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Distance Learning Guide
Educational Development Unit
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Introduction
Distance learning describes a situation in which students are supported in their study of course
materials at their own pace and in their own homes rather than having to be primarily based on
campus. It has the potential to widen participation in academic study, diminish issues of
accessibility and remove barriers of time and geography from learners. However, this can lead
to isolation for students whilst also placing an increasing requirement on them for independent
learning and self-reliance. The purposeful use of technology and course design can help students
to recreate some of the elements of community and collaboration they may find on a traditional
university campus. Opportunities for discussion and collaboration can be built in to courses,
enriching and deepening students’ engagement with their learning.
Types of distance learning
There are several methods of blending delivery and selecting the most appropriate approach is a
key to achieving positive learning experiences for students.
Type of distance learning Key Features Issues to consider
Correspondence / Traditional
distance learning
Primarily print-based with
optional face-to-face /
telephone / postal support.
Other materials may be sent
to the student to support their
learning including CDs, DVDs
etc
If any element is optional,
non-participation needs to
have no impact on students
can achieving the course’s
learning outcomes.
Decisions on how students will
be supported need to made
from the outset.
Blended Primarily online with additional
face-to-face sessions although
different blends of delivery
methods are also included in
this type.
The tools available in a virtual
learning environment such as
the NTU Online Workspace
(NOW), are ideal for hosting
web materials and allowing for
communication and
collaborative working.
Managing students’
expectations is vital so that
they know when e-mail,
forums and other means of
online communications will be
checked.
Courses should be designed to
have activities embedded
within them to allow students
to meet learning outcomes
and help them foster a sense
of community, minimizing the
potential for isolation.
Existing materials may require
redesign for new environment,
however, a lack of awareness
of the potential for technology
can limit possibilities for
learning so this needs to be
taken into consideration
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Type of distance learning Key Features Issues to consider
Online only All resources, activities,
readings and overviews are
made available online.
Clear instruction in course
materials is vital since there is
no other means of
communication. Not all online
material needs to be prepared
by the institution, but links
need to be checked for
copyright purposes.
Other issues apply as with
Blended learning above.
NTU Guidance
With regard to all the different types of delivery above, you should consult the Academic
Standards and Quality Committee’s “Operational Notes on the Approval, Monitoring and Review
of Flexible and Distributed Learning” if you are delivering a new course.
Design and Content
When developing a distance learning programme or module, you need to consider the design of
the module or the programme in relation to the learning outcomes and the assessment. In
particular, you may wish to consider the following:
The rationale: your reasons for delivering the module or programme at a distance
The learning and teaching strategies, often referred to the pedagogic approach
The type of activities you want to construct
The resources you want to embed
The type of communication you want to employ, e.g. discussion forum, e-mail, face-to-
face, phone
Try to align your activities to your learning outcomes and the assessment. You may also find it
useful to map out your modules using a template, like the one below.
Module title:
Learning outcomes (LO):
Pedagogic approach/learning and teaching strategies:
Learning hours:
Week Theme/topic LO Content Activities Resources Tools Tutor
interaction
e.g. Subject
overview and
tasks
e.g.
student to
read
overview,
access
resources
&
contribute
to the
discussion
forum
e.g. web
sites;
texts
e.g.
discussion
forum
e.g. via
the
content &
feedback
via the
discussion
forum
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Tools for planning learning delivery
Cloudworks – shared learning and teaching ideas as well as learning designs:
http://cloudworks.open.ac.uk/
London Pedagogy Planner – includes downloadable planner for online courses:
http://www.wle.org.uk/d4l/index.php
Phoebe Pedagogic Planner, University of Oxford – references, resources and downloadable
materials for learning design:
http://phoebe-app.conted.ox.ac.uk/
Useful references:
JISC Effective practice with e-learning: http://www.elearning.ac.uk/effprac/
Implementing the seven principles – Technology as Lever – Chickering and Ehrman
http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
Learning Materials at a Distance, Endean: http://www.materials.ac.uk/guides/distance.asp
Existing and new resources
When planning the design and delivery of your course, it is worth making an audit of what
content you already have, together with its format, and to make a list of what needs to be
created. Be aware that materials used for distance learning purposes need to be written in a
different style to traditional course materials. A distance learning course is not simply a face-to-
face course repackaged and delivered to students. You need to think how you are going to
engage, motivate and enrich the educational experience of students who may otherwise be
isolated in their learning.
