Learning Materials

 Overview

These materials support a discussion on the topic of planning, designing, producing, and delivering learning materials. The emphasis in these materials is on print materials, since print continues to be a major component of most open and distance learning programmes. This emphasis may or may not be appropriate for your participants. For management of other media, you may wish to draw on the resources available in another COL kit, Integrating Media.

Sources materials for this topic

Bates, T. Technology in open learning and distance education: a guide for decision makers. Vancouver: The Commonwealth of Learning and the Open Learning Agency, 1991.

Jenkins, J. Course development: a manual for editors of distance teaching materials. 2^nd ed. Cambridge: International Extension College, 1987.

Parer, M. (ed). Development, design and distance education. Churchill, Australia: Centre for Distance Learning, Gippsland Institute, 1989.

Rowntree, D. Preparing materials for open, distance and flexible learning: an action guide for teachers and trainers. London: Kogan Page, 1994.  

 Choosing an institutional strategy 

There are basically three strategies for providing course materials in open and distance learning programmes:

·      adopt existing materials;

·      adapt existing materials; and

·      create materials from scratch.

These strategies are set out in the tables on the following pages, together with the benefits they offer, their limitations, and other factors that might affect decision-making. In reality, these strategies form a continuum, with adoption at one end, creation at the other, and adaptation somewhere in the middle. For example, most courses that are created from the ‘ground up’ make use of some existing materials, such as textbooks or videotapes. In addition, almost all courses that are ‘adopted’ undergo some degree of adaptation.

Adoption Strategies for Providing Course Materials in Distance Education  

Strategy	Benefits	Challenges	Other factors
adopting existing materials	·    may be less costly ·    less time consuming ·    can provide model ·    no need to pre-test ·    errors already eliminated ·    labour saving, less stressful for staff ·    reduces lead-in time ·    source of new ideas ·    opportunities for collaboration ·    can provide a quality not otherwise possible.	·    may not be relevant to needs ·    may not be suitable culturally, contextually ·    testing for fit may be needed ·    may kill creativity at local level ·    deprives local staff of ownership ·    may omit crucial content areas ·    may go out of print while you still need copies ·    may have hidden costs, e.g., support structure ·    may promote dependency ·    may push planners into premature start	·    status and prestige ·    ‘not invented here’ syndrome ·    cost to purchase or lease compared with ‘ground-up’ production

 

Adaptation Strategies for Providing Course Materials in Distance Education  

Strategy	Benefits	Challenges	Other factors
adapting existing materials	·    gives a headstart, reduces lead time ·    gives models and ideas ·    may be easy to convert ·    can select from available materials ·    cost-saving ·    can improve by adding components ·    can increase appropriateness ·    can up-date ·    can improve writers’ skills without having to produce whole course	·    expert knowledge still needed ·    may reduce quality by altering ·    may be self-defeating in terms of costs and time ·    does less for developing local capacity ·    may not assist in developing coherent programme ·    levels may not match	·    accreditation issues ·    control and ownership of course ·    issues of copyright ·    credibility of provider

 

Creation Strategies for Providing Course Materials in Distance Education  

Strategy	Benefits	Challenges	Other factors
creating original materials	·    likely to fit target audience more closely ·    more likely to be culturally relevant ·    will be up-to-date ·    will be original ·    will build local capacity and self-confidence ·    will be easier to modify if necessary	·    is the most expensive option ·    lead-in time is longer ·    may put high stress on developers ·    amount of work may be underestimated ·    needs trained and skilled staff ·    need to build up capacity and expertise ·    need to persuade people it’s worth doing ·    needs adequate resourcing	·    start-up costs ·    status of enterprise, political agenda

 

 

 Choosing appropriate technologies  

Technologies used in open and distance learning

The number of new technologies introduced into distance education and open learning over the last ten years or so has expanded rapidly. Here is a classification of these media based on whether they offer one-way or two-way communication.

