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Multimedia Presentations Workshop

KNOWLEDGE SHARING THROUGH ELECTRONIC COURSE DELIVERY

4.CASESTUDY-ECD AND DISTRIBUTED PERFORMANCE SUPPORT

The basic principle underlying electronic course delivery requires that teaching and learning resources (and other related study-support materials) are made easily accessible (in a global way) in electronic form. This implies that such resources can be made available both to local, campus-based students as well as to distant learners - that might be located virtually anywhere in the world. Our approach to the implementation of ECD therefore depends upon the application of EPSS techniques to the teaching, learning and administrative processes that take place within the organisational units that constitute our university environment. The initial step in realising this objective therefore involves conducting detailed needs analyses within the various departments and schools that make up the university infrastructure (Barker et al, 1995a; 1995b; Beacharn, 1996). The results of these needs analyses are then used to identify (for each organisational unit) those issues which are of most concern to students, teaching staff and administrators with respect to the creation of supportive computer- based learning and teaching environments. Each organisational unit is thus able to identify its priorities and integrate these into the overall developments that are taking place within an institution- wide development portfolio.

For many departments, the most urgent requirements are: (I) the conversion of lecture courses into electronic form through the more widespread use of electronic lecturing techniques (Barker, 1996); (2) the augmentation and enhancement of electronic lectures (using multimedia and hypermedia methods) in order to convert them into stand-alone, self-study resources; (3) the effective use of electronic communication facilities (such as email, computer conferencing, bulletin boards and World-Wide Web pages) in order to support more effective interchange between staff and students; (4) the use of electronic publishing techniques (based upon digital media) as a means of making information and knowledge more accessible and current (Tan, 1996); and (5) the realisation of automated (computer- based) 'on demand' assessment and remediation procedures that are driven by staff, student and organisational needs.

Fundamental to the use of EPSS within ECD is the application of a number of different models, principles and guidelines which specify how performance support techniques should best be used to realise organisational objectives (Banerji, 1995). The basic models that we employ therefore include: (I) a four-layer architectural model for creating electronic performance support systems (Barker and Banerji, 1995); (2) a model for describing the role of multimedia within an EPSS (Barker and Hudson, 1996); and (3) a model that describes how a distributed performance support system (DPSS) can be created within a complex institutional setting in order to implement organisational change (Beacham, 1996). Currently, we are using these models to create an institutional infrastructure that will support the co-operative delivery of modular courses from within the different schools that make up a higher education (university) establishment. We anticipate that this work will lead us towards the formulation of further guidelines and models that will be useful for creating 'enterprise support systems' that can be tailored to the needs of individual organisations within the framework of a 'Learning Society'.

5. CONCLUSION

Electronic course delivery represents a major step forward with respect to the realisation of more effective and more efficient access to education through knowledge sharing. However, if this approach is to be successful it requires both inter-departmental co-operation and collaboration and an institutional commitment to the use of computer-based technology for the realisation of teaching and learning activities. It also requires a solid foundation and a supportive framework within which to develop and integrate pedagogic and administrative resources. When implementing our ECD mechanisms, we have found that the use of electronic performance support techniques provides a valuable foundation upon which to develop, maintain and deliver teaching and learning materials.

6. REFERENCES

Banerji, A., (1995). Designing Electronic Performance Support Systems, PhD Thesis, University of Teesside, Cleveland, UK.

Barker, P.G., (1994). Electronic Libraries - Visions of the Future, The Electronic Library, 12(4), 221- 229.

Barker, P.G., (1996). Tools to Support Electronic Lectures, to appear in Aspects of Educational Technology - Volume XXIX: Implementing Flexible Learning, edited by C. Bell and A. Trott, Kogan Page, London.

Barker, P.G. and Banerji, A.K., (1995). Designing Electronic Performance Support Systems, Innovations in Education and Training International, 32(1), 4-12.

Barker, P.G., Banerji, A.K., Richards, S. and Tan, C.M., (1995a). A Global Performance Support System for Students and Staff, Innovations in Education and Training International, 32(1), 35-44.

Barker, P.G., Beacham, N., Hudson, S. and Tan, C.M., (199Sb). Document Handling in an Electronic OASIS, The New Review of Document and Text Management, Volume 1, 1-17, Taylor Graharn, London.

Barker, P.G. and Hudson, S.R.G., (1996). Towards a Model of Multimedia Performance Support, Proceedings of 13th International Conference on Technology and Education, (in press), New Orleans. USA

Beacham, N., (1996). Distributed Performance Support Systems, Draft PhD Thesis, University of Teesside, Cleveland, UK.

Kolb, D.A., (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, Prentice-Hall, NJ, USA.

Race, P. (1994). How Real People Learn - Not What Educational Psychologists Think!, 11-18 in Aspects of Educational Technology - Volume: XXVII Designing for Learning: Effectiveness and Efficiency, edited by R. Hoey, Kogan Page, London, UK.

Richards, S.M. and Gavin, H., (1996). Models of Learning: From Theory to Practice, Proceedings of 13th International Conference on Technology and Education, (in pressl, New Orleans, USA.

Richards, S. and Nott, K., (1995). Learning Through Doing: Computer-Based Learning for Practical Psychology, 167-176 in Psychology Teaching Review, 4(2), British Psychological Society, Leicester, UK.

Stevens, G.H. and Stevens, E.F., (1995). Designing Electronic Performance Support Tools - Improving Workplace Performance with Hypertext, Hypermedia and Multimedia, Educational Technology Publications, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA.

Tan, C.M., (1996). Hypermedia Electronic Books, Draft PhD Thesis, University of Teesside, Cleveland. UK.

Wallas, G. (1926). The Art of Thought, Harcourt, New York, USA.

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