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Jamila Jacques

OMDE 608
Section: 9040
February 25, 2014
Assignment 1

Berge, Z.L. (1995). The role of the instructor/facilitator. E -Moderators.com. Retrieved


from http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/teach_online.htm

This article provides an overview of the instructor’s role in a computer conferencing

(CC) environment. The author identifies four roles that contribute to the success of

online learning which include pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical.

Descriptions of each role are provided; the author also goes a step further and provides

recommendations for each role that is supported by references and experiences. The

author considers pedagogical the most important role of the four, highlighting

instructional development and design as the most effective learning tool. This article is

direct, concentrating exactly on the instructor’s role. This article would be of interest for

learners and instructors in the distance education field. However, this would be an

effective guide to teach instructors how to function in a CC environment. This article is

support by 9 references and 30 additional readings.

Brindley, J.E. (1995). Learner services: Theory and practice. In Distansutbildning i


itveckling, Rapport nr. 11 (pp. 23-34). Umea, Sweden: University of Umea.
Retrieved from http://www.box.net/shared/8q4efbv2gt

This paper provides information on learner services in Open and Distance Learning

(ODL). Learner support services are needed to enhance the learning experience and the

quality of learning. This paper broadly defines learner services; however it gives focus to
the areas of building a theoretical framework, which is described as an important baseline

to build and keep learner services relevant at institutions. Strategies for building an

intervention model are also addressed for the purpose of providing guidelines for learner

services. This paper provides intervention models and 8 references. Instructors, students,

and distance education staff would benefit from reading this paper because it provides

detailed information on learner services.

Brindley, J. E., Walti, C., & Zawacki-Richter, O. (2004). The current context of learner
support in open, distance and online learning: An introduction. In J. E. Brindley,
C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open, distance and
online learning environments (pp. 9-27). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und
Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg. Retrieved from
http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

This chapter is an introduction to the present framework of learner support in Open,

Distance, and Online Learning (ODL). Learner support is defined as activities and

services that assist learners with meeting their learning goals and increase knowledge in

their course of study. The authors identify the various activities that are offered to

learners, which include tutoring, teaching, counseling, advising, and administrative. Each

activity is broken down into a more detailed description for the services that are

available. This chapter also discusses the Four Basic Forms of Media-Based Learning

and Teaching which are computer-based learning, online learning, e-learning, and

distance education. The Four Basic Forms are explained in this chapter with supporting

research that will help the reader. Lastly, this chapter provides an overview of each

chapter throughout the text including the author(s) name and the main points of

discussion. This chapter would be beneficial for those who are studying learner support
in ODL, institutions who would like to enhance their learner support services, and people

who have an overall interest in the contributing factors of distance education. Scholars in

the field of distance education collaboratively wrote this chapter and supporting evidence

was provided from 34 references.

George, L., & Frank, I. (2004). Beyond books - Library services to distance education
students. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner
support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 135-143).
Oldenburg: Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Retrieved from http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

This chapter focuses on library services for distance education learners. The author

addresses the need for library services in distance education, which assist with the

development of information literacy and critical thinking skills. The role of the librarian

is explained with supporting information. The teaching of information literacy is

discussed with examples of library resources from other institutions. The question of

whether or not Information literacy enhances the learner’s retention and educational

success is also addressed. This chapter provides 21 references and would be useful for

distance educators, online learners, and online support service designers.

Jocoy, C. & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in
detection and remediation. The International Review of Research in Open and
Distance Learning, 7(1). Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ806007

This journal article provides a comprehensive review of plagiarism by online learners.

The author provides the definition of plagiarism and identifies the different ways

plagiarism is done. Statistics of plagiarism acts are presented with supporting data of
how the acts are acknowledged. The author discusses ways to detect and prevent

plagiarism. This article also presents the finding of a case study that was conducted by

analyzing 429 assignments in the study of geography. Additional findings were

conducted and researched for plagiarism among adult learners and copy-and-paste

plagiarism. This article provides 41 references and 3 tables summarizing the findings of

data on plagiarism and would be of interest to anyone that works in the education field

and learners.

