A new dimension in the form of JIT-L component in the courseware initiated at Cave Hill was continued in 2003-2004. UWIDEC produced a “Just-In-Time-Lecture” (JITL) CD for MS33B - Business Strategy and Policy as part of a project funded by the Organisation of American States (OAS). The CD will form part of the course package after pilot testing. The approval of OAS was obtained to utilise the funds saved from the project for additional hardware/software and training relating to the production of JITL CDs. Work has started to incorporate video into AM33D – Introduction to Ecotourism: Product Design and Management . A new project with OAS has commenced aimed at building the capacity of UWIDEC to produce multimedia CDs for distance learning purposes. It is expected that multimedia CDs and JITL CDs will complement each other and that they will be incorporated into online provisions, as they become available. b) In addition, other related literature such as the Distance Education Student Handbook, Distance Education Courses and Programmes-Prospectus, were revised, updated and produced for use in Semester I, 2004.
2 Course Deliveryi) Enrolment through UWIDEC:
*We crossed the first five-year plan target of 2000 students in 1999, two years ahead of the target date. **We did not register any students for Certificate in Education programmes. ii) Programmes delivered: During Semester I and/or Semester II, the following programmes were delivered successfully:
iii) Teleconference sessions: The total number of programming hours was 2,537.5 with 1,980 hours used for teaching purposes and 557.5 hours for non-teaching purposes. This represents an increase of some 447.5 hours from the previous year. iv) Orientation sessions: In addition to the orientation sessions held at campus, off-campus and non-campus sites, the general orientation for distance education students was held on the network in August 2003. Among other inputs, the sessions emphasized the need for students to become independent learners. v) Distribution of course materials: The distribution of course materials continued to be affected by the unavailability of student numbers per course per site on a timely basis – there were a number of instances when the number of course packages sent were insufficient. Some courses were without the printed material prepared by faculties, and so relied on the purchase of textbooks, old course materials and/or photocopies of articles. The distribution of materials on one course had to be done electronically, on a unit-by-unit basis, as the writing of the course was not completed in time for the start of the semester. vi) Conference schedules: The scheduling of teleconferences faced many challenges as course coordinators competed for time slots on specific days and times. There were also persistent requests for as many as six or seven teleconferences even when advised that a maximum of five teleconferences per 13- week semester was the optimum. This was so even when their courses had a well-developed course package and tutorial support. The teleconference schedule again could not be finalized in time for the start of teaching, as course coordinators requesting specific days and times during early August often demanded changes as soon as they received their on-campus schedules at end of August/start of September and discovered clashes. This resulted in the course coordinators' dumping of their UWIDEC times in preference for face-to-face classes. The facilitation of changes to the teleconference schedule for any one course inevitably necessitated changes to other courses. Since UWIDEC relies on the departments to provide course coordinators, this posed problems. Late teleconference schedules means that Site coordinators also could not finalize their tutorial schedules, and only served to confuse students each time a ‘draft schedule' had to be revised. In addition many female coordinators were often loathe to hold teleconferences that end at 8.30 p.m (Jamaica time)/9.30 (Eastern Caribbean time). vii) Missing or delayed results: Some requests for assistance were related to the question of missing or delayed results. Efforts are continuing with the collaboration of campus coordinators, course coordinators and tutors to resolve these problems. Some general improvements are noted. However with the establishment of the UWIDEC operations under the guardianship of the Academic Programme Committee (APC) it is expected that improved monitoring of adherence to submission deadlines will be facilitated. viii) Space: During the period under review Sites continued to experience problems in finding accommodation for tutorial sessions. The St. Augustine Site reflected a 26.9% increase in overall student enrollment. In addition the relocation of the Hub Site from Port-of-Spain to St. Augustine has put tremendous pressure on existing facilities and hence the need for additional space. In an effort to provide some solution, two lines of action were discussed for the short and long term. One involves the acquisition/construction of premises to relocate the student facility. The other is to approach the campus administration with a view to identifying space on the campus for the administrative operation of the Site. Additional classroom space at Ocho Rios was provided with the use of four refurbished trailers. A dedicated facility was established following notice to quit the temporary housing at the Ministry of Education located on the grounds of the Brown's Town Community College. Efforts were made to refurbish the existing space at the Titchfield High School after unsuccessful attempts to relocate the Site. Denbigh has also indicated the need for additional accommodation. ix) Tutorial support: During the period under review tutorial support especially for level 3 courses in the B.Sc. programme, continued to be a challenge because of (i) small numbers of students at some Sites and (ii) unavailability of qualified persons. Increasingly, teletutorials on the teleconference system have been used, but the availability of time on the network continued to be a challenge.
