Abstract
This research paper discusses the accomplishments, issues, and challenges experienced by Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) academics when offering the first cross-border professional development online course to train online tutors and mentors. The course was delivered exclusively online and facilitated by OUSL academics and e-mentors from the USA. The course was comprised of 30 participants: 9 from Pakistan, 10 from Mauritius and 11 from Sri Lanka. This qualitative study is based on reflections of both faculty and participants. Data were collected using reflections and informal anecdotal records of the three OUSL academics and self-reflection instruments (pre, mid and final) administered to participants, and reflective journal entries made by participants. Participants’ views were triangulated with the reflections of the OUSL academics to validate the results. While there were many accomplishments in the design and delivery of the course, the findings revealed that there were many challenges in implementing the course: pedagogical, organizational and technological aspects in particular. The paper provides recommendations to address such challenges when offering cross-border online courses in the future.
Highlights
Rapid developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provide greater access and flexibility to engage in education irrespective of physical location
There were 30 professionals enrolled in the cross-border online professional development course; 9 from Pakistan, from Mauritius and from Sri Lanka
All participants felt that the online comments received by peers helped them to learn (100%) and said they experienced a sense of togetherness with them (92%). These results indicate that the instructional design based on the Wisdom Communities (WisCom) model, along with the mentoring and facilitation by OUSL academics and e-mentors created a learning community among a diverse group of participants
Summary
Rapid developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provide greater access and flexibility to engage in education irrespective of physical location. Higher education institutions around the world have capitalized on this by securing eminent professionals to design and deliver online courses across countries and cultures. This context creates the need for professional development of academics who develop and offer online courses locally, regionally and internationally. The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) launched its first cross-border professional development online course in 2014 for the participants of three countries: Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Mauritius This was a novel initiative undertaken by the OUSL academics to offer a capacity building course to develop professional competency in tutoring online courses among academics across three countries. It was an innovative cross-border online course as it:
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