APPLY NOWGCTU Empowers Faculty For Excellence In Online Distance Education
The GCTU Institute of Continuing and Distance Education (ICDE) has organized a two-day workshop on Course Module Development and Education Technology from Monday 4th to Tuesday 5thMarch 2024 at the Forensic Lab, main campus, Tesano.
The workshop was an opportunity for selected staff across the various Departments to acquire the needed knowledge and skills to develop course modules for the success of the much-anticipated Distance Learning Programme.
Speaking at the workshop, on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Robert Ebo Hinson expressed his profound gratitude to the resource persons and the participants for attending the workshop. He encouraged them to put in their best efforts to make the GCTU Online Distance Education Programme (ODEP) one of the best in West Africa. Prof. Hinson added, that GCTU wants to grow its brand through the ODEP and advised the programme administrator not to compromise quality service delivery.
The former Pro. Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. John Nelson Buah and a Resource Person at the workshop, gave a presentation on “Introducing a Study Unit (Writing an Introduction).” He indicated, that the introduction of a ‘Study Unit’ is one of the access devices that guide learners to understand the structure of a “Study Unit” and it must be carefully crafted, must generate interest and must motivate the learner to desire to read further. Prof. Buah indicated, that a well-written introduction should have three components, namely, Structural, Thematic and Guidance components, citing STRIDE/IGNOU (2005).
The former Provost, College of Distance Education, UCC, Prof. Isaac Galyuon, made a presentation on “Writing Instructional Objectives (writing objective practical).” He described it as a statement of observable behaviour or performance (ability or skill) that a learner should display as a result of instruction.
Prof. Galyuon emphasized, that the number of objectives per every “study unit” should have an adequate number of learning objectives. “The number of objectives will determine the content of the subject matter to cover and exercises/activities to include,” he said. He elaborated, that although there is no fixed formula on what constitutes adequacy, one must ensure that they are not too many and, as well, not too few for every unit.
The Former Head, Academic Affairs, College of Distance Education, UCC, Prof. Paul Dela Ahiatrogah, shed light on “Course Development Strategies.” He said, that the Online Distance Learning (ODL) course materials must be specially designed, developed and written to fulfil their special purposes. Prof. Ahiatrogah added, that regular textbooks or journals cannot adequately fulfil the needs of a student who is studying alone, sometimes far away from his/her tutors, colleagues and peers to promote his/her independent learning.
Earlier, in his opening address, the Director, ICDE, Prof. Frank G. Sackey welcomed the participants and urged them to apply and share the knowledge acquired. He added, that Distance Education has come to stay and GCTU is in the process of starting its Online Distance Learning Programme. “We intend rolling out our programme in June, therefore there was the need to bring experts to train participants on how to write and structure our Course Modules to attract prospective students,” he said. Prof. Sackey noted, that authorization has been given to kick-start three programmes and that by the end of March, four additional programmes would be approved.
Giving the closing remarks on behalf of the Director, ICDE, the Head, Centre for Online Learning and Teaching (COLT), Dr. Emmanuel Freeman extended his profound gratitude to the facilitators from UCC and the participants for availing themselves for the training.
Dr. Freeman urged the participants to transfer the knowledge acquired to other colleagues within their departments to enable them to benefit from the training.
