This Distance Learning Information and Support for Staff handbook is designed to help you to locate the resources available at the University of Otago to support distance course development, teaching and administration.

You may be developing a paper that has never been taught at a distance before, or maybe you are re-designing or maintaining a course that has been taught previously.

Course/Programme administrators are responsible for the week-to-week support and management of distance students and papers.

Conducting assessment when your students are at a distance may pose a number of challenges.

Using audio conferencing for teaching and student support has a well-established history at Otago.

There is a range of options for hosting audio and video files for students to access.

As a distance educator, you are more likely to provide copies of materials for your students, since your students are less likely to be able to use library facilities on-site.

The Director of Distance Learning is always prepared to discuss potential research projects with interested staff.

The Distance Learning Office runs forums for academic/teaching staff and for administrative distance staff throughout the year. Sometimes we hold joint Forums rather than separate ones.

ITS has eLearning consultants available to assist you!

What happens at Otago?

eVision is the University’s Student Management System (SMS) and is supported by the Student Management Systems Support Office (SMSSO).

The Higher Education Development Centre provides leadership in research, academic development and teaching.

Services provided and/or supported by ITS are available to all staff.

As you are no doubt aware, the University of Otago has world-class libraries to support staff and students engaged in teaching, learning and research.

Marketing Services in the Division of External Engagement has overall responsibility for how and where the University promotes itself.

Which will I use?

The Otago Blogs and Otago Wikis services provide something a little more powerful than the simple Blackboard wikis and blogs.

In all regions of the world there are active professional associations of distance educators. There are also many conferences on offer.

Distance supervision occurs when student and /or supervisors are separated, usually geographically, for any length of time.

Postgraduate courses often structure their teaching around mandatory or optional on-site blocks or components, initially or subsequently supported by print, email, Blackboard, or other technologies.

Print material generally comprises a Course Administration Guide or Outline, providing details of how the paper is to be run, and often a set of readings.

The University offers a series of workshops for distance staff.

IT Training offers a number of excellent short courses.

Across all Divisions and campuses, you will find colleagues with distance learning experience - much of it considerable!

The 2021 Distance Learning Info & Support for Students handbook - what is it?

There is a range of support services available to distance teaching staff.

In this section you’ll find resources and the names of some people who will help you as you start developing your course material and/or setting up or refining course administrative procedures.

The University provides web conferencing services via Zoom across campuses and wherever you or your students may happen to be.

In the early days of distance education, after the hard work of course design and development, the start of a semester and the beginning of a course may have been an anti-climax.

Support is available in a range of areas.

There are many web-based resources available to staff at Otago.

Online learning environments or Learning Management Systems (LMS) provide access to course materials, discussion forums, workshops, tests, surveys, simple blogs and wikis, and online assessment via the internet.

There is an extensive body of literature related to theory, research, and practice in distance education.

According to Keegan (1996, p. 37), the terms “distance teaching” and “distance learning” are each only half of the process of distance education. When used in this handbook, the term “distance learning” refers to both the teaching and learning processes and is interchangeable with the term “distance education”.

The University has been active in the distance learning field since 1986, predominantly at postgraduate level.

To convert an existing campus-taught paper to a distance paper, your Department needs to submit a proposal to your Divisional Board.

Here are some terms that you may encounter as you read about distance learning.