How you as a student and individual can maintain effective communication with your tutor during your studies
How technological tools will help you study and enrich this experience
ICT (information communication technology) skills and technological tools are useful assets, particularly in distance learning environments. They enable distance study learners to access course materials and search for reliable and informative resources. ICT skills and technological tools can assist with managing lots of information and handling more than one task at time. They also enable communication between a learner and tutor by transporting messages from one place to another and assist with storing and sharing information. This contributes to a positive learning experience by offering flexibility, making processes more efficient and offering access to a wealth of information.
I can enrich my studying experience by utilising technological tools and using my ICT skills. For example, I can use a computer which will facilitate connection to the internet. This will allow access to my distance learning course materials and assignments online. The Open College has supplied details of a website called ’Virtual Campus’, which is an online platform where guides, resources and materials relating to the animal studies course are stored and can be accessed using my unique login details. Additionally, I can enhance my learning experience and broaden my understanding of animal studies subjects by using an internet connection to conduct web searches. Web searches offer access to ‘vast amounts of information that has been stored electronically’ (Cottrell, 2008) such as journals, websites, videos, podcasts and presentations. Many of these materials may not be available elsewhere (e.g. in books or at a library) so this will be useful during the distance learning course as it will allow immediate access to lots of information and save time travelling. Providing a computer with internet access is available, web searches offer flexibility because they can be made from different locations at any time. I can use web searches for research purposes, to gather information or to gain an overview of an animal studies subject topic. This skill gives the opportunity to progress through the course, create assignments and develop a deeper understanding of animal related topics.
I can maintain effective communication with my tutor by using the ‘ask a question’ link on the Virtual Campus homepage and submitting an electronic message. There is no opportunity for face to face communication with my tutor, either in person or via a video calling platform (e.g. Skype) during the course, therefore the electronic messaging system will be beneficial as it is simple to use, accessible and quick. This acts a motivator by encouraging interaction and dialogue between us. I can use messages to ask for help or support and this contributes to a positive learning experience by relieving the feeling of isolation. The messaging communication tool will be beneficial to my tutor as they can utilise it to return supportive messages or constructive feedback. This will help to develop and improvement assignments, contributing to better communication with each other.
Technological tools will help to enrich and aid my learning and studying experience. For example I can access the ‘study planner’ software via the Virtual Campus website homepage. This software can be used to schedule my study times and manage tasks. The flexible nature of the software means that I can alter and adapt it to suit my current needs. This will be particularly helpful in aiding and monitoring the progression of the course. Assignments can be created using a word processing software on a computer which is a more efficient than writing assignments by hand. Once created, they can be safely stored on to a computer, shared and edited electronically. As assignments are unable to be delivered by hand, they can be sent to and shared with my tutor via the ‘upload assignment’ link on the online college platform where they can be accessed for marking and feedback.
Explain the principles of ePortfolio
Review methods of self assessment
An ePortfolio is a method of gathering related documents and information, and, storing them together in an organised way to create a record of learning. Relevant documents to the animal studies course may include examples of my coursework assignments, reflective writing documents and self-assessment tasks. I will store and organise all of these documents electronically into folders on my computer which I will add to throughout the duration of the course. This will help to create evidence and understanding of learning, which I can share electronically with the college and my tutor. The ePortfolio offers a good opportunity for self-assessment as it provides a history of learning and captures my progress. By reviewing and reflecting on these gathered documents, will help me to monitor my own development and determine areas that may need more focus or time.
Describe the aims and objectives of reflective writing
Reflective writing helps to document my progress and thoughts, giving the opportunity to reflect on areas that have and haven’t gone well. This helps to identify weaknesses and strengths, providing the opportunity to formulate goals and improve the experience in the future.
