WELCOME MODULE

An Experience Focused on Familiarizing Students

with Distance Education Courses

Deniele Pereira Batista, José Antonio Aravena Reyes

Núcleo de Educação a Distância – Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Campus Universitário, Martelos, Juiz de Fora-MG, Brazil

Núbia Schaper Santos, Rosilãna Aparecida Diaz

Núcleo de Educação a Distância – Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

Campus Universitário, Martelos, Juiz de Fora-MG, Brazil

Faculdade Metodista Granbery, Rua Batista de Oliveira, nº1145, Granbery, Juiz de Fora-MG, Brazil

Keywords: Distance Education, Didactic Design, Online Activities, Student Autonomy.

Abstract: The Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), through its Distance Education Center (NEAD), has been

developing formative actions for students, teachers, tutors and center coordinators. Such initiative is part of

the Integrated Program for Institutional Formation 2008 from Brazil’s Open University System (UAB). This

text presents a fragment of such program: it focuses on the didactic-pedagogical experiences in the Welcome

Module. This module aims on familiarizing the students enrolled both in the undergraduate and graduate

(lato sensu) divisions with the particular aspects of distance education courses. The discussion foci are the

online activities: their pedagogical conception, conduction methods and student feedbacks. Finally, we

present some considerations in regards to such Welcome Module experience as well as its contribution to the

Distance Education (DE) scenario in Brazil. In this sense, we highlight the didactic design of the Welcome

Module, emphasizing the development of student autonomy, an ability which is essential for the continuity

and the success of an online course.

1 INTRODUCTION

Our days have been witnessing the emergence of the

fifth generation of Distance Education (DE), based

on deeper exploitation of new technologies (Taylor,

2001). According to Taylor (2001), historically, DE

operations evolved through the following four

generations: the first one was the Mail Model, based

on the printing technology; the second refers to the

Multimedia Model, and was based both on printing

and audiovisual technologies; the third one, the

Telelearning Model, deployed applications of the

telecommunication technologies which provided

opportunities for synchronic communication; and the

last one, the Flexible Learning Model, was based on

the online exchange of materials using the Internet.

Despite the fact of many universities are starting

to implement their fourth generation DE initiatives,

the fifth generation is already emerging. This last

generation is, in essence, derived from the fourth

and aims at taking more advantage of the resources

available on the Internet and on the Web,

specifically, on the Web 2.0.

Generally, universities deploy several strategies

in order to guide their students in online courses.

Research in the field has shown that a well-oriented

student function as a cue for broadening the

potential of the pedagogic plan in regards to both the

usage of the virtual learning environment and the

learning process by those who interact in such

environment (Palloff & Pratt, 2004).

Though it is no easy task to predict whether the

student will succeed in distance courses, a set of

broad guidelines and actions (provided by the course

program) directed to the development of the

competences needed by the students may increase

the probability of their success.

Aiming at promoting student’s success in a

distance course, a Welcome Module was elaborated

by the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF),

Pereira Batista D., Aravena Reyes J., Schaper Santos N. and Aparecida Diaz R. (2009).

WELCOME MODULE - An Experience Focused on Familiarizing Students with Distance Education Courses.

In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 86-91

DOI: 10.5220/0001977800860091

 SciTePress

Table 1: Broad objectives and competences to be developed in the Welcome Module.

Broad Objectives Competences to be developed

1. Develop the sense of

community.

Act as a collaborative member of the learning process which takes place inside the

collectivity; understand the sense of community, establishing a relation of belonging

with the institution; broaden the social network; establish kind and co-responsible

relations with the participants of the teaching-learning process; exert the right to

student representation.

2. Develop the ability to learn

distantly.

Be collaborative and participative in the learning environment; be autonomous in the

utilization of the environment for learning and knowledge socialization; develop

proactive attitude in the absence of external feedback; manage the space and time

available for a well-succeeded study; master study techniques for better incorporation

of knowledge; evaluate her own progress along the course (in regards to what was

learned); apply formality rules adequate to her role in the environment and to the

media used; communicate properly in the learning environment.

3. Reduce prejudice against

DE.

Understand what is DE; understand DE’s basic principles and perspectives concerning

the historical-conceptual, didactic-methodological and technological dimensions;

recognize the advances achieved by developed countries in education through the

deployment of “new” technologies.

4. Develop mastering in

computational tools used in the

DE courses from UFJF.

Get in touch with “new” educational technologies; interact with tools available at

Moodle virtual learning environment; be autonomous in the utilization of the

environment for learning and knowledge socialization; master Information and

Communication Technologies in order to improve learning; incorporate collaborative

construction environments as resources for the learning process.