Johnson, M. (2004). Enhancing study skills: Developing self-help materials for distance
learners. In J. E. Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner
support in open, distance and online learning environments (pp. 117-124).
Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg.
Retrieved from http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

This chapter identifies the study skills needed to be effective online learners. The author

addresses the inclusion of support services in the area of providing additional learning

materials aside from the standard course materials. The Student Toolkit Project

developed by the UK Open University (OUUK) was discussed in detail with background

history and study findings. The author explains the purpose of the Student Toolkit

Project as “generic study skills materials”, which are available to learners for free. This

chapter provides 10 references and would be of interest to learners at the OUUK and

distance educators that specialize in student support services.


LaPadula, M. (2003). A comprehensive look at online student support services. American
Journal of Distance Education, 17(2), 119-128.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15389286AJDE1702_4

This journal article provides a general review of a study that was conducted at the New

York Institute of Technology on online student support services for distance learners.

This study allowed 63 women and 29 men who were in the online program to share how

satisfied they were with the current student support services they receive. The result of

this study is identified and broken down into 10 categories. The author provides a clear

and detailed definition of student support and student services. A comprehensive look

into the New York Institute of Technology on-site student services is listed and a

comparison to the online program are discussed. The author provides additional

supporting information on student support services from various institutions of what

services they offer. From the author findings they were separated into three categories

academic advising/career counseling, personal/mental health counseling, and services

that promote a sense of community, which are explained with supporting research. The

author believes that this journal can contribute great success in the areas of conducting

research, teaching, and for private study purposes.

Naidu, S. (2004). Supporting learning with creative instructional designs. In J. E.


Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open,
distance and online learning environments (pp. 109-116). Oldenburg:
Bibliotheks-und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg. Retrieved from
http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

This chapter discusses the creative support that learners need in the online environment to

heighten the value of there learning experience. The author expresses how creative
instructional design is considered an effective learning and teaching strategy for

providing learner support. The author opens the chapter by directly focusing on “Support

Learning”, and listing all the technologies that are used to support student learning. The

author provides an explanation of the term “learning scaffold” which is further explained,

as the information acquired through the learning process will not be forgotten, even when

the learner is removed from the learning environment. The chapter identifies and

describes cognitive approaches that are needed to make learning more effective which

include story-centered learning, problem-based learning, critical incident-based learning,

design-based learning, and role play-based learning. This chapter would be most

beneficial to distance education staff that work in the area of instructional design,

instructor, and tutor. This chapter is full of credible information from 27 references.

Rekkedal, T. (2004). Internet based e-learning, pedagogy and support systems. In J. E.


Brindley, C. Walti, & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Learner support in open,
distance and online learning environments (pp. 71-93). Oldenburg: Bibliotheks-
und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg. Retrieved from
http://www.mde.uni-oldenburg.de/40574.html

This chapter provides an analysis of student support services through Internet based e-

learning and support systems. The author provides supporting evidence as to why this

would allow learners to have a complete educational experience and identifies the

contributing factors, which include high quality systems for distribution, presentation of

content, and several forms of communication. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss

how technology is evolving the conventional distance education environment into an

environment that produces higher quality student support services through Internet based

e-learning. This chapter provides a comprehensive breakdown of distance teaching and


learning, autonomy, industrialization of teaching, guided didactic conversation,

continuity of concern, cooperative learning, and constructivism. Different models are

shown throughout the chapter that provides a visual understanding of the different

elements discussed. This chapter provides 47 references of supporting information.

Learners and distance educators specifically who specializes in support services would

benefit from reading this chapter.

Shea, P., & Armitage, S. (2003). Beyond the administrative core: Creating web-based
student services for online learners. Resources. Guidelines.WCET - the Western
Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications. Retrieved from
http://www.wcet.info/ services/studentservices/beyond/index.asp

This document shows the outcome of a project that provided student services for online
learners in a web-based environment. The U.S Department of education funded this
project from January 2000 to March 2003. This project consisted of developing web-
based student services from three universities, which include Kansas State University,
Kapi’olani Community College, and Regis University, and SCT. This document
provides the entire background of the project that includes the structure of the project, the
partner resources, guidelines, webcast series, and consulting services. This document
contains several references and diagrams to support the data findings. Institutions that
want to implement web-based student services would find this document extremely
useful.

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