I can use reflective writing to log and document ideas. For example, I could document my thoughts about how the tackle a task, or, write notes about the information that I feel may or may not be relevant to the topic before starting. This could help to avoid using irrelevant or misleading information and contribute to future tasks being conducted in a more efficient way. I could use reflective writing to record challenges encountered during the course and make notes about the strategies that have and haven’t worked well. By logging my experiences like this will be a helpful way of determining what strategies work best and how they can be used more efficiently to achieve learning outcomes in the future.
I can also use reflective writing to log my personal feelings about the course, my progress and tutors. By logging such personal feelings, could be a useful way of identifying and exploring changes in my attitude or motivation. When changes are recognised, it will help to identify areas that need more focus or encourage me to ask my tutor for help. This will be a good way of maintaining motivation which is particularly important in distance learning (as it is self-motivated).
Prepare and evaluate a personal SWOT analysis
A SWOT Analysis is a simple and useful way of practicing self-assessment by examining strong and weak points that I may not have previously thought about. This can be useful to progress through the course because it identifies areas for improvement and opportunities available to overcome challenges. A SWOT Analysis can also be used as a way of communicating my strengths and weaknesses with my tutor. As such, my tutor will be able to learn more about me as an individual and use this information to provide constructive guidance and feedback.
STRENGTHS
- Determination to complete course
- Interest in study subjects
- Access to tutor for guidance and support
- Access to resources
- Support at work (some allocated study time during work time allowed)
WEAKNESSES
- Self-doubt and criticism
- Been out of the studying environment for over 10 years
- Amount of knowledge in animal studies field
OPPORTUNITIES
- Access to computers with internet access at home and work
- Course materials and resources available to support assignment work
- Access to tutor
- Increase in knowledge of animal studies subject, beneficial for personal development and at work progression
- E-portfolio – opportunity for self-assessment
- Reflective writing journals – to formulate goals and identify areas for improvement
- Study planner tool for scheduling and managing tasks
THREATS
- Possibility of increased home or work demands resulting in less available study time
- Loss of drive (as learning is self-motivated)
This analysis suggests that one of my personal strengths is determination and interest in the study subject. This will be a key to maintaining personal motivation and aid successful completion of the course. My workplace has identified there is a requirement for a more informed member of the team and have acknowledged my potential for this role. They are supporting me with some allocated study time during working hours. By completing this course successfully, will help to develop knowledge and skills which will be used in the work environment.
This has the potential to lead to progression at work and a more fulfilling and interesting role.
Amongst my weaknesses, the analysis shows that I have been out of a study environment for over ten years. Whilst this can be seen as a weakness, because I am not familiar with studying, it may also be beneficial as it means that I am open to learning in new ways without out any recent preconception. This can be useful for my tutor to know, so that they can identify areas of skill gaps and communicate with me and give feedback in the most constructive way to aid course progression.
The analysis has also identified that one of the main opportunities available is having access to many resources, including the ability to contact a tutor. This will assist with motivation by creating a tutoring presence and enrich the studying experience with extensive resources available to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the subject, animal studies.
Unfortunately, there will always be threats that may get in the way of my goal (successfully completing the animal studies course) and these have been identified as increased demands at work or home and reduced motivation. However, by looking at opportunities available, such as the study planner software and self-assessment activities, has identified positive ways of managing and avoiding these threats to remain on track.
Overall this SWOT Analysis has been a good way of self-assessment and gathered lots of information that I haven’t thought about before. It will be useful tool going forward and can help with course progression, formulating goals and sharing information with my tutor.
By taking a look into ICT has demonstrated many benefits and ways of how it can be used to enrich the distance learning experience. I have explored ways of managing and sharing information such as creating an e-portfolio, and, using the Virtual Campus platform to upload assignments. It has helped to identify effective ways of communicating and building a relationship with my tutor via the electronic messaging system and how using technological tools in the absence of face to face communication will help. It has also established methods for course progression such as conducting self-assessment activities and utilising available software. Lastly and most importantly, it will help to develop understanding of study subjects by allowing access to resources, course materials and extensive information on the internet.
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