5. Develop a collaborative

profile for participation in and

conduction of workgroups.

Communicate properly in the learning environment; use collaboration as a method for

learning; work in teams; apply principles of authorship pedagogy; be the author of

individual and collective productions.

through its Distance Education Center (NEAD). In

this paper, we describe this course’s objectives and

theoretical-methodological bases, as well as we

present some conclusions concerning its

implementation.

2 WELCOME MODULE:

OBJECTIVES AND

COMPETENCES

The Welcome Module was conceived as an

introductory discipline whose aim was to initiate the

student in this new educational scenario: the

Distance Education. It was structured as a strategy

which makes best practices in online learning

possible, given the necessity of the student to

understand and get used to the specific nature of

teaching and learning processes in DE.

The course was organized according to the

competence approach, which means that it

emphasizes the global development of the several

abilities recruited by the student in communication,

interaction, interpersonal relations, creativity,

intellectual production and so forth.

The concept of competence in which the course

approach is based is that of an “ability to recruit

stored knowledge and emotions in order to make

decisions, solve novel problems and work

creatively” (Brasil, 2002). In order to achieve

satisfactory results, the competence approach should

cover the following dimensions: theoretical

(“know”), practical (“know how to do”) and social

(“know how to be”).

The concept of competence also involves

personal, social, cognitive and self-knowledge

abilities, as well as the ability to perceive contexts

and situations in which the recruitment of some

specific competences will be necessary for more

effective academic and professional interactions.

The development of students’ knowledge,

abilities and attitudes ranges from more basic levels

(e.g. acquiring knowledge about a determined

subject) to higher levels (e.g. applying and

transforming acquired knowledge). The student

advances to more sophisticated levels of competence

as she both incorporates certain concepts and

exercises the habit of studying in the DE modality.

This is to say that the development of competences

and abilities occurs within a process of continuous

and gradual stimuli, which the Module aimed to

offer through its didactic activities. Based on the

idea that it was necessary to “welcome” the students

before the beginning of the curricular disciplines of

the courses chosen by them, the Welcome Module

focused the development of a set of competences

related to each of its objectives. The broad

WELCOME MODULE - An Experience Focused on Familiarizing Students with Distance Education Courses

objectives of such module, as well as the

competences to be developed, are presented in Table

In order to attend to both the objectives and

competences presented in Table 1, and considering

the several learning theories available, we adopted

the theory according to which learning is a

permanent process through which the subject, during

the interaction with another subject, overthrows old

certainties, glimmers new perspectives in regards to

some study object, experiences different reasoning

mechanisms, and substitutes positivist and

reductionist visions for another one which values the

integration of facts for the comprehension of reality.

We characterize these steps as a construction process

above all. To construct implies delegating to the

learner an active pursuit attitude, turning herself into

the protagonist of the learning process. To perceive

herself as co-responsible for that she learns is a

necessary movement in such dynamics, for

knowledge must not be understood as a synonym of

either donation or imposition, but as a synonym of

construction.

The social interactionist approach proposed

mainly by Vygotsky constitutes the basis of this

pedagogical proposal. This is due to the value

attributed to the role of the historical and cultural

context in human development, as well as to the

understanding that the psychological operation of

the individual is founded in the relations between

this individual and the exterior world (Vygotsky,

1998).

In this sense, the usage of information and

communication tools – made available by the web

interface and suggested along the course – favors the

interactivity desired, allowing the student to

participate, intervene an establish a multidirectional

relation to these connections and their languages.

3 METHODOLOGICAL

STRATEGIES

The Welcome Module attended about 1,400

students, distributed into 20 graduate division groups

and 20 undergraduate groups. The average number

of students per group was 40 and the course duration

was 100 hours. Six teachers, 43 remote tutors, 66

local tutors and 23 center coordinators took part in

the course. Each teacher was responsible for six or

seven groups and there was one tutor per group.

Each of the actors of this process developed

different, but coordinated, roles and functions. The

center coordinator is responsible for the proper

functioning of the local support center (in regards to

both the physical and administrative structures). The

teacher is responsible for the learning process of the

students of a specific subject or set of subjects; she

stimulates the dialogue among tutors (both local and

remote) and students, follows the assessment process

and employs motivational strategies. The remote

tutor is the person in charge of the direct contact

with the students during the learning process,

diluting doubts concerning the theoretical contents

and acting as a moderator in the discussions in the

thematic forum. Finally, the local tutor is

responsible for the local support in regards to the

development of the competences needed for the

accomplishment of the DE activities, guiding the

students in which concerns the fulfillment of the

practical activities and group works.