Media Categorised as One-Way or Two-Way Communication

 

	Audio	Radio	Video	Television	Computers
One-way	Cassettes	Educational radio	Cassettes	Educational television	Games
	Audiovision	Interactive radio	Clubs		Computer-assisted learning
					Web based instruction
					Databases
					Bulletin boards
Two-way	Telephone tutoring	Two-way instructional radio		Video conference	Computer conference
	Audio conference			Interactive television	Computer- mediated communication
	Audio- graphics

A model for choosing appropriate technologies and media

The salient factors to be considered when deciding on the use of technology for teaching can be summarised in the simple acronym actions (Bates 1991):

The actions Model for Selecting Media  

A	Access	Where will learners learn — at home, at work, at local centres? ‘A’ also stands for ‘availability’ and ‘affordability’.
C	Costs	What are the capital and recurrent costs? Which costs are fixed and variable?
T	Teaching functions	What are the presentational requirements of the subject? What teaching and learning approaches are required?
I	Interaction and user-friendliness	Do learners and teachers require a great deal of training to use this technology?
O	Organisation	What changes in organisation will be required to facilitate the use of a particular technology?
N	Novelty	To what extent will the ‘trendiness’ of this technology stimulate funding and innovation? To what extent will use of this technology enhance learner interest and motivation?
S	Speed	How quickly and easily can material be updated and changed? How quickly can new courses be produced using this technology?

Access

Factors to be considered when evaluating access include the following.

·    Who is the target group? Who are the priority target groups to be served?

learners denied access to conventional institutions?

disadvantaged or equity groups?

the unemployed?

the working poor?

workers needing upgrading or further qualifications?

·    What is the most appropriate location for this learning? For example,

at home?

in a local centre dedicated to open learning?

at a local public education institution that shares its facilities?

at work?

·    Which technologies do learners have available to them?

·    What proportion of potential learners have access to a particular technology?

·    If you make the use of a particular technology optional for learners, is it worth using at all?

Costs

Some important distinctions to be made between and among the various technologies available in terms of their costs.

What are the capital costs?

Television and computing, for example, require high initial capital expenditure -- a computing network or mainframe, a television studio and equipment.

What are the recurrent costs?

Television, for example, also has high recurrent costs because of the production staff needed to operate the capital equipment.

What are the fixed production costs?

Fixed costs for producing one hour of teaching material have been estimated as follows:

·     face-to-face lecture                                              1 unit

·     audio cassette/radio/teleconference          2 units

·     televised lecture                                              2 to 5 units

·     computer-mediated communication            2 to 5 units

·     print                                                 2 to 10 units

·     high-quality television programme          20 to 50 units

·     pre-programmed computer based learning                20 to 50 units

·     computer-controlled video disc                    50 to 100 units

Will there be large numbers of enrolments over which to spread any high fixed costs?

Can the materials be used for a number of years, thereby spreading the costs?

What are the variable costs?

For example, if audio cassettes are used, then the delivery costs vary in direct proportion to the number of students.

Technologies vary considerably in their fixed and variable costs:

·   audio cassettes and radio have low fixed and low variable costs;

·   face-to-face teaching, computer-mediated communication and tutor-mediated courses have low fixed costs but high variable costs;

·   good quality broadcast television has high fixed costs and low variable costs; and

·   pre-programmed computer-based learning and video discs have both high fixed and high variable costs, if work stations are to be provided.

Some of the newer interactive technologies such as computer conferencing and audiographics reduce fixed costs but have high variable costs, which make them suitable only for courses with relatively low student numbers.

Broadcast distribution is likely to be uneconomical for national distribution with less than 500 students per course for radio or less than 1,000 students per course for television.

Teaching functions

Media differ in the extent to which they can represent different kinds of knowledge. Most media can handle abstract knowledge, but some such as television are excellent for representing concrete knowledge. The representational possibilities of a medium like television are particularly important for non-academic learners, who often require concrete examples or demonstration rather than abstract theory. However, this form of television — which is symbolically very rich — is much more expensive to produce than televised lectures, which can be equalled symbolically by audio plus printed notes.