3 Campus Specific Reportsa) Specific items reported from Cave Hill :The post of Director, UWIDEC was filled by Professor Stewart Marshall on March 22 nd , 2004. Professor Carrington has been shouldering the responsibilities of the post since the retirement of the past Director, Professor Badri N. Koul. Dr. Krishna Murugan's resignation as Curriculum Development Specialist took effect in July, 2004. An advertisement for the post of Curriculum Development Specialist was placed and the appointment of a replacement is awaited. On June 10-11, 2004, UWIDEC, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), conducted a “Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Quality Assurance for Small States of the Caribbean” on quality assurance issues as they pertain to distance education in the Region. Coordinated by Mr. Michael Thomas, Research Officer, the planning meeting involved representatives of UWIDEC, UWI Quality Assurance Unit, CARICOM, OECS, CXC and other national/regional Quality Assurance and accreditation agencies that deal with higher education. The agenda items included (a) identifying the unique needs of small island developing states, (b) deliberating on the issue of the need for a Regional Accreditation body, and (c) chalking out a plan of action. The Curriculum Development Specialist produced a JITL CD for MS33B (Business Strategy and Policy). The CD will form part of the course package after pilot testing. However, a policy must be in place to sustain the efforts as issues pertaining to learner access, faculty inputs, contracts and IPR, network costs, CD production time, instructional design, courseware and service quality, online provisions are involved. In addition, Cave Hill implemented the activities relating to the JITL project. (This included getting the approval of OAS (a) to utilise the funds saved from the project for additional hardware/software and training relating to the production of JITL CDs, and (b) to extend the Project period from December 2003 to March 2004). During the period under review an Execution Plan for the implementation of a new project with OAS. This OAS-funded project of about US$ 120, 000, begins in April 2004. It aims at building the capacity of UWIDEC to produce multimedia CD for distance learning purposes. It is expected that multimedia CDs and JITL CDs will complement each other and that they will be incorporated into online provisions, as they become available. It is also envisaged that the CDs will be used in face-to-face situations. b ) Specific items reported from Mona :In academic year 2003/2004, the title of the post was changed from Senior Project Officer to Senior Programme Officer; however the job description remained the same. Ms. Christine Marrett, Senior Programme Officer proceeded on three months study leave from April 15- July 5, 2004. Mr. Derrick Thompson has been acting as Campus Coordinator from that time. Mr. Orville Beckford acted as Programme Officer during the period of her leave. Ms. Anneshia Welsh replaced Ms. Rhona White as Site Coordinator, Mona. The problem of late declaration of examination results persisted in a number of courses. In February 2004, the Senior Programme Officer attended a meeting in Grenada called by the World Bank to further discuss the development the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network, an initiative to link the tertiary level institutions using ICTs. The Centre has developed a database for students and this has been useful in disseminating information to the students. Students are now communicated with via email using their cellular telephones. They are easily brought up to date on any changes in schedule as soon as the information is sent out. Those without cellular phones access the information in the traditional email format. For the B.Sc in Management Studies programme , delivery of course materials for MS31B was done mainly ‘on line'. There were problems with some Sites not being able to open documents nor having adequate capabilities to photocopy large amounts of materials. Meanwhile, materials were prepared for the course book format to be ready for September 2004. Following a late request from the Course Coordinator, MS21C was delivered using a purchased textbook instead of the UWIDEC materials that had been developed and used previously. EC14C was again without an UWIDEC-produced course package, so textbooks had to be purchased for this course as well, and teaching done entirely face-to-face using local teachers. Delivery of the Certificate in Gender Studies progressed quite well. Most course materials are being prepared for publication in book format. Intra-Jamaica items:Administrative matters Classroom and office space continued to be a challenge for some Centres throughout the year. The Brown's Town and Ocho Rios centres benefited from infrastructural upgrade to the tune of J$6M. A total of two classrooms, one teleconference room, two offices, a toilet and kitchenette were installed at Brown's Town. The centre is now a dedicated UWI owned and operated facility. The Ocho Rios Site now has four small additional rooms for tutorial space. The Ocho Rios centre developed a database for students, which has proved to be very useful in disseminating information to the students. The temporary part-time lab technician was instrumental in the implementation of the process. The database has been used to communicate with students via email using their cellular telephones. Those without cellular phones access the information in the traditional email format. The students have expressed appreciation for the initiative taken to help them acquire their degree in a less stressful environment. c) Specific items reported from St. Augustine:i) Course Coordination: St. Augustine retained most of the former course coordinators with a few changes. As part of their contracts, course coordinators are required to submit a report on the delivery of their course for that semester. While some coordinators continue to provide useful feedback, not all are fulfilling this aspect of their contractual obligations. As a result of continuous requests from course coordinators, both through reports as well as orally, a database was established with names and contact information for tutors of each course. Course coordinators now have lists of their tutors (with e-mail addresses). This, hopefully, should allow for more efficient communication between tutors and course coordinators. In a report for Semester II, 2003/2004, the course coordinator for Management and Economics of Agricultural Production and Marketing (AM23B) stated that “students generally demonstrated weakness in the basic theory of economics”. The comment seemed to suggest that students may not have had the pre-requisite knowledge to do the course. At the same time, it is known that some students in the Agribusiness programme can get exemptions from Level 1 courses, which, in the distance programme, includes introductory courses in Micro and Macro Economics. The Head of the Department was asked to investigate the matter further. With regard to SY32E (Industrial Sociology), offered in Semester 1, 2003/2004, the course coordinator spoke of “seemingly substandard reading, writing and comprehension skills of many of the students”. The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Mona, in analyzing the factors contributing to the high failure rate for this course, indicated that the pre-requisite was not part of the Distance Management programme and that it should be included. It should also be noted that by memo dated July 27, 2001, the matter was raised with the Dean at St. Augustine. There was no response to that memo. There is need to determine how this elective course is to be treated. ii) Student Support: The Distance Education Centre, St. Augustine mounted the Vacation Student Support Programme (VSSP) for the third time in the May-August vacation period, 2004. The overall aim of this Programme was to provide distance students with the opportunity to acquire the range of skills required for studying at the level of higher education. The course Improving Your Study Skills offered during the review period was an upgrade of the course Reading for Meaning in the corresponding period. In addition, Introduction to math skills was revised and offered for the third time. Redesigned for on-line delivery, students were required to do on-line quizzes, submit assignments and maintain contact with tutors via e-mail, download materials and participate in discussions on the discussion board. iii) Registry Matters: Experimenting with various procedures, St. Augustine has now evolved a system in which the functions of the four Sites in Trinidad & Tobago link to and feed into the functions of a standardized database. The database includes student, course coordinators and tutor information, in addition to course material details. The overall processes of admissions, registration and the site operations have improved and the pattern of integration (Site) is envisaged to inform/guide UWIDEC's New Management operations.