The Welcome Module took place fully in the

distance modality, through the Moodle virtual

learning environment. In this environment, the

student interacts with the other participants of the

groups, the remote tutor and the teacher in the

pursuit of knowledge construction in regards to the

themes proposed.

Most of the didactic material exploited is made

available at the virtual environment, and all of the

texts can be printed. Besides, the student receives a

kit composed of an Online Student Guide, a two-

volume textbook containing all didactic texts and a

CD-ROM with a slide presentation, texts and a video

about DE.

The methodology used for the development of

the thematic units is based, as already seen, on the

development of competences. In order to suit such

proposal, the following methodological strategies

were adopted:

a) Pedagogical usage of some communication and

information tools, previously selected according to

each objective fixed;

b) Effective acting of the remote tutors in the

conduction of the activities, supervising the

chronogram fulfillment, inciting student’s

participation and providing group/individual support

to students;

c) Accompaniment of the process by the teacher in

charge of the module, providing feedback to

students, mainly in regards to the subjects studied;

d) Deployment of learning techniques focused on the

competences do be developed;

e) Intensification of dialogue among the participants

in the course as a key factor for the

implementation/maintenance of the social

interactionist approach;

CSEDU 2009 - International Conference on Computer Supported Education

f) Accompaniment of the students’ scores and

satisfaction through assessment instruments in

accordance to the formative approach;

g) Effective acting of the local tutors, at the support

center, aiming at solving potential technological

difficulties presented by students.

Abandonment or partial accompaniment of

activities occurred with around 10% of the total

amount of students (10.33% among undergraduate

students and 9.84% among graduate ones).

4 FROM PLANNING TO

PRACTICE

Up to this point we described how the Welcome

Module was conceived and planned. From this point

on, we intend to report, and, at the same time,

discuss, how this course took place. We will

approach the following issues: what activities were

proposed; how did students perform along the

module; how did they evaluate the module; and what

is the role of teachers and tutors in the effective

deployment of the social interactionist approach.

The Federal University of Juiz de Fora, through

NEAD, selected and tested several tools aimed at

enhancing the usage of web in its DE courses.

Besides, there was a pursuit of the development

activities which could lead students to engage in

group tasks. The Welcome Module was structured

into five Moments, lasting one month for graduate

students and two for undergrads, although both

courses were 100 hours long.

During Moment 1, named “Opening Paths”, the

construction of a virtual community was

emphasized. In order to achieve this goal, four

activities were proposed:

- Activity 1: Access to Moodle (checking the system

access and getting in touch with the tools in the

environment), with the aid of a didactic text, in order

to get to know its interface and tools.

- Activity 2: Participation in the forum “Opening

paths: enlarging the relationships network”. This

forum reinforces the intentions of the other media

used in which concerns the main goal of this unit,

which is to develop the sense of community among

participants. This activity is responsible for starting

the student-student and student-tutor meetings and

for promoting the exchange of expectations,

perceptions concerning the course, formation,

experience in DE courses, preferences etc.

- Activity 3: Access to the Meeting Point in order to

exploit its working tools. The student must access

this environment in order to fill in her profile and

disclose her preferences (on reading, leisure, sports,

music, art, movies, ecology etc.). The intention is

that they establish a social network of relationships

among themselves. Hence, the idea is that visits to

this environment be permanent.

- Activity 4: Experience report, the description and

reflection about the tools and issues found during the

experience with the course up to that moment.

In Moment 2, entitled “Drawing the way in DE”,

whose goal was to guide the student for a well-

succeeded study in DE – emphasizing time

management – the following activities were

proposed:

- Activity 1: “Time Management” forum, during

which each student should tell about the strategies

deployed in order to organize her activities within

the time available.

- Activity 2: Production of a scheme of the text

“Study techniques”.

- Activity 3: Familiarization with some resources of

Google Apps Education, a tool for editing,

communicating and searching available on the web.

The third Moment, “When one knows history,

the walk is easier”, we emphasized the conceptual

aspects of a DE course through the following

activities:

- Activity 1: Construction of a glossary of DE terms.

- Activity 2: Supervised research on the web.

- Activity 3: Construction of a conceptual map from

the Cmapstools software.

During Moment 4, named “A good path is made

with good tools”, the focus was to develop

mastering in the computational tools used in DE

courses. In order to achieve that, the following

activities were carried out:

- Activity 1: Reading of texts concerning virtual

learning environments.