Media also differ in the extent to which they can help develop different skills. This is related to the control characteristics and the representational features of the medium. For example, computers are excellent for presenting and testing rule-based procedures, or areas of abstract knowledge in which answers are clearly correct.

Course designers, therefore, need a good understanding of what is required to teach a particular subject, and knowledge of the pedagogic strengths and weaknesses of the different media.

Interaction, user-friendliness, and control

Learners have much more control over permanent technologies such as books, cassettes, and computers than over ephemeral technologies such as lectures or broadcasts. This control enables learning from media to be much more effective.

Interactivity — the ability for the learner to respond in some way to the teaching material and obtain comment or feedback on the response — considerably increases learning effectiveness. There are two kinds of interactivity:

·     social interactivity: learners’ interaction with teachers and with each other via the medium; and

·     learning material interactivity: learners’ interaction with the medium; the level and the immediacy of feedback the medium itself provides; the extent to which the medium will accommodate the learners’ own input and direction.

One-way media, such as print and broadcasting, require supplementing by two-way interaction with tutors, via:

·      telephone;

·      correspondence;

·      computer communication; or

·      face-to-face tutorials.

Computer-mediated communication provides:

·    two-way communication at a distance;

·    asynchronous contact, at the user’s convenience;

·    relatively low cost communication;

·    potentially the means for freeing learners from the centralised control of pre-prepared and constricted curricula; but also

·    high variable costs, because of the amount of time a tutor must spend on-line.

Organisational issues

The existing technological infrastructure within a country or an institution is a major factor in influencing media selection. For example, if an existing broadcast network is under-used, it is much easier to introduce television for open and distance learning purposes.

On the other hand, the need to exploit an existing technology can also be a very conservative influence on media choice.

 

Existing funding arrangements for course production are another important factor. For example, it is often difficult to shift funds from existing, ‘traditional’ technologies to newer technologies, because of the threat to existing budgets and power bases.

Innovation in this area depends essentially on ‘champions for change’ at a high level, such as that of vice-chancellor or dean. However, those in influential positions may sometimes champion a technology because it is new or ‘leading edge’ even though it may not be an appropriate choice for the programme in question.

Novelty

Caution is well-advised if the pressure to use new media comes from a desire for novelty or status. For example, audio cassettes combined with print can be a very low-cost and effective medium, but it is often easier to get funding for new uses of technology because they are more spectacular.

Novelty may be an important criterion in a highly competitive market, however. The fact that your programme looks ‘leading edge’ because it is using the latest in multimedia technology may make it more attractive to learners who have a choice between your programme and several others that use only one or two more ‘traditional’ media.

Speed

Open and distance learning programmes are plagued by the problem of time, specifically:

·      the time it takes to produce a course; and

·      the time a course must continue to be offered without changes once it is produced.

In some subject areas, such as public policy or information technology, courses need to be put on quickly and easily updated. Electronic publishing can enable relatively minor changes to be made, but the initial design process is still time consuming.

Some of the more interactive technologies such as audio conferencing and computer conferencing do allow for a quick development of a course and continuous updating.

General points about technology in learning

A number of generalisations can be made about using technologies in learning.

·    Media are flexible: what can be achieved educationally through one medium can usually be achieved through any other medium given enough imagination, time, and resources.

·    Professional production and design are important: each medium has its own aesthetic, and a different range of production skills necessary to exploit its unique features.

·    There is no ‘super-medium’: all technologies have their strengths and weaknesses.

·    Good teaching is important: effective instructional design applies to the use of any medium for teaching.

·    Balance variety with economy: the aim should be to use a limited range of media to maximise learning effectiveness, minimise cost, and a balance of both by convenience and ease of use to both learner and teacher.

Discussion: Ask participants to analyse the use of media and technology in their own situation. What factors, according to the ACTIONS model, have been influential in the selection decision? In addition, have on hand as many examples of the various technologies as are available to you, to share with participants.

