How theoretical concepts of distance learning are accomplished through their teaching: Methodological Designs
Abstract
Theoretical concepts, such as communication, cooperation and interaction, between the members of a class contribute to the creation of a constructive learning environment. The contribution of these to distance learners is even more important as the geographical dispersion of the students and their lonely course to self-learning can exacerbate feelings of isolation, loneliness, uncertainty and insecurity. The main purpose of this article is to highlight, through the actual experiences of the postgraduate students of the course "Open and Distance Education" (EPA65) at Open University of Cyprus, how the above concepts can be realized into actions, through the objectives in the methodological approach, as well as the educational material of the course during the academic period 2016-2017. This article analyses through student experiences a. the student interaction with the educational material, b. the relationship between the teacher-consultant /coordinator of the course and the students, and c. the student relationships with one another, in correlation with the apparent learning outcomes. The emergence of the basic concepts in EPA65 through this case study aims, on one hand, to be an invitation that allows the reader to share this experience, and on the other hand, to propose innovative methodological designs that will shorten the distance and enhance student aspirations to an effective form of distance learning.
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