Roger: thanks for your email. It's nice to get a bit of supportive
reassurance on a Monday morning!
In response to your queries:
a)	We have 3 student-based evaluation modes: 1) An informal
"face-to-face" chat with student group when they are onsite for our weekend
workshops. This tends to focus on how folks are dealing with the social /
domestic negotiations for learning time etc, learning / teaching issues
(such as the quality of resources) and technical issues (such as logging on,
site matters etc.). 2) Each module has a formal (paper-based) student
evaluation which considers traditional quality items such as pace of
learning/teaching, resource availability, suitability of assessments etc..
3) There is an ongoing online discussion of matters arising. 
b)	Module leaders compile a summary of student evaluations plus their
own thoughts and submit these to our Quality Assurance Director. This is
then scrutinised by the Programme Board and our Professional Monitors to
ensure that the standard, kind and content comply with internal audit
standards and Professional / Statutory Requirements.
c)	Each year I produce a composite written report based on all this
material and congruent with the QAA Distance Learning guidelines. 
d)	Participant feedback is generally very good. Some folks have initial
problems becoming acquainted with IT skills (such as word processing,
logging on to the Internet, accessing online resources and participating in
the live (synchronous) chats). With practice, resolution is achieved
typically about week 6 or 7, at which point almost everyone feels reasonably
comfortable with the medium. To facilitate this, we actively encourage
students to contribute to our online "Student Café" and to share material
they have discovered in library searches. We also have a Technical Help Desk
online. Online tutorials are fairly informal ("all contributions welcome")
and there is no need for students to be concerned about presentation issues
such as spelling and grammar because each tutorial chat script is edited
(and spell checked) before it is displayed on the site permanently.
e)	Students generally enjoy the sense of "learning community" which we
actively stimulate throughout the programme. We try to minimise the
"transactional distance" by addressing people individually during "chats",
offering one-to-one support and academic guidance in a fairly informal
manner, and attempting to build up a common group purpose / goals for each
learning event. As far as we can we aim to empower students and place great
emphasis on adult-ness and responsibility for one's own learning. To most of
our students this is really quite revolutionary ... they (generally) have
been to used to the spoon-fed / didactic approach stereotypically associated
with Nurse Education (and much of mainstream HE too).
f)	Bits which folks like least? The sense of isolation and aloneness at
the beginning of the course. We combat this by having an onsite induction
week. The syllabus focuses on IT and self-management skills, but the hidden
curriculum is very much about developing group cohesion, maintaining
self-esteem and building sound cohort relationships. Of course, people don't
like doing the written assignments! We try to counter this by making the
essays as reality-focused as possible. We deliberately avoid the more
esoteric aspects of nursing (while maintaining an evidence-research-based
core). Our overall approach is to encourage the student to see the
assignments as focused learning opportunities, but we all know that academic
hurdles are not always attractive !

Unfortunately, for technical reasons I can't allow you access to our site.
What I can tell you is that it is powered by First Class*, password
protected, with student access via First Class Client 5.506. If you want I
will send you snapshots as a PowerPoint 97 presentation (tho' not to the
list as an attachment or they'll skin me alive!).

Regards

Terry Corcoran
Co-ordinator: Additional First Level Registration (Mental Health Nursing)
Glasgow Caledonian University

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Roger OTTEWILL(SBF) [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
		Sent:	21 October 2000 13:44
		To:	[log in to unmask]
		Cc:	[log in to unmask]
		Subject:	Re: Transition to HE

		Dear Terry

		I read your email of 13th October with great interest. The
distance learning
		programme for nurses at GCU sounds very impressive. In
response, I have a
		number of questions:-

		What methods do you use to evaluate the programme?

		What kind of feedback do you receive from participants?

		Which aspects of e-learning do they most enjoy and least
like?

		Is it possible to have access to the programme website? If
it is please could
		you let me have the address.

		Best wishes.

		Roger Ottewill
		Centre for Business Education Research
		Sheffield Hallam University


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%