 

 Managing course planning and development

Pre-budgeting and approval for course development

The development of a course represents a major commitment of financial and human resources. Because of this, it is useful to ensure that the full extent of the commitment required is determined before the development project begins.

A typical procedure for this planning exercise is the development of a course planning document, sometimes called a course blueprint.

The course blueprint is circulated for comment to all units that are concerned with course production and delivery, including registration, tutorial services, academic departments, media and production, warehousing, and dispatch. The academic content may also be sent to other content experts, and to partner organisations and agencies, for review and comment.

Depending on the comments received, the blueprint authors may be asked to revise their proposal. Approval usually rests with someone in the organisation who has budgetary authority to commit the resources involved, such as the dean of a faculty.

Here is an outline for a typical course blueprint.

Course Blueprint Outline

A.     Programme-related details

1.      Course title

2.      Programme

a.       programme or programmes in which the course is intended as a component

b.      compulsory or elective

3.      Level

a.       introductory or foundation

b.      intermediate

c.       advanced

d.      postgraduate

4.      Credit weighting

a.       number of credit hours assigned to it

5.      Semester

a.       semester in which it is to be offered

6.      Prerequisites

7.      Anticipated annual enrolment

a.       supporting data, including market survey, government statistics, experience from other programmes and courses.

B.     Course package components

1.      Course components to be produced in-house

a.       study guide or guides

b.      reader

c.       learner handbook

d.      assignment manual

e.       media handbook

f.        tutor manual

g.       radio and television broadcasts

h.       audio and video cassettes

i.         computer software

2.      Course components to be purchased or leased textbook or books, software, audio, video rights to broadcast a radio or video series

3.      Entire course package

C.  Development and production schedule

1.      Development personnel involved

a.       course team manager

b.      course writer or writers

c.       instructional designer

d.      editor

e.       illustrator or media producer

f.        internal and external reviewers

2.      Projected on-the-shelf date

3.      Course development schedule, including all components and all media

4.      Course production or reproduction schedule, including all components and all media

5.      Anticipated course revision schedule

D.    Content and pedagogy

1.      Course aims

2.      Course structure

a.       block and unit titles

b.      unit-by-unit objectives

c.       readings

d.      types of activities

e.       role of audio, video, and television components

f.        sample unit

3.      Practical work

a.       laboratories

b.      teaching practice

c.       fieldwork

4.      Assessment scheme

a.       assignments, including their number, timing, format, and markers (number, internal or contracted)

b.      examination(s), including their number, timing, format, and markers (number, internal or contracted)

5.      Evaluation scheme

a.       developmental testing schedule

b.      monitoring or formative evaluation scheme, instruments

c.       end-of-course or summative evaluation scheme, instruments

E.     Delivery plan

1.      Tutorial centres

a.       number required

b.      suggested locations

c.       proposed schedule of tutorials

2.      Tutors

a.       number required

b.      qualifications

c.       training workshops, including number, duration, and location

3.      Residential schools

a.       number

b.      location

c.       schedule

4.      Practical work

a.       laboratories

b.      teaching practice

c.       fieldwork

F.      Course budget

1.      Revenue

a.       course fees

b.      other sources

2.      Costs

a.       course components production

b.      produced in-house

c.       purchased

d.      leased

3.      Copyright clearance, with estimates based on

a.       number of articles to be reproduced

b.      sources

c.       total number of pages

d.      print run

e.       course shelf life

4.      Development personnel

a.       person-days for in-house staff

b.      fees for contracted external staff

5.      Delivery and evaluation

a.       tutorial wages

b.      marker fees

c.       monitoring and evaluation costs

Contracting development personnel

Discussion: Draw on your participants’ experience or plans to emphasise the aspects of contracting staff that will be issues for them.

Who is employed to write courses for open and distance learning? There are three important variations to consider:

·      full-time academics in a dedicated distance teaching institution;

·      academic staff in a mixed or dual mode institution; and

·      people who are commissioned to prepare material or contribute to the course team.

