1. LOGO Understanding Distance Education Learners By : Nurulhana Hussain (PGC 070011) Izawany Ibrahim (PGC 0700 )

2. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com 1 Learners’ Profile 2 What Information should we gather about DE Learners? 3 Highlights of focused readings 4 Why is it important to understand DE learners? Characteristics of DE Learners Engaging DE Learners Roles and Responsibilities of DE Learners

3. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Learners’ Profile V isual A ural/auditory R ead/write K inesthetic VARK Zamiah Chun Fazue Wan Lim Normie Mozayeb 12 5 7 11 5 4 78699587869958 6 7 11 5 10 8 2 8 7 9 11 7 5 9 What can we tell by looking at the table below?

4. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Learners’ Profile What do we do when we have multimodal learners? What do we do with the learners’ profile?

5. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Characteristics of DE Learners What are common characteristics of distance learners? Let’s brainstorm

6. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Common characteristics of Distance Learners Have job responsibilities Have less time to study Adult learners with families Married and single Both young and old Pay their own fees Highly motivated Both males and females May be technology phobic

7. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Design a learner centric programme Why is it important to understand DE learners ? Develop suitable learning materials Design and arrange for support services Learning styles Level of knowledge Language ability Ability to use technology

8. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com What Information should we gather about DE Learners? (Dighe, 2002) Resource factors Subject background Learning factors Motivation factors Demographic factors

9. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Engaging DE Learners The prospective learners are:  Poor in understanding English Language.  Majority are female with a small number of male learners.  Busy with work and have little time for study.  Returning to study after a gap of 5 – 10 years So, the course must:    

10. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Engaging DE Learners The prospective learners are :  Technophobia may be an issue since learners are mainly senior citizens.  Be in different time zones  People in organizations with the mandate to package knowledge for impact using the Internet  Having considerable experience in the field / subject So, the course must :    

11. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Engaging DE Learners The prospective learners are:So, the course must:  Poor in understanding English Language.  Level of English Language used should be at the level of readability index  Majority are female with a small number of male learners.  Use non- sexist language for communication  Provide examples that address both sexes  Busy with work and have little time for study.  Use the ‘must do’ knowledge and skill components in the learning units  Cover little of ‘should do’ and nothing of ‘nice to do’  Returning to study after a gap of 5 – 10 years  Provide sufficient guidance in the study materials to develop confidence

12. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Engaging DE Learners The prospective learners are : So, the course must :  Technophobia may be an issue since learners are mainly senior citizens.  Provide trainings on learning skills  Take focus off technology but focus on learning  Be in different time zones  Use asynchronous forms of interaction.  People in organizations with the mandate to package knowledge for impact using the Internet  Instructional strategy should be applied as possible. Allow learners to apply skills learning skills at owned context.  Having considerable experience in the field / subject  Use a lot of activities/ examples to appeal their experiences

13. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Roles and Responsibilities of DE Learners Equipment Requirement & Use inquire and obtain the technology required match what is available to use Online Setting discussion forums online chat word processing Time for Class Synchronous Asynchronous Attendance & Participation Synchronous Asynchronous Assignment Meeting due dates Grading Meeting the expectation

14. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Highlights on focused reading

15. COMPANY LOGO www.themegallery.com Wrapping Up Graphic acknowledgement: International Rice Research Institute

16. LOGO