4 Telecommunications Networka) Staff MovementMr. Reeve Ramharry joined UWIDEC on June 1, 2004 as the Systems Engineer at St. Augustine. Mr. Brian Walcott was installed as full time technical assistant stationed at Ocho Rios with technical responsibilities for the host Site and Browns Town. Mr. Leonard Granston was installed as fulltime technician stationed at Denbigh with responsibilities for Denbigh, Vere and Mandeville. The Deputy Telecommunications Manager, Mr. Derrick Thompson went on Study Leave, October to December 2003. His study took him to the Educational Technology Institute Open University in UK where he examined current and future trends in technology used to support the delivery of DE. b) Regional ActivitiesReplacement of Computers and Software After much deliberation, the University Bursar agreed to the allocation of funds to replace obsolete computers in UWIDEC. The process to procure new computer equipment started in July, 2004 with Mona IT Services (MITS). The urgently needed replacement of all the obsolete computers and the upgrade of the software in all UWIDEC labs will be completed before the commencement of academic year 2004/2005. In January 2004 Brigit software was procured to enable course coordinators and instructors to in the teleconference room to share their computer screen to all sites. Course coordinators and instructors have been using Brigit to broadcast their PowerPoint presentations, train users in software applications and broadcast the notes that were handwritten on the graphics tablet. The experience with Bridgit had been a tremendous improvement over using Microsoft Netmeeting. Sites not in the UWIDEC network have been connecting to Brigit over the Internet. In December 2004, the free use of Grisoft [1] AVG 7 anti-virus software would end and from January 2005 UWIDEC would be required to pay an annual licence fee at 50% discount of the list price to continue to use the software. Migration to frame relay and future technologies The migration of the entire UWIDEC network to frame relay was completed in June 2004 and now Anguilla and Cayman have been brought into the network thus providing increased bandwidth. Bahamas, Belize and Turks & Caicos are still not part of the network because of funding constraints. With the savings from the lower recurrent cost of frame relay the Internet bandwidth at the main Hub Site in St. Augustine would be increased to T1 and an ISDN PRI circuit would be installed to provide dial in service to the teleconference bridge over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). TSTT has promised a delivery in the week of August 30, 2004. The contracts for three- year terms were signed by UWIDEC and delivered to TSTT the week of August 16. As new telecommunication technologies and providers enter the Caribbean these would be explored to improve the UWIDEC network. The following are being examined: business class digital subscriber line (DSL) from Cable & Wireless, international telecommunications from Telekom Caribe [2] and Island Fibre [3] Relocation of Port of Spain Hubsite The relocation of the hub site to St. Augustine campus started on May 24, 2004 and while the UWIDEC network was returned to normal operation within that week, work continues to settle into the new location as there is not adequate storage facilities. With the UWIDEC main Hub Site now located in a campus the process of integrating into the campus networks has begun and would continue. The first project is the integration of the teleconference bridge into the St. Augustine campus network to provide campus wide audio and video conferencing. CUPIDE [4] , CKLN [5] and E-Link Americas [6] The CUPIDE project has been put on hold by UNESCO pending the start of CKLN which is scheduled to start operations in September 2004. The intent is to feed into the larger CKLN and E-Link Americas projects and avoid duplication of effort by UNESCO, World Bank, ICA and OAS. CKLN has received support from last CARICOM [7] Heads of Government meeting in July 2004 and is expected to setup its offices in Grenada with funding from the Government of Italy. The Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN) provides a great opportunity for UWI/UWIDEC to modernize its distance education delivery and to improve its quality of service to non-campus countries. E-Link Americas would provide the high-speed, low cost Internet connectivity for the CKLN. UWI/UWIDEC has been included in the initial CKLN project proposals but based on the project plan of CKLN the technology from E-Link Americas would not be made available until 2005. UWIDEC will be going through a protracted transition period in transforming to mass asynchronous Internet delivery. During this transition UWIDEC must maintain the current delivery mode for courses that have not been converted while supporting the courses that have been converted. Based on the amount of global research and development that is being invested in Internet technologies it is highly probable that the E-Link Americas network would be able to simultaneously support both the old UWIDEC delivery mode and the new UWIDEC delivery mode. To test this it is proposed that the three Sites Bahamas, Belize and Turks & Caicos