Postgraduate perspectives of distance e-learning : a qualitative case study of online distance learning in occupational safety and health

Williams, HJ

Abstract

The use of the Internet as a medium for education has grown exponentially since
the mid-1990s. Institutions of higher education are increasingly offering online
access to distance education programmes, especially at postgraduate level. Some
see e-learning as offering solutions to many problems traditionally associated
with distance education.
Research into e-learning at a distance has largely focussed on the effectiveness of
differing technologies for the delivery of online courses, the emphasis being
upon the technology itself, with few studies examining the student experience of
this new phenomenon. It is therefore argued that a gap exists, as the views of
distance e-learners at postgraduate level have seldom been paid attention, with
their specific and individual needs failing to be addressed. This study aims to
rectify this gap by examining postgraduates' experiences of e-learning at a
distance. The purpose of the study is to inform the future development of elearning
at postgraduate level and help determine how higher education can best
support this rapidly expanding group of learners.
The research presents a qualitative case study of a group of students studying
modules from the University of Salford's MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in
Occupational Safety and Health in a virtual learning environment called
GOLDPhase, which was specifically designed and developed to facilitate the
study.
Issues related to the students' heightened awareness of their peers, their
sensitivity to tutor feedback, and the learning strategies they adopted are
identified and discussed. The findings show that e-learning engendered a range
of barriers and enhancements for this group of distance learners. The
enhancements were largely computer based and barriers were mostly
sociological.
The findings have implications for both online teaching and online learning
strategies. As distance e-learning is in its infancy the study will increase overall
understanding in this area and contribute to the growing body of knowledge.

Citation

Williams, H. Postgraduate perspectives of distance e-learning : a qualitative case study of online distance learning in occupational safety and health. (Thesis). University of Salford, UK

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 2, 2009
• Additional Information: Additional Information : PhD supervisors: Liz Falconer and Marcus Ormerod
• Award Date: Jun 1, 2004