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The Challenges to distance education in technical and vocational Education in the Caribbean: The case of the special diploma in teacher training at the University of Technology, Jamaica Anita Thomas-James, UTech Abstract
In the 1990s concerns about the low status of Technical Vocational Education
(TVE) At a meeting administered by COL and CARICOM in 1992 participants had initial
discussions about developing a Core curriculum for the training of TVE teachers.
Other early participants in the discussions were the Regional Training Council
on TVET and the International Labor Organisation. The major objective of this
workshop was A significant consequence of the meeting was the development of an action plan to address the pedagogical needs of TVE teachers at four levels identified in the Caribbean: pre-vocational courses in secondary schools, apprentice and vocational area courses, diploma and technician level courses and degree level professional level courses. There was acknowledgement that upgrading of TVE teachers should occur in both content and teaching skills, however the complexity of offering a single programme which provided specialized training and pedagogical training through distance education would be too problematic to develop in a short time. Moreover, there were some institutions already offering programmes in the various technical and vocation areas. Initially the programme would provide pedagogical skills only, working on the assumption that students have already acquired their content qualification. Although the diploma focuses exclusively on pedagogy, it will still address an important need since all teachers in all subject areas will require pedagogical skills to perform effectively.
CORE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Having established the competencies for the Core Curriculum the eleven modules
which emerged were contracted to recognized curriculum writers in the commonwealth.
This was a daunting task to prepare curriculum materials for such a diverse
target group. Without surprise, the result was inconsistency in the standard
of the first draft. The pilot of the material was done incrementally by units
and so the unevenness of the material was not detected in the initial evaluation
of the material. ESTABLISHING PARTNERSHIP COL decided to address the need for an institutional partnership in1999 when
they approached UTech and enquired if it would manage the pilot offer this Core
curriculum for untrained technical educational teachers in the Caribbean. In
addition to the COL and UTech, the other partners are Faculty of Educational
and Liberal Studies and National tertiary institutions in the participating
countries. The Role Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies (FELS ) at Utech Although the FELS had phased out its under-graduate diploma, it embraced the challenge to offer this programme as it was seen as an opportunity to launch distance education in the Faculty and further extend its influence in the Caribbean. Lecturers in the faculty had the task of reviewing the modules and units with the major objective of aligning learning outcomes and content with the pedagogical skills offered in the under-graduate diploma programme. To enhance students learning, the curriculum and learning materials had to be adapted for the Caribbean experience. This was a huge undertaking for lecturers who already carried a full workload. However, this was an opportunity for acquiring new skills in writing material for distance education programme. Despite the enthusiasm for the project there was a delay in meeting the stated deadlines. Enough time was not scheduled for editing and completing of the twelve modules and forty-four units `in the programme. After the implementation of the programme, FELS takes responsibility for the moderation of student achievement on an on-going basis and will participate in the assessment of the Teaching Practice Exercise, maintaining standard and quality assurance for the programme. Each of the twelve modules has a FELS advisor available via e-mail and telephone conference call to assist with any problems raised by the in-country tutors and their students.
Selecting an award for the Diploma The title for the diploma was an agenda item at the Regional Steering Committee meeting in Jamaica. UTech required a clear distinction between the new diploma which offered forty credits of only pedagogical courses and the regular teaching diploma which had more than twice the number of credits with a content specialization component. Eventually UTech decided to name the award -The Special Diploma in Teaching (In-service) This Special Diploma programme provides an excellent opportunity for the participants who have come from industry/ work place with the required qualifications and demonstrable skills in their content area to acquire the pedagogical skills. The fact that they will be able to conduct action research and test these skills as the progress can only serve to enhance their professionalism and the status of TVE in the region. Unique Regional Administrative Arrangements The Special Diploma programme is currently being offered under franchise between UTech and Clarence Fitzroy-Bryant College in St.Kitts; the Ministry of Education in the Bahamas and the T.M. Marryshow College in Grenada. Under this agreement each institution implements the programme to meet the standards and guidelines established by UTech. The students are registered as UTech students but have face-to-face sessions with in-country tutors who provide assistance with the learning materials and conduct the assessments. From the beginning of the project a participatory design in decision making was established so there is in-put from Regional Steering Committee members in each of the participating states and COL. UTech provides assistance to module tutors in the participating states, enables access to the library for students in the programme and ensures quality assurance for the award. Articulation Arrangement Under a franchise agreement with the participating states, The Special Diploma in Technical and Vocational Education Teaching may enable graduates to articulate into UTech’s Bachelor of Education degree. However, the diploma has fewer credits than UTech’s normal diploma which would contain the content specialization areas. Participants enter the diploma with varying entry qualifications, experience, academic and technical competence therefore articulation into UTech’s B. Ed. degree will require assessment of prior learning on an individual basis and may require that prospective students undertake some bridging courses depending on their academic and professional qualifications. Choice of Technology to Support the Programme The Core Curriculum and the associated learning materials are text-based intended to be used as hard copies in the distance programme. Although this is an old technology the prevailing conditions in the Caribbean states dictate that this would be an efficient and economical way to offer the programme in the shortest possible time to the target group. By the time the programme was taken over by UTech nine years had elapsed. More time would have been required to develop an online version of the programme. Moreover, students have limited access to computers in the Caribbean. Where access is available on-line costs are extremely high for connectivity. Telephone lines costs are charged per minute along with internet service costs which make online learning prohibitive for the majority of students. Having the learning materials for forty four units in text means several hundred pages of paper to be circulated to relevant stakeholders. Consequently, UTech and COL decided to circulate the material on CD-ROM. The CD- ROM technology considerably reduce the circulation costs for UTech but resulted in increased costs which were not even factored into the budgets of the participating states. In the Bahamas some students were given the learning materials on CD as those who did not have personal computers could access this at the Ministry of Education Resource Centre. The pilot makes adequate use of email and the telephone which reduces considerably the need for face-to-face meetings and on site visits. COL has facilitated the establishment of e list servers. The first list server enabled members of the Regional Steering Committee who have email access to communicate on issues relating to the offering of the Special Diploma. For those members without email access messages which are posted on the list serve are sent by fax. Three other list servers have been created, one for tutors, country coordinators in the Bahamas, St.Kitts and Grenada to communicate with the administrators of the programme at UTech. The other list serve is used in the Bahamas in the delivery of the programme. Some module tutors have used this list serv extensively to provide general information to students, post grades and offer support to students. MSN Messenger/Chat Room
Cost: It is interesting to note that, there is an expressed need for the programme in Jamaica as well, but the cost has been prohibitive. The Bahamas pays the entire cost of the programme for their students while in St Kitts and Nevis participants are asked to pay for fifty-percent of UTech’s administrative costs. Cabinet intervention was required in St. Kitts to approve the expenditure on the programme. Members of the regional Steering Committee recognize this cost challenge and sought alternative means of funding the programme. One initiative so far was to submit a proposal for funding from the Caribbean Development Bank through the Association of Caribbean Chief Education Ministers.
