Self-learning, face to face tutorials and on-line learning.

 

I wondered, distance learning ? No classrooms, no lectures ? How am I going to get things done ? I soon realized all my worries were silly as I was provided with all the written materials, tutorials and online access to WOU student portal for my studies. All these materials are given to a distance learner so he or she can do self-learning.

I was given all these materials and access so that I can study on my own time. Self learning is good because I can managed my own study time and determine where can I study. For example I like to study and do research in the public library. I feel that the library is quiter than my home. The books and research materials are a lot. I can borrow the books there or take them home and return them after i’ve finished with my assignments. I can also use the regional office library to do the same. The titles are a bit limited so I have to be quick to borrow.

Completing my assignments is not enough. We must also read and understand our course material. Why ? Because I have final exams and they contribute if i’m not mistaken 50% to my total percentage. It is very crucial that I start reading early and cover all the material needed. As an avid reader, some books that I read tend to have information about the courses that i’m taking. For example books on business coaching. They have a lot of material on motivation and self starting. These books can help a lot on trying to explain certain subjects like group discussions (TMA1).

Our study manual has a lot of information on our course. It is our primary reference to our subject matter. We are given textbooks for certain courses but it is difficult to cover all the chapters given our busy schedule. After every topic our study manual has small activities that we need to go thorough in order for us to better grasp the subject matter in hand. These activities may need us answer questions or list down things that not included. The study manual we have is a good example on how self learning now is possible for me.

Other than the written materials, I have my face to face tutorials to help me during the course of study at WOU.

Tutorials the essential part of the distance learning experience. Tutorials in WOU are not lectures. We have a tutorial once a month and it is only for two hours. Don’t you think it’s a waste of time to be lectured the whole two hours?

As said instead of lectures, where the lecturer just churns out information on the subject matter, these tutorials are mainly for interacting with the tutor and other fellow students. It is a session where I can ask questions and clear doubts that i have. I can also explain to other students my understanding of the subject. This will also improve my command of the subject matter. What I mean is no matter how much you read, you definitely need someone to explain the concept. You need someone to explain so that your understanding will be correct. As distance learners it is vital for us to understand so that we can use the information learned in our jobs and businesses. Face to face tutorials are in other words, are a meeting of minds.

These tutorials are also the time to pass up our assignments. Certain courses require us to pass up manual instead of online. This maybe because it requires us to do lab experiments and write our findings with our own handwriting. Some tutors may give us short tests to do. This is too assess our understanding on the course. Not all of courses require this.

In these tutorials, the tutor can give us tips and guidance on how to do our assignments. He or she can highlight the points needed and where to find the research materials needed. After we have done with tutorial, we can go through the study manual again and try to intergrate the ideas, answers and suggestion that we have discussed. This will better enhanced the distance learning experience and motivate us to do better in WOU.

We are all busy with work and family. Now we decided to continue our studies. So sometimes we do miss tutorials and put off reading to spend more time at work and with our families. This is where online-learning can help us.

When we sign-up as wou student, we are given the student portal. When we login to this student portal, we will see our LMS, e-mail, Mylibrary and all other learning facilities. We have access to WOU‘s Learning Management System or LMS. All students need to be familiar with LMS because it is an important tool in our learning. On the LMS we can see the courses that we are enrolled in, announcements, students who are online. I can click on the course link to view my course page. Here I have access to all the study materials, forums and download assignments. I can even chat with fellow students !

As students we are given e-mail access. We can use this e-mail to communicate with our tutors and fellow students. The MyLibrary is actually our e-Library that we have can give access to many different books, journals, past examination papers, news clippings on e-format. We have also can message the wou_librarian to helps us with our search of materials. Of course if all else fails we have the internet to help us out.

You may be wondering, how does this help you as a student ? Let’s say I missed a tutorial. I can use my e-mail service that I have to contact the tutor on what was taught or given. He or she can give the details. I can also contact my fellow classmates about this. I can also use the forum to post questions on tutorials. On the course page each tutorial has it’s own forum. If I share my questions there, other students can also benefit. The tutor and the even the course coordinator can share study material such as powerpoint slides and microsoft word documents. This can be used for own reading.

I can also use the chat facility on the LMS to chat with other students in real-time. Other messenger services such as Yahoo, Msn and GoogleTalk can also be used for this purpose. We can have a virtual group discussion online. Some of us live far apart, this can be very beneficial.

As I mentioned, I like going to the library to study, but there certain titles that are maybe not available as hardcopy books. For example, there are journals, electronics articles and there are actually books which are exclusively published as electronic books. I can use the MyLibrary service that is provided to get these materials for my research on assignments and studies. There are links to e-journals, past examination papers and various other materials. Links to many online news portals such Malaysiakini and Wall Street Journal. User name and password are given to all students so that they can full access to the information.

In MyLibrary, we can search for hardcopy book titles to see if they are available. I can also have them delivered to me too. These facilities are very helpful to me as a student as I have access to them 24/7 days a week. So these these online-learning tools can help me catch up with the rest of the class and help me finish my assignments.

The combinations of the three study methods or modes in WOU can help a student like me to complete his degree in time. Self learning is very much needed because unlike traditional universities, WOU runs the open distance learning concept. We must be independent and make time to study. We must remember our goals and stick to our commitments. I have to rely on myself most of time.

The face to face tutorials are a place where the minds of students and tutors can interact to get the best out of the subject. It is where doubts are clarified and maybe new ideas are spawned. The online-learning facilities and the internet must be also be fully utilised for our learning purpose for without it ODL will not work. As all these modes I use in my studies, I also use them in my daily life, in my profession. Some things that we learn in school or in this case university can never be forgotten.

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