Lenora Giles
November, 2002
In open distance learning (ODL) student support services aim to assist students with academic goals, time management issues, and constructing special skills needed for distance and lifelong learning. However, historically, learner support has been an add-on after the course materials were produced. There is not a large body of empirical research or theoretical framework on student support. This makes it vulnerable to cuts during times of fiscal downsizing. With institutions facing issues of high dropout rates, student retention, customer service, and increased competition there is renewed interest in student support. With emphasis shifting from an industrial model to developmental and constructivist approaches, new technology has the potential to enhance how organizations develop student services.
The learner support system generally include processes such as tutoring, counseling, advising, administrative services, library and information systems, and other services that facilitate interaction with the course content, instructors and administration. According to Robinson (1995, pp.221-231), some common objectives organizations consider concerning student services include providing interactivity and dialogue, personalizing a mass system, mediating between the materials, the institution and the learners, institutional responsiveness to individuals, and differentiation of support services according to different group and individual needs.
Tait (2000) list three primary functions of student support:
Brindley (1995) similarly list these objectives:
New communication technology in education refers mainly to hypermedia and multimedia delivered via the Internet. Multimedia and hypermedia employ the simultaneous use of dynamic media, such as audio or video with static media such as text or images in a production or presentation delivered over a variety of platforms. Multimedia technical delivery systems can be classified into two categories: networked multimedia such as Internet based applications or stand-alone multimedia such as CD-ROMs (Grant and Meadows 1998, p.90).
Student centered learning involves interaction with the content and interpersonal interaction with teachers and other students. It is, therefore, important to provide an environment in which both kinds of interaction can occur (Berge, 1995). Digital technology will enable distance education to offer more flexibility, increase accessibility, and encourage student autonomy and responsibility while providing more efficient administrative and technical support (Peters, 1998). Other learning supports can be provided by creating electronic spaces dedicated to social interaction such as a student union, an electronic yearbook for biographies, and an electronic coffeehouse for students to engage in social messaging (Vakili, 2000) .
Online learning encourages student autonomy and intuitive knowledge building through learning with files, knowledge-building communities, teaching programs, data file courses, computer conferencing, and audio-video conferencing (Peters, 1998) . Technology-based advantages include presentation software aimed at dual-code processing and varying learning styles and multimedia support of learner-centered design concepts based on empirical research and interactivity. (Mayer, 2001). In a virtual learning environment, learning becomes open, learner centered, outcome based, interactive, and not physically bound to institutions of higher learning (Peters, 1997) . Hypermedia also provides access to a worldwide database of library and research materials.
The continued emergence of computer network technology, the adult working student, and the student’s desire for autonomous learning are radically changing students’ expectations (Peters, 1998). In work and leisure people browse, surf, navigate, chat, email, and find and store files on their computers. These new skills and activities affect every aspect of people’s work, home-life, and leisure, with profound implications for education (Peters,1998). For the institution then, delivery of online learner support is changing the way students interact with peers and with the institution but the traditional concept of learner support is still constant (Thorpe, 2002) .
Sewart (1993) states that course production is based on a manufacturing management model. But learner support imitates service industry where the customer needs are paramount. Learner support activities are produced and consumed simultaneously and require the active participation of both the student and the organization (Sewart,1993) . Multimedia and hypermedia break down barriers of time and space and allow asynchronous and synchronous communication between the students and the instructor as well as the administrative services of the host institution through electronic mail, discussion groups, electronic databases, and digital resources. The use of multimedia and hypermedia allow users to manipulate the learning material and the learning environment (Mayer, 2001) .
Online teaching and learning creates new roles in support services and challenges existing structures. If learner support is available on demand then these support services are the most interactive component in ODL (Thorpe, 2002) . With ODL moving towards a learner-centered approach and away from a teacher-centered approach, roles for course developers and support staff begin to merge. Gunawarden (1998, pp. 105-114) identifies four issues of concern to the changing role of faculty development when teaching within interactive systems:
Computer-mediated communication (CMC) allows instructors to facilitate collaborative group work using Internet resources and constructivist principles (Gunawardena and Zittle, 1998). Hypertext releases the student from the fixed structures like textbooks and allows teachers and support staff to concentrate on facilitating learning and communication. Computers and hypertext provide a structured environment that allow learners to organize their own learning. Learners can search for specific information from vast databases in real-time. Because of its non-linear structure, hypertext gives users the option of accessing only information pertinent to individual needs thereby personalizing learning (Hasebrook, 2000) . It is the purpose of the online interaction to use the learners themselves as a resource, and to build on their experience, reading, and perspectives (Thorpe, 2002) .
Disadvantages of using multimedia lay not so much with the technology as with the inappropriate use in particular circumstances. Heretofore development of multimedia learning applications concentrated on the technical side. However, technology centered approaches fail to lead to lasting improvements in education and support (Mayer, 2001)
The technology-centered approaches do not incorporate user information or institutional goals into development of delivery systems. At the same time, there is evidence that online teaching concerns are often focussed more on the operational efficiency and technical features of the software than on the theoretical and educational rationale for using them. For quality learning outcomes, it is essential that educators maximize the benefits of interactive technologies to support learning (Brindley, 1995) .
Another disadvantage presented by Mcloughlin (2000) is that research is “still inconclusive about the forms of mentoring or support that are most effective in networked learning environments, but research indicates that scaffolding self-regulatory and communicative support will remain a priority for bridging courses to students.” (McLoughlin, and Luca 2000) . Research points out that many studies suggest that in terms of advantages over textbooks or lectures, multimedia produced only a small effect at best (Dillon and Gabbard, 1998). This gain is credited to organizational and instructional changes in the learning environment. To date the benefits are limited to learning tasks dependant upon repeated manipulation and searching for information, as well as being differentially distributed among learners depending on their ability and preferred learning style (Dillon and Gabbard, 1998; Carter, 1996). In reviewing distance education’s perspective on the influence of media in learning, Carter (1996) found that “most of the literature found that media did not influence learning” and that further inquiry on the topic was discouraged. Clearly, further research is needed on the effective use of new media in education.
Finally, web-based education, by its very nature, requires access to the Internet, up-to-date computer technology, and a fair degree of bandwidth. These requirements are currently not commonly found in much of the world. Even in industrialized countries, many people lack proper access to Internet resources. Designers of delivery systems must be aware of not only the learning styles and aptitude of learners, but also with accessibility and hardware capabilities of the users.
The basic guideline in developing and using multimedia content is that it must be learner centered. Thorpe (2002), suggest that learner support relates to its key function of response and responsiveness, in relation to three essential and inter-related elements:
The planning process for instituting technology based learning should include evaluation of learning theory, pedagogical models and didactic methodology. Inappropriate use of a particular media or combination of media to deliver information can cause confusion or interference. The administration must also provide oversight and management of the initiative (Frankola, 2000) . Knowing and understanding the learners and being aware of the fundamental concepts involved in interaction is also necessary to reduce transactional distance. Wolcott (1995) provides some practical suggestions to the challenges of bridging transactional distance and the loss of visual cues normally found in face-to-face teaching.
Making multimedia effective starts with planning and developing from the user’s perspective by conducting a study of the needs and abilities of the users of the product.
Learning institutions are responding to external factors including societal paradigm shifts from an industrial age to an information age. Distance education has a history of using new methods and technology to provide educational opportunity to people at a distance. Practice in distance education is moving towards constructivism and learner centeredness. New media technology, including the Internet, is an excellent means of obtaining higher order learning and interaction.
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