the campus  Facilitators should consider slow learners during sessions. 13

END  Thank you for listening 14