Also, remember to consider what library resources you want to embed within your course and to
speak to your subject liaison librarian in good time. You may be able to repurpose digital and
multimedia content available on the web, but remember to check the copyright restrictions
attached to these. If there are restrictions and you want to directly embed a resource, ask the
copyright owner for permission but give yourself enough time to do so. Make sure you have a
back-up plan if permission is refused and do not make the success of your course dependent
upon these resources.
Copyright
You should deal with any copyright issues from the outset, bringing in a relevant member of
library staff as part of your course development process. The library provides extensive support
via its website (http://www.ntu.ac.uk/llr/help_support/copyright/index.html) and has a Copyright
Officer, Lisa Warburton who is able to offer advice on an individual or group basis. You may also
choose to have printed content digitised; this service is also available within the library. They will
also be able to offer advice on issues such as linking to external resources.
Assessment
Assessment should be an integrated part of the learning process and should be clearly related to
the course’s learning outcomes to ensure its relevance within the course. It can be a driver and
it is recommended that you clarify the details of all summative and formative course assessment
before you write the course content. It is used for a variety of reasons, including:
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• To pass or fail a student
• To diagnose students' strengths and weaknesses
• To provide feedback to students to improve their learning
• To help students to develop their skills for self-assessment
• To motivate students to provide them with feedback
• To provide a profile of what a student has learnt
• To grade rank a student
• To select for future courses
• To predict success in a future course
With regard to quizzes, questionnaires and electronic testing, some of the types of assessment
that tend to drive practice are:
• Post-tests: mastery of content on completion of a course
• Pre-tests: assess learners' readiness for instruction and exempt learners from studying
material they already know
• Remediation: test items can pinpoint knowledge that the learner lacks and branch to
additional material
• Adaptation: get a feel for a learners’ strength or weaknesses – could possibly lead to a
change in the programme
• Personalisation: can be used in combination with adaptation questions to create
programmes that offer individualised instruction – e.g. series of answers a series of
questions to build learner profiles
In addition, if you are expecting to anonymously mark student assignments, make sure you have
provided clear guidance on how to submit an assignment, and in what format. As well as letting
them know when they will receive the outcome of any such assessments.
Useful reference:
Academic Standards and Quality Handbook – Assessment Principles and Policy:
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/CASQ/policy/academic_standards/13832.pdf
Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes should describe exactly what knowledge students should have attained and
what they should be able to do by the end of the module. The University provides a Module
Specification http://www.ntu.ac.uk/CASQ/impl/Guidance_programme/11033.pdf. This
specification provides two areas for which you should relate your learning outcomes to:
• Knowledge and understanding
• Skills, qualities and attributes
CASQ also provides guidance on using Learning Outcomes to Design and Assess a course.
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/CASQ/impl/Guidance_programme/10989.pdf
In addition, the Higher Education Academy provides guidance on the purpose of Learning
Outcomes http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/1562.htm which may be useful. Be careful, however,
that your learning outcomes do not restrict the potential for breadth and depth of learning.
Emergent and unintended learning outcomes are desirable even if these cannot be explicitly
stated at the beginning of any course.
Students' Time
The course supporting material and module guides should provide details of the structure of the
course and the assessment timetable. Be aware of the amount of study time students should
give to a course in a week and remember to structure all tutor-directed and self-directed
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activities within this time limit. Be realistic about how much work you are expecting your
students to do in any given period and remember that time management is a critical issue for
students studying at a distance who are fitting learning around their other commitments.
Helping them to manage this by giving clear and achievable guidelines can help improve
retention rates.
Useful reference:
Student Support in Open Learning: Sustaining the process – discussion of some of the issues
mature, distance learning students face and how to accommodate these
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/132/212
Accessibility
When you are designing and delivering your content, you need to be mindful of anything that
may affect the accessibility of your content by your students. For example, do you have any
students who are dyslexic or are visually impaired? There are many issues that need addressing
in relation to making your content accessible; you may first want to start by considering the
following questions
• Can screen-reading software, e.g. JAWS, read the page content?
• Can the content be converted into a format that is more accessible?
• If you are using audio, have you provided a text transcript?
• If you are using a video, have you embedded subtitles or made a transcript available?
• If you are embedding images, have you provided adequate descriptions or, if in a web
page, used 'alt-text' or 'long description' descriptors?
• Is it possible for all students to undertake the course assessment(s)?
