Support Services for
Distance Education Students at the Department of Non-Formal Education
INTRODUCTION
This paper is intended to;
• raise awareness about who the students of the DNFE distance
education system are and why they need support.
• raise awareness so as to be able to appreciate the problems the
learners face and challenge you as writers to think of ways you can incorporate in the
written study guides to enhance learning.
Who Is The Learner at DNFE?
Our distance education students are a heterogeneous group. Some are adults with own
families, occupations and various life experiences. Others are young, immature and lack
direction. This group needs more support. The school/educational background between and
among these groups also differ significantly. Some have been to secondary while others
only stopped at primary.
What Kind of a Learning Environment
exists?
During enrolment, very little can be done to prepare students for interaction with their
workbooks. The result is that after obtaining these, the students are virtually on their
own. As they struggle to cope with the demands of learning at a distance,
they come to realise that they need help so much so that without anybody to intervene,
they might as well drop out. In this regard, students need various kinds of
support to enhance their participation, performance, success, satisfaction and
pleasure in the programme. Above all, the students success and that of the institution not
only depends on the quality of the learning materials or programmes produced but also upon
the quality and scope of the academic and administrative support that is given.
What Kinds of Distance does a Distance
Learner Face when she/he embarks on studying by this remote method?
While interacting with distance education students, distance educators have become aware
of different kinds of distance the students face. These are:
• social
• psychological
• economic
• cultural (contexts of learning and way of life)
• geographical
• communicative (for example the lapses in time taken for a letter
to reach a tutor or institution and get a reply)
• distance created by differences in knowledge :
• about what knowledge the learners have
• differences in areas of knowledge between tutors and learners
• different levels of knowledge held by the institution about what services they
provide and the knowledge learners have about what services are available
Thus for these situations which might be
educational, academic, psychological or social, an institution may provide a range of
essential student support services for its students to learn more effectively.
What Are Student Support Services?
These are any systems or procedures that are purposefully
created and effectively utilised by a distance education
institution to support and or facilitate teaching and learning at a distance.
They may include any or all of these:
• record keeping and administration - pre admission counselling
• admission or enrolment and registration information -
administrative assistance
• books despatch by mail - library service
• tutoring and counselling
• weekend courses and study centres
• electronic communication technologies such as phones, radio, audio
tapes, video, television etc. With the advent of technology, the list keeps on growing as
new innovations are made by the day, especially in the developed world.
The amount of support services an institution can
offer largely depends on that particular institution's capacity and resources at its
disposal.
However these can be put into two categories which are:
• academic; these include such packages as tutorial, advising and
counselling services.
• administrative functions such as:
• enrolment, admission and
registration
• record keeping
• information provision and delivery of study materials
Why Provide Support Services?
Basically to facilitate learning so that students reach their ultimate goal.
• to help students realise the institutional objective of the course
by minimising the negative effects of isolation and the lack of regular
personal contact.
• to minimise the drop-out rate
• by helping students deal with the teaching institution and to
augment the package of course materials.
• to improve the students' learning experience
• to provide extra assistance to weaker students
• to provide counselling for those who have personal difficulties
What Support Services does DNFE Offer?
The following services are offered in order to assist students with learning as well as to
keep their motivation as high as possible.
• Study centres
• Weekend courses
• Marking/Tutoring - Counselling
• Radio Programmes (Students sent their own cassette tapes for
the office to dub lessons for them)
• Occassional visits
• communication through letters and telephone
In conclusion let us look at some of the problems
the distance learners face by comparing their situation with the conventional or face-to
face learners.
| Distance Learner |
Face to face learner |
| 1. Physically removed
from the teacher |
Has face-to-face contact
with teacher |
| 2. Isolated from other
learners |
Is in contact with other
learners _ throu hout |
| 3. Feedback is delayed |
Get immediate feedback |
| 4. Chooses his own
time-table |
Works according to a set
schedule |
| 5. Sets his own working
pace |
Learning pace is set by
the teacher |
| 6. Chooses his own
sequence of subjects |
Follows the sequence of
the institution |
| 7. Motivated students can
achieve their goals in less than the stipulated time |
Must progress at the rate
of the whole class |
| 8. Independent
learning fosters self discipline, maturity, and a sense of responsibility for one's
own learnin |
Classroom students want
and expect direction, are more dependent, sometimes exercise less initiative |
| 9. Likely to have
committing demands . durin stud time e. . home responsibilities |
Just a full time student |
| 10. Has limited access to
resources e.g. school libraries |
Has access to resources |
| 1 1. Often disadvantaged
by breakdown in communication |
Less disadvantaged
because of proximity |
| 12. Distance education is
often considered a second rate education |
Considered real education
|
| 13. The learner is at his
place, does not have to leave home and therefore has other household chores to
attend to. (Home situation is not often conducive to studyin ) |
The learner has to leave
home for an educational institution where there is presumably no disturbance(Educational
Institutions are conducive to studying) |
| 14. Material distribution
delays |
Material readily
available at institutions |
| 15. Poor radio reception |
Is not affected by radio
programmes |
| 16. Feedback comes after
a long time; it takes a long time to change materials |
Material made to
suit learner's needs and can be changed soon after feedback |
| 17. Inefficient postal
system affects learners |
Learners are not affected
by postal system as they do not need any learning materials to be posted to them |
Given these what in your
perception will make an excellent teaching workbook? |