There are variations on these themes as well, as in the case of full-time academic staff who take on many or all of the following tasks:

·      write material for course teams;

·      supervise contracted writers;

·      edit materials submitted by outside writers;

·      monitor the marking of assignments;

·      train new faculty members; and

·      draft and present video and audio programmes.

In conventional institutions where academics are required to volunteer to prepare course material, the most critical issue is incentives. When someone already has a great deal of work, why should an effort be made to prepare distance materials?

Rewards need to be evident, in the form of

·      extra pay;

·      new skills; and

·      increased status.

When using part-time contracted writers, there are important issues to consider, including:

·    copyright: held by institution or author?

·    use: who has rights to use of the material, to alter it, to reject it if unsuitable?

·    reproduction rights: who has the right to reproduce material, and under what conditions?

These issues are reflected in the contract that is drawn up with the writer. Here is a sample contract, with comments on what the various clauses imply:

            Sample contract       

 

Contract wording	Interpretation
AN AGREEMENT Date                    19 made between (the College) of (address) and (the author) of (address) WHEREBY IT IS AGREED as follows:	The contract starts with the date, and the names of those agreeing. A separate contract needs to be signed by each writer, if there are several.
1. The Author shall write a course (defined in the Schedule) and shall deliver the typescript/disk to the College on or before the     day of      19   .	Clause 1 A full description of the writing job is given in the Schedule at the end. The writer is specifically asked to deliver material in a particular format, and the deadline for delivery is given.
2. The Author hereby warrants that he/she has not granted any licences or rights in respect of the course unit to any person, company or firm and that he/she is the owner of the copyright of any illustrations or material in any medium provided in accordance with this agreement.	Clause 2 asks the writer to affirm that he or she has not given permission for anyone else to use the material, and has not used anyone else’s material. This means that if the institution comes across the materials published elsewhere, they can accuse the publisher of infringing copyright. If, on the other hand, the writer is dishonest and ‘borrows’ large amounts of material from another publication, then the institution can say that the writer is responsible and the institution published the material in good faith.
3. In consideration of the sum of $.......... to be paid by the College to the Author after approval of the completed typescript/disk by the College the Author assigns to the College the copyright in the course units for all purposes.	Clause 3 specifies the fee and says it will only be paid after the typescript/disk has been approved (not just received). Once it is approved, the copyright belongs to the institution.
4. The Author shall not publish or license the publication in any form of the course units or any of them or any part of them after they have been approved by the College in accordance with Clause 3.	Clause 4 complements clause 2 and covers copyright after approval of the writing.
5. The College or such other person as may be authorised by the College may make such alterations to the course units by way of editing punctuation, spelling, abbreviations, grammar, or otherwise as the College or such person in his/her discretion shall think fit.	Clause 5 allows the editor or anyone else appointed by the College to change the text, without necessarily having the writer’s approval.
6. The Author shall at no expense to the College on receipt from the College of the proofs of the course units check the proofs for errors or omissions and shall return them to the College within ............. days signed.	Clause 6 asks the author to check the proofs for no extra fee, and implies that if the proofs are not returned by a given date, the writer will have no right to complain about errors.
7. The Author will at the request of the College and at his own expense make such changes or corrections in the course unit as the College may require PROVIDED that such request is made within a period of 12 months from the acceptance of the course unit by the College.	Clause 7 says that the writer must revise the units as necessary, and for no extra fee, provided the request is made within a year after the acceptance of the units.
8. The College will at its own cost reproduce, circulate, and distribute the course.	Clause 8 says the institution will pay for printing and distribution, but the clause does not oblige the institution to go ahead with the printing. It only says it will pay if it does print.
9. The College will bear the reasonable travelling and subsistence expenses for any journeys the Author undertakes at the request of the College.	Clause 9 says that expenses are paid only if the institution has approved the journey in advance.
10. No fee shall be payable whether by way of quantum meruit or otherwise for any course units delivered after the date stated in paragraph 1.	Clause 10 says if you are late with your units, you do not get paid.
THE SCHEDULE Subject matter: Number and description of units: Illustrations: Learners’ work and assignments: Other teaching aids:	The schedule is filled in to include all the material the writer must provide. This contract omits a heading for work on course planning and outline (the course blueprint), which may be the subject of a separate contract.
Signed ....................................................... for ...............................................(College)      Date ........................................................... Signed (writer)........................................... Date ...........................................................