Useful reference:
TechDis is an educational advisory service that works in the field of accessibility and inclusion
and is funded by the JISC. It provides access to many useful resources that will help you design
and deliver accessible course content. In particular, you may find their online Accessibility in
learning toolkit helpful since it provides resources on many different accessibility scenarios with
advice tailored to those creating learning materials:
http://excellence.qia.org.uk/page.aspx?o=jisctechdis
Barrier-free: provides advice on barrier-free recruitment; also provides a checklist on web
accessibility
http://www.barrierfree-recruitment.com/access/checklist.htm
The Educational Development Unit can provide advice as well as the Library which has a web
page for students with disabilities:
http://ntu.ac.uk/llr/help_support/disability_support/index.html
Quality Assurance
When you have completed writing your course content, it is helpful if you can enlist an
individual(s) to quality assure it, especially if the content is being delivered online. Identify
individual(s) that have not been involved with the development of the course and get them to
read the content to make sure that it is clear and direct, as well as to check for any typographical
errors and broken links. Decide with the individual(s) how you would like feedback on this
process; for example, you may decide to develop a template.
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Example:
Section Page Error or clarification Correction date
Also, make sure that your support documentation is quality assured. You should quality assure
your content periodically, for example before the next run of the course, as link addresses may
have changed, as well as activity details and supporting documentation.
Useful reference:
Criteria for evaluating online courses – Clayton R. Wright
http://www.imd.macewan.ca/imd/content.php?contentid=36
Support
Staffing
Developing a distance learning course is time and resource-intensive. It is best to take a project-
managed approach, whereby you outline the tasks that need to be completed in order to
effectively deliver the course against a timeline. The successful delivery of the course will also be
influenced by the size of the project team and the skills they have. It is difficult for one person to
take sole responsibility, so it is useful if you can co-ordinate a multi-disciplinary team in which
individuals are assigned roles and responsibilities. This should ideally include staff from a range
of areas, including teaching staff, administrators, educational developers, technicians, librarians
etc. However, you will need to get them on board at the very beginning so that individuals can
plan ahead and fit the project around their other commitments.
Staff development
When you are considering running a distance learning course, you need to consider the staff
development needs of your project team. What prior experience do you or your staff have of the
design, delivery and support of distance learning courses? This will obviously vary from team to
team, and the mode of delivery will also influence this, for example, the skill set for delivering a
distance learning course in print will be different to delivering it online. The Educational
Development Unit will be able to provide advice on this. Remember that you need to integrate
staff development within the planning of your course so that staff development is timely.
Guide and schedules
It is important that your students are given the time to orientate themselves within their course,
that they are aware of the order of tasks and activities, together with deadlines for completion.
This can be documented in the supporting materials that you supply, such as the module
handbooks. A separate calendar is also helpful. You could also decide to provide timely
reminders via the communication tools in NOW, e-mail or SMS text.
Student support
It is important for you to be clear about the kind of support you will provide for your students
and what methods you will be using. This will help to manage your students’ expectations. For
example, state at the start of the course how soon you will respond to an e-mail, how often you
will check messages in any discussion forums, if you are sharing your telephone number, when
you will be available to take calls. You should try to avoid giving students the impression that
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you are available 24/7 - remember that you have a life as well. Also, try to give some guidance
on when to use e-mail, when to use a discussion forum and when to use the telephone to obtain
support. For example, providing discussion forums for technical and social support may help you
to manage your work. Instead of responding to each student individually via e-mail about the
same issue or problem, a discussion forum will help you to respond to all your students at once.
You may also find that students will use the same approach to support one another. Also,
remember to state in the course documentation the contact details for the various University-
wide student support services.
Evaluation
Last and by no means least, after the completion of a run of a course, it is helpful to have it
evaluated. It can be evaluated in two ways. The first way is by the course development team.
The team can reflect on the processes implemented to create the course, together with how
successful the running of the course was, and the support provided by the tutor. The second way
the course can be evaluated is by the students. This should not be too onerous an activity, as
students will be expected to do this on top of their learning activities. Students can evaluate the
course content as well as the support their tutors provided. There is a considerable amount of
research available on the evaluation of courses and online courses. The following references may
help you.
Useful references:
CLPD Evaluation and Survey Service – University of Adelaide
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/clpd/evaluation/eval_online.html
Evaluation Cookbook – LDI Scottish Higher Education Funding Council
http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/cookbook/contents.html#endhead
But what did we learn? Evaluation online learning as a process
http://www.online-learning.com/papers/articlelearn.html
Student focused evaluation of elearning activities – Karen Fill
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/143724.htm