be part of a pilot project to investigate whether the E-Link Americas network will support real time audio and video conferencing for UWIDEC courses. There is a high probability that the pilot will demonstrate this. Once the pilot is successful it is recommended that the entire UWIDEC network migrate to E-Link Americas. To promote the development of Internet infrastructure to reach remote areas, UWIDEC must continue to lobby incumbent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer low cost services for students and lobby CKLN and E-Link Americas to offer its low cost bandwidth to ISPs and cyber cafes that would offer low cost services to reach students in remote areas. Implementation of new conference bridges On May 31, 2004, the “new” Polycom MGC-100 teleconference bridge at St. Augustine failed. As a work around, sites were routed to the teleconference bridge at Mona (Polycom MGC-25) until it was repaired. In November 2003 the new Polycom conference bridges were implemented due to the failure of the old Voyant bridge. The change to the new bridges necessitated a change in the way Sites joined conferences. In the past, Sites were put into a conference from Mona and Port of Spain. In the new practice the Site has to dial into the conference bridge, which is the current worldwide practice. Work will continue to improve reliability of conferences on two fronts. C&W and TSTT will be engaged to improve the reliability of their network. Technology options similar to force connections or alternative technologies such as Voice Over IP (VOIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) will be researched and tested. C&W special Internet packages for UWI students In a March 25, 2004, meeting with C&W and TSTT at St. Augustine campus, it was requested that C&W and TSTT provide special Internet access packages for UWI students. In a July 2004 meeting with C&W and TSTT a verbal offer of TT$250.00 per month for 128k ADSL Internet access was presented to UWI for its students and staff. This offer was conditional on UWI requesting the annual amount from students in advance at the start of the academic year. Negotiations are still proceeding. Computer packages for students The three Campuses have arranged with suppliers, special packages for computer hardware, software and printers for students. These packages need to be extended to students in non-campus and off-campus sites and in the future to online students. Debt to C&W and TSTT While the debt for International Private Leased Circuits has been cleared, the debt for the T1 fibre optic tail circuit and the 64kbps Internet connection at Port of Spain at continues to be outstanding at approximately TT$291,052.80 and TT$193,782.67 respectively. Learning Management System (LMS) Some progress has been made in choosing an LMS for UWI. MITS at the Mona campus has produced a report selecting Moodle and has customized this and named it our VLE [8] . UWIDEC has some concerns about the evaluation process in that it seemed to have been conducted only by IT staff and not with academics, students or administrative staff. c) Activities at the CentresAt St. Augustine, students on the campus are being offered special loans from RBTT Bank for computer purchases on no down payment terms and instalments as low as TT$120.00 per month. Other commercial banks have similar computer loan packages. RBTT would be approached to expand this facility to the 15 countries of UWI. There was the replacement of point- to-point low bandwidth leased line with higher bandwidth Frame Relay Telecommunication services. This resulted in vast improvements in the audio quality and Internet Service at each Site. The move also allowed for Anguilla and Cayman islands to join the network for the first time. It is now possible for Belize to also join the network. This must be pursued with the Telecommunication Carriers. d) Intra JamaicaTelecommunications Network and Computer Lab. The Telecommunications Network continued to demonstrate robustness and reliability. Equipment Upgrade The old Allegro Bridge in Port of Spain, Trinidad was replaced by new Polycom MGC-100 in Trinidad and the smaller MGC-25 in Jamaica. The instant benefits of these devices are: - Redundancy built into the system in case of failure of either device - Increased flexibility to handle a wide range of Media (Audio, Video, streaming Media) - Ease of operation with upgraded windows based user interface. The Netmeeting data conferencing software was replaced by a more stable and feature rich bridgit conferencing software from SMART Technologies (USA). This allowed for computer screen shots to be shared across the network in real time, thus providing greatly improved and enhanced presentation capabilities. Replacement of Computers The planned replacement of PCs network wide did not materialize. It is hoped that this will happen in the very near future. CKLN The telecommunications management continues to explore the possibility of securing low cost high bandwidth Internet access from E-links Americas satellite through the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN). The immediate expected benefits of the CUPIDE project did not materialize due to the suspension of the project.