Discussion: Ask your participants to discuss the pros and cons of this contract, for the institution and for the writer. What protections does it offer the institution? the writer? Is the contract clear enough on questions of legal responsibility? What about libel and other forms of misrepresentation? What about royalties? the procedure for approval? payment schedule? dispute resolution? And so on. Emphasise the importance of the form a contract takes, and the difficulty of writing a satisfactory contract.

The case study for the University of Botswana discusses the issues surrounding training and managing writers of materials for open and distance learning in some detail.

Copyright

One of the most important legal issues raised in the preceding discussion is copyright. Copyright is an important issue for developers of open and distance learning materials, in two ways:

·      as holders of the copyright on any material produced in-house; and

·      as users of material for which copyright is held by other individuals and agencies.

As holders of the copyright on any material produced in-house

Where possible, institutions should hold copyright over materials for whose development they have paid, rather than allowing copyright to rest with the individuals involved in development and production.

As users of material for which copyright is held by other individuals and agencies

As a general rule of thumb, permission of the copyright holder should be obtained in order to reproduce (or translate) excerpts from text material that are more than ten lines in length, as well as any diagrams, graphics, photographs, cartoons, and so on.

Costs of copyright clearance

The costs of copyright clearance for print material will vary depending on the following factors.

The intended use of the end product (for example, a course)

·        If your uses are non-profit and educational, clearance costs will likely be lower.

·        If your uses are commercial and profit-making, costs will likely be higher.

The geographical distribution of the end product

·   If you will be distributing the course internationally, clearance costs will be much higher than if you distribute only nationally.

 The amount of material for which clearance is requested

·   Permission to use twelve lines of prose may cost little if anything; reprinting a chapter from a book may cost considerably more. If you ask permission to reprint more than two chapters of a book, you will likely be told to buy the book!

The size of your print run

·    Some copyright holders charge on a sliding scale, so that clearance for reproduction of an item in 5,000 copies of a course may cost far more than ten times the cost of reproducing that item in 50 copies of a course.

The time period over which your product will be available

You may be able to obtain clearance only on an annual basis, or a three-year basis, and so on.

The type of organisation that holds the copyright

·    Some organisations (for example, many educational institutions) typically do not charge for the right to reproduce; some commercial publishers charge very high fees; and some publishers (for example, some academic journals) will not give permission under any circumstances.

The medium of reproduction

·    Clearance for use of material in electronic form, especially transmitted electronic form (for example, the World Wide Web) will cost more than will clearance for use in print form.

Scheduling course development

The following steps are typically involved in drawing up a schedule for development of a course.

·   Establish the date by which the course must be in learners’ hands.

·   On that basis determine when the course must be in the warehouse ready for dispatch.

·   On the basis of the warehouse date, determine how much time needs to be allocated to physical reproduction, binding, packaging, and so on, including media components other than print. Also make sure that purchased or leased components have been ordered in time for their assured arrival by the warehouse date.

·   On the basis of the date by which the course has to be in the print shop, determine how much time the visual designer or layout technician will need in order to prepare the manuscript for printing, complete the visuals and cover design, and so on.

·   On the basis of the date by which the entire manuscript must be in the hands of the visual designer, determine how much time the development team will require to produce the manuscript (experienced course developers are tempted to say, ‘And then double it!’).

There is no firm guideline to help you here, except to warn you that the development process, especially the more creative parts of it, are likely to require far more time than you really have available and continual negotiating, wheedling, cajoling, and/or threatening will be required in order to meet deadlines.

