This document discusses building the capacity of staff at African higher education institutions to support online learners. It recommends a professional development approach using internal training, innovators, certification, and peer support. A staged process provides initial training on online learning principles and technologies. The results were that academics acquired foundational online teaching skills and realized their roles would shift from transmitting knowledge to facilitating active learning. The impact was enabling institutions to plan online implementations and develop roadmaps for building broader capacity.

1. Building Capacity to Support
Online Learners at African
Higher Education Institutions
Greig Krull and Brenda Mallinson
Saide
1 August 2012

2. Context
Higher Education Institutions want to embrace online learning…
How do I provide
support?
What support do
I need? How do we build
capacity?

3. Learner Support
Academic
Administrative
Is the support:
Technical Flexible?
Continuously available?
Useful?

4. Staff Challenges
Changing role Changing role
of teachers of learners
Use of Online
technologies interactivity

5. Building Staff Capacity
• Professional Development approach:
– Internal staff development
– Use of staff innovators
– Accredited certification
– Use of localised peer support and mentoring
• Provide a staged approach to building capacity
• Support of centralised unit: Teaching and Learning,
Educational Technology

6. Design
• Introduce academics to online learning
• Based on open learning principles
• Integrate theory into design of learning materials and
activities to build desired learning pathways
• Utilise the “medium is the message”
• Available as online mediated course or as set of
unmediated course materials

7. Unit Learning Activities
The Lifelong Elearning readiness
Learner Changing roles of lecturers and students
Competencies required for online facilitators
Open Learning Types of elearning programmes
and e-Learning Web 2.0 technologies for learning
Theory and Learning activities and the Wiscom Model
Practise Support learners through the 5 stages of the Salmon
Model
Asynchronous Asynchronous tools such as discussion fora, blogs and
Communication wikis
Synchronous Synchronous tools such as instant messaging, online
Communication tutorials, and web conferencing
Assessments Role of assessment in supporting learning
and Build collaboration into assignments
Assignments Constructive feedback

8. Delivery
Institutions
Delivery Platforms

9. Results
• Academics acquired the initial foundational knowledge and
skills needed to support online learners
• Staff experienced learning as students
• Realised shift from students being recipients to active creators
of learning
• Some technological issues in terms of connectivity
• Agreement to continue with capacity development
programme

10. Impact
• Enabled staff to plan for online implementation, both
personally and institutionally
• Access to resource to reuse and adapt
• Developed Institutional roadmaps
– Benchmark e-learning activities at institutions
– Create pilot courses
– Build capacity for staff and students

11. This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Thank you
Greig Krull and Brenda Mallinson
greigk@saide.org.za / brendam@saide.org.za