5 Training and Staff/Self-developmenta) Training activitiesGiven below are the major training activities undertaken at UWIDEC during the period under review. Other contributions are listed as ‘UWIDEC Service' under the activities of UWIDEC staff. Logical Framework Approach for Project Design : During March 16-17, 2004, Mr. Michael Thomas, Research Officer and Mrs. Erica Grainger, Administrative Assistant attended a workshop supported by the OAS on Logical Framework Approach for Project Design. The workshop was intended to assist participants in preparing proposal for funding agencies. JITL Training Workshops : During March 17-19, 2004, an internal training workshop was held for 10 members of Staff at the UWIDEC office at Cave Hill. This hands-on workshop trained the participants in the integration of the JITL technology with the e-learning technologies. The workshop was facilitated by Mrs. Dianne Thurab-Nkhosi and Mr. Howard Smith. The Academic Programme Coordinator at Mona Campus organized orientation and training for teaching at a distance, including managing a teleconference, good audio-teleconferencing techniques and various logistics related to distance delivery was also undertaken for new staff involved in the B.Ed (Educational Administration) and the Certificate in Gender Studies programmes, in January 2004. Sociology Tutor-training workshop : The first such workshop was conducted for tutors of the Level 1 course, Introduction to Sociology . The workshop was held on July 27-28, 2004 at the St. Augustine campus. Mrs. Denise Gaspard-Richards (course coordinator), Dr. Olabisi Kuboni and Mrs. Dianne Thurab-Nkhosi were the co-facilitators. Twenty- four tutors from the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, Montserrat, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago participated. Technicians' Training : During January 14-16, 2004, a regional training workshop was held in the operations of the new Polycom Bridge at the Normandie Hotel in Trinidad for UWIDEC Technicians from across the region.
b) Staff activities -- Scholarly contributions, Self-development, UWIDEC services, University services and Public services :
Activities of Professor Stewart Marshall, Director:Scholarly Contributions Marshall, S., Taylor, W., & Yu, X. (eds.) (2004) Using Community Informatics to Transform Regions . Idea Group Publishing, London. Taylor, W. & Marshall, S. (2004) “ Community Informatics Systems: A meeting place for useful research” in P. Day & D. Schuler (eds) Community Practice in the Network Society . Routledge, London, 200-212. Taylor, W., Zhu, G., Dekkers, J. & Marshall, S. (2004) “Adoption of online purchasing in communities, and its socio-economic implications in regional Central Queensland, Australia”. Australasian Journal of Information Systems 11 (2). 80-94. Marshall, S. “Who needs sleep in paradise?” ODLAA Times . Vol. 12, No. 2, May 2004. Marshall, S. (2004) “ICT challenges and opportunities for community development in the Caribbean”. Caricom Perspective , No. 72, Vol 1, 15-17. Marshall, S. (2004). “Going the distance online: Stories of emergent virtualization”. Caribbean Waves . UWIDEC, Cave Hill. “Quality assurance, articulation and accreditation in tertiary education in the Caribbean”. A report from the Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Quality Assurance for Small States of the Caribbean held at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, June 10-11, 2004. UWIDEC Service - Participated in Quality Assurance Consultative Planning Meeting for Small States of the Caribbean”, jointly organized by COL and UWIDEC (June 10-11, 2004). Public Service - Chief Editor, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT) , http://ijed.uwimona.edu.jm/index.php - Regional Editor, Campus-Wide Information Systems International Journal published by Emerald Group Publishing Limited, UK, http://titania.emeraldinsight.com/vl=3949758/cl=29/nw=1/rpsv/cwis.htm - Associate Editor, International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education , http://www.idea-group.com/journals/details.asp?id=4287 - Member of the Editorial Board of the journal: Community Informatics: A Global E-Journal - Chair of the annual International Conference on Information Technology in Regional Areas (ITiRA) , http://itira.cqu.edu.au - Co-chair of the Informing Science and IT Education Conference 2004 . - Member of the International Conference Programme Committee for Communications and Information Technology in Asia (CITA), http://www.unimas.my/faculties/fcsit/cita03/ - Member of the Steering Committee for the Informing Science and IT Education Conference .
Activities of Mr. Michael Thomas, Research OfficerScholarly Contribution Some Learning and Motivational Challenges in a Caribbean Distance Education Environment: Propositions and Experiences ”, a paper presented at the Distance Learning Induction Programme for Distance Students. Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, August 2003. “Evaluation of Course Delivery at the University of the West Indies: A Case Study”, A paper Co-authored and presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Education. Honolulu, Hawaii, January 3 rd –6 th , 2004. “Audio-teleconferencing in the Commonwealth Caribbean: Possibilities and Challenges in the context of the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC)” A paper published in the Peer Reviewed proceedings of the 3 rd Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open and Distance Learning, Dunedin, New Zealand, July 2004. “Facilitating Learning in a Web-Based Environment: A University of the West Indies Experience”. A paper Co-authored and published in the Peer Reviewed proceedings of the 3 rd Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open and Distance Learning, Dunedin, New Zealand, July 2004. Self-development Participated in a Workshop on “Web design and related issues”, jointly sponsored by OAS/UWIDEC, Cave Hill Campus, 17 th - 19 th March, 2004. Participated and was awarded a Certificate of Completion for the Training workshop on “Logical Framework Approach for Project Design”, jointly sponsored by OAS/UWI/ Government of Barbados, Cave Hill Campus, March 2004. Participated in a “ Regional Workshop on WTO Matters for University Professors and Academics” organized and hosted by the WTO/UWI, Barbados Grande Hotel, November 27-29, 2003. Participated in an online Seminar on “ Learning Objects and Repositories” organized and hosted by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), 22 nd September, 2003. UWIDEC Service - Invited to participate in Meeting of Academic Programme Committee (APC) of UWIDEC. - Coordinated a “Regional