E-facilitation- Online Design, Development, Pedagogy and Practice

The 21st century has equipped the education sector with technological advances that assist and take learning to another level, from game-stimulated learning to interactive learning online, and using artificial intelligence further enhances the learning experience. Higher Education Institutions were embracing and using technology to deliver courses but the pace of online course development was gradually gaining momentum. This momentum further increased during the Covid-19 pandemic (Maphalala & Adigun, 2021). 

E-facilitation had become a norm during the Covid-19 pandemic. It served as a way forward for higher education institutions as restrictions were placed on the movement of staff and students. Online learning and teaching enabled higher education institutions to continue with the facilitation of classes. In addition to this, online learning was further assisted with the use of online apps and learning platforms (Karachristos et al., 2020). 

Usage of Open Education Resources (OERs) and Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) presented a lot of opportunities for staff and students to better equip themselves in pursuit of delivering quality education. OERs were heavily relied on by teaching staff as it ensured that students could access these learning materials free of charge and at a time convenient to them. MOOC allowed staff to get trained and share ideas with colleagues from all over the world. From a teaching staff perspective both OERs and MOOC were extremely helpful in delivering courses online while maintaining quality. I myself have attended a few which helped me to design authentic assessments and rethink about online course designs, how to develop the course so that students remain engaged and motivated to learn (Wolf et al., 2018). 

Educational pedagogies are changing at a very fast pace and this requires appropriate training and upgrade for staff, students, administrative staff and higher educational institutional infrastructure. Practices in Higher Education Institutions will need to embrace technology as a way forward despite the challenges that may be faced. Contexualising online learning to suit the different learning needs of students especially those with special needs has to be prioritised (Coughlan et al., 2021). 

E-facilitation requires instructors to design courses that are learner centered, Pacific conscious and context conscious. The aforementioned needs to be discussed in the case of higher education institutions in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) as the students in the Pacific have different learning needs in comparison to students in other parts of the world. Students in the Pacific have limited access to resources (electronic gadgets used to access on-line learning platforms) and learning materials. The geographically isolated and scattered islands add more challenges for e-learning facilitators. Internet accessibility, high cost of accessing the internet and network coverage add to the existing woes of PICs students trying to learn online. 

Despite the many challenges faced in the PIC's students strive to learn, explore new opportunities to enlighten and broaden their knowledge. This thirst for knowledge can be satisfied by engaging in improved online learning and e-facilitation. The multiple stakeholders in the PIC's need to work together to ensure that the education sector can continue to provide education by embracing technology which is the way forward.

 

References:

Coughlan, T., Goshtasbpour, F., Mwoma, T., Makoe, M., Tanglang, N., Bonney, S., & Biard, O. (2021). Making digital decisions: A Guide for harnessing the potential of online learning and digital technologies.

Karachristos, C., Kouvara, T., Orphanoudakis, T., Stavropoulos, E., Batsi, Z., & Chronopoulou, M. (2020, November). Defining e-learning facilitation-The Greek case study. In Proceedings of ICERI2020 Conference (Vol. 9, p. 10th).

Maphalala, M. C., & Adigun, O. T. (2021). Academics' Experience of Implementing E-Learning in a South African Higher Education Institution. International Journal of Higher Education, 10(1), 1-13.

Wolf, F., Curran, F., Pflaum, E., & Ramic, H. (2018). Education for Sustainability: Integrating Climate Change and Energy into Lifelong Learning Initiatives for Small Island Developing States. In Climate Literacy and Innovations in Climate Change Education (pp. 1-18). Springer, Cham.