Discussion: Draw up an actual production schedule, putting in the dates your participants suggest. Then discuss how realistic these dates really are, both in terms of their organisation’s ability to hold to them and in terms of the pressures on them to have courses in delivery.

 

 Managing course production and delivery

Terminology

The term production is used here to describe the overall process of taking a manuscript and managing it through to printed, finished copies.

·    It involves drawing up a specification and production schedule, obtaining and comparing prices from different suppliers, placing orders, and supervising manufacture and delivery.

·    It involves understanding the needs of course planners, developers, authors, illustrators, and editors, as well as the needs of learners.

The term printing is used to describe the actual manufacture of printed distance learning materials. Printing is the industrial process or processes required to realize the production manager’s requirements in their final physical form.

The process

The course production process involves a number of stages, as follows:

Generating text and illustrations

Most text is now word processed. Desktop publishing makes it possible

·        to integrate text and illustrations;

·        prepare text in a wide variety of typefaces; and

·        see the complete pages on the computer screen in exactly their printed form.

Writers typically submit disks, prepared in accordance with the house style.

Editors work with these disks and submit the entire edited text to the desktop publishing specialist to produce the specified design.

Designing materials

Design involves a number of decisions, particularly about:

·     page size;

·     layout and house style; and

·     cover design.

Preparing materials for the printer

Course materials can be put together in their final form and sent for printing in various ways, including:

·     camera-ready copy: complete pages, with final text and illustrations in place;

·     outputting text directly on to film, or to the printer; and

·     paste-up: necessary if illustrations and text are prepared separately.

Printing the materials

The choice of printing processes includes:

·     photocopying;

·     laser printing;

·     stencil duplicating;

·     small offset printing;

·     sheet-fed offset printing; and

·     web-fed offset printing.

The decision will depend on

·     the equipment available;

·     the number of copies of the text required; and

·     the prices submitted by the printers who are asked to give quotations

Finishing the materials

The term used to describe the various processes involved in turning the printed sheets into a finished text is ‘finishing’. These processes include

·        binding: saddle-stitched, side stabbed, perfect binding, loose-leaf, wire, or comb;

·        cover: board, either laminated, or varnished; and

·        packing: bulk packing up to 15 kg maximum for easy handling.

Management issues

Issues involved in managing the production process include the following.

Estimating, costing, and financial control

Increasing the size of print runs is tempting, because of the lower unit costs that result. Other factors to be kept in mind, however, include:

·     warehousing costs;

·     the cost of money;

·     the sales pattern for each title; and

·     the timetable for updating each title.

Scheduling and controlling production

When a new course is planned, a rough schedule should be drawn up, with dates:

·     by which authors should submit manuscripts;

·     for the completion of each round of proofs; and

·     for trial testing.

It is wise to build in a substantial contingency allowance, as emphasised in earlier discussion.

Warehousing and stock control

Holding stock leads to a number of costs:

·     the storage space itself;

·     wastage through deterioration or loss;

·     over-producing stock that is not actually needed;

·     money tied up in stock; and

·     staffing to monitor and control stock.

 Practice exercise  

Issues in development and production

Instructions: Based on other work they have done in the workshop, the assumption is that participants will be prepared by this point to apply what they have learned about management of open and distance learning units.

Two sets of issues arise in the organisation and management of materials production:

·   Should the design and development of materials be done in-house or contracted out?

·   Should there be a centralised course development and production unit, or is this function better decentralised to each academic unit in the institution?

Divide participants into four groups. Assign one ‘side’ of each of these issues to each of the groups and ask them to produce a list of reasons why, for example, the production of materials is best done in-house. Give the groups about 20 minutes for this exercise, and then ask them to present their lists to the group as a whole. During whole-group discussion draw out the difficulties of making blanket statements about which system is best, since there are so many variables, such as institution size, which affect this decision.

Timeframe: Approximately one hour.

Materials: Flipchart paper or overhead transparencies and pens.