Stakeholders' Consultative Meeting on Quality Assurance for Small States of the Caribbean”, jointly sponsored by UWIDEC and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, June 10-11, 2004. University Service - Assistant-Secretary of the WIGUT Cave Hill Campus. - Member of the Organizing and Fundraising Committee for UWI Staff Inter-Campus Games, Cave Hill Campus. - Vice- President of the University of the West Indies Staff Sporting Association (UWISSA), Cave Hill Campus. - Member of the University of the West Indies HIV/AIDS Response Programme (UWIHARP) Committee, Cave Hill Campus. April 2004. Public service - Member, Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators (ACHEA). Activities of Ms. Christine Marrett, the Senior Projects Officer and Campus Coordinator, (Mona) : Scholarly Contribution “Enhancing human resource development in the English-speaking Caribbean through collaboration in distance education at the distance education at the tertiary level: Some initial observations”, a paper presented at ACHEA Conference, Jamaica, July 2004. Self-development “Faculty participation in distance education at the University of the South Pacific, University of Swaziland and UWI”, a paper being finalized for possible publication. Institutional collaboration in distance education at the tertiary level as an aspect of human resource development in small, developing countries of the Caribbean. (Ph.D Thesis) UWIDEC Service - “What goes on”, a paper presented at UWIDEC Orientation for UWI staff, Mona, October 1, 2003 and March 3, 2004. University Service - UWIDEC Representative, Mona Academic Board. - Member, Mona Academic Quality Assurance Committee. - Member, Specialty Board (M.Sc. Family Medicine) Faculty of Medical Sciences. - Member, Advisory Committee for the Caribbean Maritime Institute's Caribbean Diploma in Shipping Logistics. - Member, Student Administration System Committee - Member, B.Ed (Secondary) Advisory Committee. - Member, Student Administration System Committee. Public Service - Treasurer and Convenor of the Membership Committee, JADOL. - Secretary, PSP 375. - Executive Member, PSP 65. - Executive Member, St. Hugh's Past Students' Association and member of its Public Relations Committee. - Member, Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators (ACHEA). - Member, Caribbean Association for Distance and Open Learning. Activities of Ms. Vilma McClenan, the Academic Programmes Coordinator – Delivery (Mona) : Scholarly Contribution “Getting to Know My Body”, “Getting to Know My Family”, “Getting to Know My Home” and “Getting to Know My School” An activity-oriented textbook series for integrated studies for Grade I. Carlong Publishers. Self-development Presented Round-table session on ‘The Development of Curriculum Materials to Support the MOEYC's Primary Integrated curriculum for Grades 1 – 3' at the Education Conference in Hawaii, January 2004. Presented a Round-table Session on ‘Student Support for UWIDEC's Distance Education Students' at Education Conference in Hawaii, January 2004. UWIDEC Service - Curriculum Development Workshop for teachers of Grades 1 – 3 Integrated Studies held in Savannah-La-Mar to orient them to the use of curriculum materials produced to support the Ministry of Education's revised curriculum. - Organized and conducted Student Orientation Sessions during August 2003 for all programmes being delivered via UWIDEC. - Conducted an Orientation and training session for teaching at a distance, including managing a teleconference, good audio-teleconferencing techniques and various logistics related to distance delivery for new staff involved in the B.Ed. (Educational Administration) and the Certificate in Gender Studies programmes, in January 2004. - Participated in meetings of the UWIDEC Academic Programme Committee. Public Service - Member , Jamaican Council for Adult Education (JACAE) serving on the Committees responsible for Adult Learners Week and the JAMAL-JACAE Learning Resource Centre - Member, Jamaican Association of Open and Distance Learning (JADOL) - Member, Caribbean Regional Council for Adult Education (CARCAE) - Member, Steering Committee of the Early Childhood Environmental Resource Centre of Shortwood Teacher's College. - Executive Committee Member and Caribbean Representative on the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE). . Received the Book Industry Association of Jamaica's Award for the Best Primary Textbook “ Getting to Know Me” Activities of Ms. Charmaine McKenzie, the Editor (Mona) : Scholarly Contribution “Evaluation of Course Delivery at the University of the West Indies: A Case Study”, A paper Co-authored and presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Education. Honolulu, Hawaii, January 3 rd –6 th , 2004. UWIDEC Service - The Editor continued to act as Curriculum Development Specialist during the period under review.
Activities of Ms. Jerome Perkins, Administrative Officer, Ocho Rios :Public Service : - Member, Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators (ACHEA). - Member, Caribbean Tertiary Level Personnel Association. - Member, American College Personnel Association. - Member, CARADOL. Attended CTLPA Conference, Jamaica, June 2004. Activities of Dr. Olabisi Kuboni, the Campus Coordinator/Curriculum Development Specialist: Scholarly Contributions Kuboni, Olabisi and Martin, Alicia (2004) “ An assessment of support strategies used to facilitate distance students' participation in a web –based learning environment in the University of the West Indies”. Distance Education, 25(1), 7-29 “The Caribbean distance student and resource –based learning in an on-line learning environment: An examination of the learner support issues”. Presentation made in panel discussion on Distance learning and electronic resources in the Caribbean. Annual Conference of Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institution Libraries, (ACURIL), Port-of –Spain, Trinidad. May, 2004. Self-development : Participated and was awarded a Certificate of Completion for the Sloan-C Online Research workshop: Elements of Quality Education- into Mainstream. Sloan Consortium , Massachusetts, USA. http://www.sloan-c.org . April 19, 2004. Participated in a workshop entitled “ Creating quality improvement team leaders: A workshop for Caribbean Tertiary Level Institutes (TLIUs). Premier Quality Services Ltd., Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards. September 22-23, 2004. Public Service - Member of a panel of Judges of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Excellence in Distance Education Awards (Distance Education Materials Category), Vancouver, Canada. May, 2004.
