 The most dramatic change, with all its
related problems, in education for this century will come from internet-based teaching and
learning or Internet education/e-education as some call it. This method of delivery has
its proponents and its detractors. The proponents stress that web-based teaching and
learning, with its flexibility and learning without interruption to one’s working
life, will extend tertiary education to an unprecedented number of non-traditional adult
learners, increase access and respond to the need for continuing education in response to
lifelong learning as workers try to keep up with fast-paced developments in their
professions. The detractors are of the view that this alternative mode is no
substitute for the traditional face-to-face education since this mode does not allow the
sharing of insights, intuition or creativity. They support the use of technology to
facilitate education but not as a replacement for the face-to-face instruction and social
interaction of an on-campus experience.
One thing is clear, whatever the debate, many major universities (University of
Missouri, University of Wisconsin, University of London, University of Middlesex,
University of Pennsylvania, University of Hawaii, University of California, Arizona State
University, University of Western Ontario etc.) are placing part of their programmes or
entire programmes on-line. There are also universities (University of Phoenix On-line,
University of Idaho – Virtual Campus, Nova South-eastern University, University
on-line, Open University, University of Paisley, International University College etc.)
that offer only on-line degrees.
In keeping with this trend, lecturers of the University of the West Indies (UWI) have
been delivering some of their courses on-line. This mode of delivery is now being taken
one step further to the programme level.
A survey conducted by the Tertiary Level Institutions Unit (TLIU), of the Board for
Non-Campus Countries and Distance Education (BNCC&DE), showed that well over 100
persons from the non-campus countries were interested in pursuing a Masters degrees in
Education. When the demand in the campus countries, which outstrips the non-campus
countries at least by 2 to 1, is considered, it would appear that there is a significant
interest on the part of educators for access to this level of education. The survey also
revealed an interest in pursing studies while remaining on the job.
In response to these and other findings, the TLI Unit developed a proposal for a
Masters in Education Summer Programme. The proposal was discussed with Deans of Faculties
of Humanities and Education and Heads of Schools of Education. The Head of the Institute
of Education of Mona, Professor Errol Miller, supported the proposal and offered to
collaborate with the TLI Unit to deliver the programme. Professor Miller presented the
proposal along with a concept paper to the Board for Graduate Studies and Research on
behalf of the Directors and Heads of the School of Education, Mona and the Director of the
TLI Unit. The Board for Graduate Studies and Research approved the proposal.
The UWI School of Education, Mona will be delivering the Masters in Education –
called the On-line Masters in Education – commencing summer 2001. The Programme will
be taught during a four-week period in summer and on-line during both semesters of the
academic year. The UWI will also be delivering a Masters in Counselling starting September
2001 using the same mode of delivery. These two programmes will be delivered initially
from the Mona Campus. However, it is planned that the other campuses will participate in
the delivery of the two programmes in the near future.
What do we mean when we speak about on-line programmes? On-line programmes are those
programmes that are completely on-line or have several on-line meetings. There might be
some face-to-face meeting but the majority of instruction takes place on-line. In the case
of the On-line Masters in Education, two courses will be delivered face-to-face and the
remaining six or eight courses will be delivered on-line. The On-line Masters in Education
will use a text-based conferencing system, which has advantages and disadvantages.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to the use of the text-based conferencing
system. In this article, we shall discuss the synchronous/asynchronous nature of the
text-based system and evaluation.
A major benefit of on-line programmes is the fact that they allow for interaction in
both synchronous and asynchronous modes. That is, they allow persons to interact
"anytime, anywhere, any place, any pace". In short, they are time and place
independent and allow you to take a programme without physically going to an institution.
This synchronous and asynchronous computer mediated communication (CMC) allows for
self-paced learning. Its real strength lies on the premises of constructivist theory.
According to constructivism, knowledge does not exist external to the learner.
Individual learners construct their own meanings based on their prior experiences.
Learning is a result of construction, collaboration, reflection and negotiation within a
rich context in which learning is situated (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989). Jonassen,
Davidson, Collins Campbell and Haag (1995) argued that the four major system attributes on
which the design of constructivist learning environments are based, are context,
construction of knowledge, collaboration and conversation. Knowledge building results when
learners interact with their peers, collaborate, discuss their positions, form arguments,
re-evaluate their initial positions and negotiate meaning. Here the teacher has become
more a coach than the main source for delivering information. The students take control of
the learning environment, pose questions, moderate discussions and summarise results.
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