| Types of support Learners need many kinds of support, whether they're in a face-to-face or online context. For example, a recent research study1 highlighted the importance of effective support systems for ensuring positive outcomes for students. One approach to providing support is on request: that is, when a student needs help they ask for it. It's important to provide this sort of support to make sure learners can make progress and not get 'stuck' because they don't know how to move on. The trouble is, sometimes learners don't know they need help or are too ashamed or whakama to ask for help. So teachers need to monitor learner progress and also provide support when they perceive a need. Both of these forms of support can be seen as response support. 
Phil: Over that last few weeks I’ve noticed that 3 or 4 students haven’t contributed much to the online discussion. Sometimes it’s a temporary workload issue: something has cropped up in the their lives which means they haven’t been able to take part very much. But I’ve had a couple of people who were just feeling lost or confused with the course material and weren’t sure how to ask for help. A further issue is that of workload and responsiveness: if teachers spend their time providing support on request they can be overwhelmed and students end up not getting support when they need it. To prevent this, support systems need to be put in place: this requires planning and preparation. In each of the sections that follow, we'll look at all these types of support.
1. Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Tertiary Study. NZ Ministry of Education. [ More ] |