Activities of Mrs. Dianne Thurab-Nkhosi, Editor:Scholarly contributions: “ Towards the enhancement of Quality Assurance procedures for an evolving UWIDEC ”. A paper presented at the Stakeholders' Consultative Meeting on Quality Assurance for Small States of the Caribbean, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, June 10-11, 2004. “ Training Faculty in E-Learning Course Design: Experiences at the University of Botswana”. Co- authored with Marilyn Lee and Daniella Guiannini. Proceeding of the E-Learn 2003: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Health Care & Higher Education, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) November 7-11,2003. Self-development: “Training for Health Educators in Trinidad and Tobago”. M.Phil. Thesis submitted in December 2003. Benchmarking Quality in e-Learning Courses at the UB. An on-going project in collaboration with the Assistant Director, Academic Programme Review Unit, and Instructional Designer, E-Learning Support Unit, Centre for Academic Development, University of Botswana. UWIDEC Service - Facilitated a workshop “Anchored Instruction: Using Real-Life Contexts in E-learning. Cross Culturalism and the Caribbean Cannon: A Cultural Studies Conference, January 7-10, 2004. - Co-facilitated with Mr. Howard Smith, a workshop for UWIDEC staff jointly sponsored by the OAS entitled “UWIDEC Course Delivery: Incorporating JIT-L”, cave Hill, Barbados. March 17-18, 2004. - Co-facilitated the Sociology Tutors' training workshop, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. July27-28, 2004. University Service: - Served in the capacity of Acting UWIDEC Campus Coordinator for December, 2003.
Activities of Mr. Tommy Chen, Telecommunications ManagerSelf-development: Awarded the M.Sc. in Computer Science at UWI St. Augustine in May 2004. Training on the Polycom MGC 100 and 25 conference bridges January 14–15, 2004. UWIDEC Service: - Conducted a one-day workshop to prepare UWIDEC Campus technicians for the new Polycom conference bridge. Jan 13 2004. - Conducted a two-day workshop to prepare UWIDEC Course development teams for the JITL project funded by the OAS. July 22-23 2004. University Service: - Served in the capacity of Acting UWIDEC Campus Coordinator in the Academic Board Committee of St. Augustine Campus during September 2003 – March 2004. - Served on the technical sub-committee of the St. Augustine Campus Procurement Committee (CPC) for the Multimedia tender for School of Education and the UWIDEC tender for Teleconference Bridge.
Public and Community Service: - Served as Treasurer in the charitable organization: the St. Theresa's Woodbrook Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. To close this section under review, it is worthy to note that currently many members of the UWIDEC staff are undergoing formal self-development programmes ranging from Certificate level courses to Ph.D. programmes.
6 Programme/Course EvaluationThe course evaluation exercise targeted those sites where students were registered for courses at Levels I, II and III and in the B.Ed Educational Administration, BSc. Management Studies, Advanced Diploma in Construction Management. Responses were received from the following sites: St Augustine, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Belize, Montego Bay, St.Kitts and Nevis. In addition Tutor Evaluation forms were also received from the above-mentioned Sites including the British Virgin Islands. The low rate of returns from the survey exercise in the past was a sufficiently important factor to vitiate the findings. However during the period under review, the implementation of a plan to achieve a higher rate of return on the survey resulted in a greater number of respondents from a wider geographical spread participating in the process than was the norm. Reports are being prepared for distribution to the respective Sites, the Curriculum Development Teams and other members of staff to devise and implement required improvements. Examination results for a number of distance courses across UWIDEC were collected and analysed during the period under review. The data show 100% pass rate in 4 courses: Marketing and Price Analysis (AM 32A ), Advanced Classroom Testing (ED 30F ), Introduction to Computers (MS18A ), Management Information Systems (ED 33A ). 18 courses recorded pass rates within the 90-99% pass range. Fourteen (14) courses recorded pass rates within the 80-89% range. 7 courses recorded pass rates within the 70-79% range. Five (5) courses recorded pass rates within the 60-69% range. Eight (8) courses recorded pass rates within the 50-59% pass range. The data will show a pass rate of 2.94% for the course Action Research for School and Classroom Managers (ED 23E ) . However, whereas 34 students took the examination, results remain outstanding for 33 students. Industrial Sociology I: Theory and Methods recorded a pass rate of 47.62%. English for Academic Purposes (FD 10A) recorded a pass rate of 38.66%. Introduction to Eco-Tourism: Product Design and Management (AM33B) recorded a pass rate of 33.3%; this represented the lowest pass rate for Distance Education students for the Academic year 2003/2004. Results remain outstanding for some 35 courses. Corresponding data for face-to-face delivery was gathered and used to effect a comparative analysis where possible. It is noteworthy that an analysis of examination results for a number of distance education courses suggests that the performance of these students is fully comparable with those of students studying in face-to-face mode. The relevant data is given in Appendix I and Appendix II.