Failure to recognize that distance students need to have access to the same support services as internal on campus students, although available in a different format was a grave oversight on the part of the implementers of the first two pilots. Communication The level of activity between the Tutors (in the States) and the Module Advisors at UTech in the first two pilots (Bahamas and St. Kitts) was not very high for a number of reasons. The names and contacts of the Module Advisors for each of the modules were provided to the Country Co-ordinators, but when problems arise, the Country Co-ordinators seem to prefer to contact the administrators of the programme at UTech and COL. The module advisors at UTech still had their full teaching schedules which often clashed with time scheduled for meetings with tutors. The most significant explanation for decrease activity was that tutors in the states were highly qualified experienced teachers who would not have encountered content or delivery problems for which they would have sought assistance. The level of activity increased with the Grenada Cohort since it was realized that the programme needed to be monitored much more closely by UTech and that “nothing” should be taken for granted in a distance programme. This monitoring is done mainly through emails and telephone and increase reporting schedules. The value of this monitoring is seen in the completion schedules of Grenada who are on target with their planned schedule.
Time When the pilots were analyzed we found that time one was of the strongest challenges. Time for administration, student support and learning materials were always issues for discussions at all levels of the programme. Students – The negotiated time release from work were not always respected by the administrators of the schools and so participants (in-service teachers) were not always able to attend the group face-to-face meetings with the tutors since the schools timetabled them to teach during the scheduled released days. The timelines for completion of units and modules were not adhered to by students since they perceived “open and flexible” learning to mean anytime. This was a serious misunderstanding with some students/ Administrators - Country Coordinators were not granted released time to coordinate this programme. They therefore had to manage the demands of the programme along with their regular work loads without further compensation in some cases. The tutors seemed also not to get the time to grade the students work and give prompt feedback Learning Materials - To complete the diploma in two years by distance seemed achievable initially. However, from all reports it seem as though more time was needed for the completion of the diploma by distance for the in-service teachers. This again is questioned since students engage in similar distance programmes in the region are able to complete a first degree in two years by distance. Feedback Feedback and turnaround time became a real challenge for one pilot. In order for the feedback to be used by the student in an optimal way to improve their performance, students need to receive it in time. This was a major setback for the students in one pilot where the assignments were not processed. Because formal contracts were not drawn up for tutors students did not receive appropriate feedback and tutors apparently did not treat this as an important part of their responsibility. Although UTech called for reports several times and were promised reports which came very late, the state of the programme in one pilot became grave concerned when UTech personnel visited the programme.
From all reports the Learning Materials are meeting the pedagogical needs for TVET in the Region. The Learning ”package” which includes print, CD, videotapes, audiotapes and interactive computer are well managed and appropriate. However, video conferencing and audio conferencing can enhance the learning process. Converting the learning materials to online material is now the challenge that the programme is facing. Geographic Location The unique geography of the islands of the Bahamas and Grenada posed some serious constraints to the model that was used. Participants in the Bahamas pilot were located on five islands: New Providence, Grand Bahama, Cat Island, Abaco and Eleuthera. Grenada also has students located on Carriacou. This presented challenges for the face-to-face meetings for these students who were supposed to meet at schedule times with tutors. In the case of Grenada the students got the time off from work but couldn’t afford the high cost of transport to the mainland. Technology therefore had to be used to communicate with these students so that they can get the much needed learner support from the tutors. Faculty Preparation for Distance Learning Success LESSONS LEARNT: THE WAY FORWARD By all standards the development of this programme was too long which necessitated so many revisions in the process. In the future a more systematic approach to the process is required which will consider all the major elements with a more coordinated effort. Many issues have arisen regarding this programme. In many respects sobering
reminders of the challenges and complexities associated with the adoption and
diffusion of new technologies and instructional modes are highlighted. We have
seen how the challenges of the first two pilots became lesser of a challenge
in the third pilot after problems were minimized and adjustments were made.
Proper orientation, communication and monitoring of the programme must be maintained.
The conversion of the learning material to online should offer more options. |