The elearning professional
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| End-of-course assessment | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown.
Summary
This course is for professionals in post-school education and training who want to understand current practices in elearning and the assessment of professional development. You will explore principles underlying these practices, and evaluate online applications that support them. You will work with web-based course materials, discussion forums, blogs and wikis. You will complete a professional development portfolio of your own using an application of your choice. All course materials, assessments, support and communications with your tutor will be online. You will work independently supported by your tutor, but you will also engage in online group activities which contribute to your assessment.
This course is available throughout the world.
Course content
H808 attracts students from across the globe, who bring their varied experiences of education and enthusiasm for elearning to the course.
During your studies, you’ll examine debates about professionalism in elearning practice and appraise the usefulness of tools for personal and professional development. You will consider differing perspectives about the use of eportfolios and assess the advantages and limitations of eportfolio creation. You will build an example eportfolio for yourself to provide evidence of your own competencies. This can be used in your own professional development, and also help you understand the role portfolios might play for those you teach or support. Course activities provide many opportunities for you to relate what you learn while taking the course to your own context of practice.
If you take this course as the last course in your MA studies you will be able to consolidate your learning from the whole programme through this activity. If you take it earlier in your studies you will be able to use the tools it introduces on other courses. The course will also be useful if you only want to develop skills and competences related to communication, practice, research and technologies in elearning, and don’t wish to pursue the whole MA Programme of study.
Entry
To take this course you must have adequate preparation for study at this level, usually demonstrated by a UK degree or an equivalent qualification. You must also be capable of communicating via the online forums. All teaching is in English and your proficiency in the English language should be adequate for postgraduate study. We strongly recommend that you can achieve the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of at least seven. To assess your English Language skills in relation to your proposed studies, you can visit the IELTS website, or a practice site such as Churchill House, or contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service. Although experience of distance education may be an advantage in studying our courses, it’s not essential. Nor do you need to be employed in an institution that uses or plans to use online and distance education. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
Although this is optional, you might find it useful preparation to familiarise yourself with some of the type of social software that are used on this course such as online discussion forums, wikis and blogs.
Qualifications
H808 is an optional course in our
- Postgraduate Certificate in Online and Distance Education (C23)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Online and Distance Education (D36)
- MA in Online and Distance Education (F10)
Some postgraduate qualifications allow study to be chosen from other subject areas. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
In this course you are expected to use a wide range of resources and to study emerging online technology. Most of these will be delivered as web pages, PDF files and web-based tools. We have tried to avoid using inaccessible resources, but some material which is core for the course may not be easily accessible for assistive technology users.
Written transcripts are available for any audio-visual material. Some students find the amount of reading from technically different sources challenging. In many cases there will be sufficient alternative activities and material to complete assignments successfully. Where this is not the case, you will be given individual support by your tutor, in collaboration with other OU staff. Support for access to Library resources is available from the Library’s Learner Helpdesk. It is your responsibility to make your particular needs known to the University.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability. Please contact us for advice if you have concerns about taking this course, or the support that could be provided.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
For courses which study the use of emerging online tools, and those which use Lyceum for audio conferencing, you may find the services of a non-medical helper will be beneficial. Advice on this is available from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Course materials
What's included
Course website, online study guides, internet resources, learning activities (individual and in small groups), Open University online forums, blog and wiki tools,
You will need
This course involves the creation and uploading of sound files, so a microphone is required and a broadband connection is recommended.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you cannot use an Apple Mac or Linux computer unless it is running Windows using Boot Camp or similar.
You will need a headset with a microphone and earphones to talk to your tutor and other students online during some of the course activities.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will guide you on many aspects of the course and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. You will be taught and assessed through a combination of media, including email, online forums and the internet. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You will be expected to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) online through the eTMA system unless there are some difficulties which prevent you from doing so. In these circumstances, you must negotiate with your tutor to get their agreement to submit your assignment on paper.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in September 2010. We expect it to be available once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
A postgraduate course in Education.
Study explained
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- Study explained
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Student Reviews
The online prospectus gives course content, but does not specify learning objectives or outcomes. Given the title, I expected to ...
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Overall this was an excellent course but boy oh boy is it intense! The underlying technology wasn't perfect but the ...
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