7 Systemic Research
Tasks to be undertaken by the Research Officer are listed below and the action taken in each case outlined item by item.
*The Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU) working in collaboration with the Distance Education Centre at Cave Hill was able to revise, update and produce a Distance Education courses and programmes database in electronic as well as print format. Information on these programmes and courses is available at http://www.atlanticuniversities.ca/distanceed in addition a printable version of the data is also available in PDF format. The hard copy version of the Calendar of University Distance Education Courses in the Atlantic Provinces will no longer be produced. The updating exercise was completed in June 2004. 8 Collaborative and Developmental Activities
a) The following non-UWIDEC programmes continued to be supported during the period under review : The eighth renewal of the Regional Schools Food and Nutrition Quiz hosted by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), took place in October 2003. Ten countries participated with Grenada emerging as the winning team and Antiguan student, Rema Roberts, as the individual champion. b) UNESCO/Japanese Funds in Trust The final project proposal for human resource development in Web-based teaching, administration and material distribution was submitted in September 2001. Although it was learned that the funds had been approved from early 2002, UWI did not receive a contract document for review from UNESCO until August 2002. UWI's comments on the contract were submitted to UNESCO and a Project Agreement was signed on January 17, 2003. The Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education (CUPIDE) is an alternate name for the UNESCO-UWI project for the Enhancement of Human Resource Development in Distance Teaching, Administration and Materials Distribution, funded through the Japanese Funds in Trust for Capacity Building. Two Consultants were hired by the Project: Mr. Kenneth Sylvester, Managing Director of Systems Alliance (Jamaica) Ltd. was selected to carry out the Information Technology Consultancy, July 22-November 22, 2003; and Mr. Ronald Nicholas, Senior Consultant with HGM Management and Technologies Inc., a firm based in Washington D.C, was engaged to provide base-line information and recommendations on programme needs, similar initiatives, learning styles, and human resource requirements, August 25, 2003 – February 16, 2004. Four major activities under the Caribbean Universities Project for Integrated Distance Education (CUPIDE) for the period under review were: i) The completion of the two initial consultancies (Information Technology and Human Resource and Programme Needs) and acceptance by the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) of the broad recommendations of both. ii) The inaugural meeting on April 2, 2004 of the Caribbean Association for Distance and Open Learning (CARADOL), which had been facilitated through CUPIDE. iii) Consequent on the accepted recommendations of the Consultants, a complete revision of the project calendar, budget and payment schedule was drafted by the Project Manager. iv) Terms of Reference for strategic planning consultant(s) were drafted. Progress on the development of the pilot course on e-learning, which was supposed to have been an amalgamation of two courses in development by UTech and UWI, was stalled. The CUPIDE Project Manager recommended that the two departments responsible for distance education at UTech and UWI develop the pilot course from scratch. However, discussions between the two institutions were suspended in August 2004, when UNESCO unilaterally suspended all project activities of CUPIDE on the grounds that the rescheduled activities and budget did not show “its interrelatedness and complementarity with the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN), and a realistic and implementable workplan and budget that is based on these”. UNESCO hired a consultant to prepare a new project document . Arising out of the consultancies undertaken as part of CUPIDE, the Senior Programme Officer drafted a proposal for a consultation on collaboration in distance education among the various tertiary level institutions throughout the Caribbean, which was submitted to CARICOM. c) Student Administration System Project The Campus Coordinator, Mona, continued to serve on the committee established to coordinate the implementation of the integrated Student Administration System across the three campuses. During the reporting period, the Student Support Services Coordinator served as UWIDEC Representative on the SAS Implementation Team. The estimated date of implementation is July/August 2004. d) EDSAT-Americas The EDSAT-Americas Project to establish hemisphere wide telecommunication infrastructure to support collaboration in health and education has come to a standstill. PART II – ISSUES FOR RESOLUTION The late arrival of materials continue to be a problem, although some improvements are evident. There are problems with the scheduling of classes after 8:00 p.m. (Jamaican Time). There is also the issue of scheduling of classes on Saturdays. There are issues associated with the inaccurate recording of student's fees. There are instances when student grades are suppressed for this reason. Marketing of the Distance Education Centre. BANNER Architecture for Student Records System changing from single database to three separate campus databases puts UWIDEC at risk. BANNER Financial System operates as three separate campus databases – this makes life extremely difficult for the UWIDEC Finance Officer. [1] http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php [2] http://www.telkomcaribe.com/ [3] http://www.datastate.com/ [5] http://www.worldbank.org/ckln [6] http://www.infodev.org/symp2003/publications/wired.pdf [7] http://www.caricom.org/pressreleases/pres120_04.htm [8] http://ourvle.mona.uwi.edu/ |
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