Abstract
AbstractThe potential of collaborative course design for promoting instructors’ professional development in relation to e-learning implementation and subsequent improvement of students’ academic outcomes has been widely reported. However, efforts to harness such potential in sub-Saharan Africa’s universities have been inadequate. In this study, collaborative course design was used to prepare instructors for e-learning course design and delivery. The impact of collaborative course design on instructors’ instructional practices and students’ academic outcomes was examined. Results showed that collaborative course design (i) contributed to instructors’ preparedness for course design and delivery using e-learning technologies and (ii) improved instructors’ instructional practice. On the part of students, results indicated that a majority of students were satisfied with their experience with the courses because e-learning delivery addressed the challenges of print-based delivery and had a positive impact on their academic outcomes.
Highlights
The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) is a distance education institution that has made a significant progress towards integration of e-learning for delivering its programs and courses
According to the instructors, such an opportunity contributed to their preparedness for using e-leaning technologies, as indicated by T12: I knew the challenges of delivering courses by study materials, but I never took time to think about them nor thought of using technologies
The results show that e-learning implementation had a statistically significant positive impact on the academic outcomes of students in all courses but 3, as indicated by the respective p values for the t-tests conducted
Summary
The Open University of Tanzania (OUT) is a distance education institution that has made a significant progress towards integration of e-learning for delivering its programs and courses. When it started in the 1990s, OUT used postal services and its own transportation to reach students in regional centres at the beginning of the academic year. Studies have shown that e-learning technologies have the potential to (i) enrich delivery of courses and learning resources (Bates, 2000; Pena-Bandalaria, 2007), (ii) facilitate access to learning resources, (iii) alleviate feelings of disconnectedness by improving interactions between instructors and students (Fozdar & Kumar, 2007; Ludwig-Hardman & Dunlap, 2003; Thomas & Carswell, 2002 and (iv) provide feedback and support to students (Ludwig-Hardman & Dunlap, 2003; Pena-Bandalaria, 2007). Communication skills for IT∗ Computer ethics and cultural implications∗∗ Information systems planning and management∗∗ Introduction to computer security∗ Introduction to microcomputer applications I∗∗ Introduction to numerical methods
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