Flexible delivery for changing student demographics: The UTas experience

Strategies adopted include a mix of electronic assessment, web based teaching, discussion boards and easy access web information sites. Lecture materials have been made readily accessible on the web and we have been working towards the video and/or audiotaping of lectures to make them available in both real and virtual time. During the course of this project we have developed formats for user friendly email submission of assignments, the use of discussion boards to encourage a student culture of support and discussion of content related subjects, and incorporated a range of multimodal techniques into our teaching presentations. Our commitment is to ensure flexibility of delivery and quality of content and to maintain high standards of interpersonal interaction.

Student feedback and learning outcomes support the view that the quality of the learning is enhanced when they become engaged and proficient with the technologies. Frustration occurs when personal mastery of the medium is limited and technical support is inadequate. This, we have found, is true for both teachers and students. Integral to the development of this project has been the cooperation and specialised support of technical staff who have assisted by scaffolding the researchers in their attempts to master the scope of the various technologies and by providing specialised skills. What has become clear is that ongoing commitment to the value of these emerging technologies is necessary. Thus, for both educators and their students, a cultural and skills shift is required which takes us away from a residual attachment to traditional classroom based delivery modes towards a recognition of the potential for new technologies to allow us to manage time and resources more effectively. This research is, we suggest, a step in that direction.