- Activity 2: Simulated virtual jury about the theme:

Technology in contemporaneity: advances and

regresses. This was a group activity.

The last Moment – “In DE it is impossible to be

happy alone” – was saved for the construction of a

collaborative project. Students engaged in the

following activities:

- Activity 1: Reading of texts about authorship

pedagogy and operative groups.

- Activity 2: Project elaboration using web 2.0 tools.

In groups, students should chose between building a

blog or wiki, whose theme would be the Welcome

Module.

In order to make communication between

teachers and tutors easier, we created a forum named

Our Space. In this space, doubts, critics and

WELCOME MODULE - An Experience Focused on Familiarizing Students with Distance Education Courses

suggestions were put together. Each teacher

established a communication forum with her tutors

in order to make the socialization of ideas among

everyone possible.

If technical problems were identified in the

platform (student without access, unavailable

resources, corrupted files etc.), they were forwarded

to the Technologic Coordination of The Distance

Education Center. Besides, students could rely on a

tech support in order to solve doubts concerning the

Meeting Point.

According to the learning theory adopted and

considering the student as a subject in constant

process of knowledge construction, assessment was

put in service of such process. The assessment

system proposed was a formative one and aimed at

identifying potential learning difficulties, as well as

positive aspects of students’ development.

Formative assessment exerts a control function in

the process, privileging results along the process in a

way to allow a reflexive action, by the part of both

teacher and student, in the construction and

reconstruction of knowledge. Assessment, in this

context, is an activity aimed at providing support for

learning and knowledge (Álvarez Méndez, 2002;

Libâneo, 1994).

As assessment can be defined, according to such

conception, as a decision making process based on

the interpretation of data provided by the student,

taking also into consideration its subjective aspect, it

was necessary to apply varied instruments in order

to collect those data in an attempt to evaluate as

accurately as possible the student performance along

the course.

Thus, at the end of each unity, students filled in

an activity control check list, indicating whether it

was accomplished, whether it was finished before

the deadline and how it helped in the development of

the competences.

Through graded activities (in a total of seven),

students were stimulated to engage in the practical

tasks focused on the familiarization with the

platform tools.

At the end of the course, students carried out a

self-assessment, during which they had the

opportunity to review their own trajectories

throughout the course and point out positive and

negative aspects of the general structure of the

Welcome Module.

In this perspective, assessment becomes

dissociate from the concept of an excluding practice

and, thus, from stereotyped ideas such as “to

evaluate someone is to measure one’s behavior

through tests”. In a more progressive conception, to

which our approach is related, assessment is a two-

way process, optimizing both students’ learning and

teachers’ didactic actions.

An evaluation of the Welcome Module was also

performed by the students involved in the course.

Aspects such as didactic material, technology,

methodology, student support and guidance, and

learning assessment were analyzed through a

multiple choice survey. Also, students were invited

to write about their experience with the module.

These data have not been analyzed yet and will be

presented in future works.

We understand that promoting collective

learning moments is central to a well-succeeded

educational process. If meanings cannot be given,

but discovered, maybe our task is to create

conditions for this to happen. Regardless of the

educational modality (local or remote), students,

teachers and tutors must be given the same

opportunities to express themselves, thus

overcoming the transmission pedagogy logic.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The experience with the Welcome Module leads us

into believing that to learn in the logic of DE, in

different times and spaces, is the challenge of this

century. It is a key task for institutions engaged in

DE to aid students in order to favor their network

communication.

Some resources are presented as shortcuts to the

optimization of learning. In a DE course, efficiency

and frequency in the usage of the resources available

in the platform (in this case, Moodle) are very

important for both interaction and

individual/collective knowledge construction. The

environment alone is useless. The participants are

the ones to make it work, with different opinions,

varied writing styles and other human singularities.

Turn what is strange into something familiar in the

DE context was one of the objectives of the

Welcome Module. In this sense, the potentiality of

web 2.0 transformed students from consumers into

producers of contents through blogs, wikis and

relationship software, reducing what Moore (1993)

and Moore and Kearsley (2007) call Transitional

Distance. We advanced towards that Lèvy (1993,

1999) defines as collective intelligence construction.

The technologies available at each historic

moment influence society and, particularly,

education. Hence, it is important to deploy such

technological resources pedagogically, in order to

promote high quality DE initiatives. This paper

CSEDU 2009 - International Conference on Computer Supported Education

presented one of such attempts, through the

reporting of the experience with the Welcome

Module.

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WELCOME MODULE - An Experience Focused on Familiarizing Students with Distance Education Courses