PERSONNEL IN THE

SYSTEM OF
DISTANCE
EDUCATION
 INTRODUCTION
 All countries of the world consider uplift and education as the most basic requirement for
economic development.
 Such necessitates participation by men, women, young, old, rural and urban population. However,
such cannot be achieved unless individuals have acquired the required skills and knowledge.
 Institution that imparts education through distance learning approach requires staff such as course
developers, reviewers, designers and editors etc. to prepare materials including text guides,
assignments etc. in a manner that is self explanatory.
 STAGES OF COURSE
DEVELOPMENT
 There are 3 stages of course development:

 First stage is Creative stage. Here the creator of the distance education materials is the course
development coordinator.
 The writer, who has vast background and demonstrated experience in his field of expertise. The
job includes reading all the important literature and other related research activities.
 Once that is done, the written course is then sent to the editing cell after going through course team
discussions and any observations.
 The second stage is Production. Once the designing task and editing is completed, the course is
then sent for printing. Here line drawings and other illustration are done by designers.
 The third stage is the printing itself.
 OBJECTIVES OF THIS UNIT
 Upon completion of this Unit you should be able to:
 Explain the responsibilities of writers for distance education
 Discuss various stages for distance education.
 Identify the role of a course development coordinator as developer, implementer and evaluator
if the course.
 What is the role of a reviewer in the course production process.
 Specify role of material designer
 Evaluate the role of editor.
 COURSE TEAM CHAIRMAN
 This is a significant role in the system of distance education.
 In most cases, a Chairman of the Department is also the Chairman of the Couse Team and any such
course that is conceived by the Chairman or the Coordinator has to be discussed in the Course team
meeting.
 As all the information provided to the students should be based on facts hence the course team should
be experts in the related areas.
 Once the approval for outline is obtained from the team and the Committee of Courses, the written
process starts. Here, the Chairman has to ensure the quality of the written material, timely
development of the outlines, it approvals till printing, launching and revision
VARIOUS DUTIES OF A
COURSE COORDINATOR
 The functions to be performed in the system of a distance learning education includes:

 Course Developer
 Course Implementer
 Evaluator
AS A COURSE DEVELOPER
 The course coordinator normally conceives the course after discussing the outline with the Chairman
of the Department and the members of Faculty.
 The Committee comprises of four (04) external experts alongside the external members of the
department.
 The Committee of Courses then minutely discuss every unit and/or sections of the outline developed
by the course coordinator and any suggestion given are then incorporated.
 Once the outline is approved, it is then presented to the Faculty Board at a meeting normally chaired
by the Dean. Any suggestions or improvements may be made or given.
 It is then sent for further approval to the Academic Planning and Course Production Committee where
the academic and media support aspect is taken in to account.
 In both meetings, the Chairman of the concerned Department presents the outlines for approval. The
meetings are chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.
 Once all suggestions and improvements given by the Academic, Planning and Course Production
Committee are in place, the Course Coordinator takes the outline to the Academic Council for final
approval.
AS AN IMPLEMENTER
 The Course Coordinator has to ensure that schedule for the Course offering, preparation of
assignments for students and tutors and preparation of other materials be ready before the
mailing of the course.
 The Course Coordinator has to revise the courses after four (04) semesters of its launching.
 Other responsibilities include coordination with editors, designers, print Managers, media
support amongst other things.
AS AN EVALUATOR
 Since the Course coordinator has to evaluate the course and check its effectiveness, it can be
said that the coordinator is the backbone of distance education system.
 In order to assess the effectiveness of the course, the coordinator has to develop questionnaires
and tabulate and interpret data collected.
 Other responsibilities include conducting workshops, delivering lectures and developing
assignments amongst other things.
 WRITERS / AUTHORS
 The writer of a distance education material should expect great variation in the tasks undertaken and must
possess:
 Knowledge of the Subject
 Ability to write text suitable for distance learning
 Willingness to work with Others
 Accepting that the work done may be altered
 Knowledge about the students
 Readiness to adhere to deadlines and other constraints
 A writer should not only be aware of the demands of a certain task but also be aware that how much work is
required to be done. So the length of the written material and number of pages must be determined.
 DEVELOPERS
 A course developer has a keen role to play in the system of distance learning education. And this may
include playing many albeit important roles in launching of a course or a program.
 First thing to be done by a developer is to prepare, conceive and plan the outline of the course and then
discuss the outline with subject experts and colleagues.
 Once that is done and necessary suggestions are incorporated the names of the course team members are
finalized. Then the outline is presented in the meeting if the Committee of Courses where any suggestion is
incorporated.
 Once that is done, the Outline Is discussed in the Faculty Board meeting and approval is taken from
Academic Planning Committee and then Academic Council.
 After its approval, the course units are distributed amongst the experts for writing. It is the duty of the
developer to provide instruction on how to write the material in distance education format.
 REVIEWERS
 Distance education materials need careful reviewing for the very fact that the direct contact between the teacher
and student is very limited. Hence, the materials much attain a high standard in both content and presentation.
 The review process will vary in accordance with the approach taken to the course development.
 Reviewers need draft materials and comments on everything from style of language, the nature of activities,
overlap between different writing works, emphasis in content and to the organization of material.
 DESIGNERS
 The first criteria for a good designer is to have a capacity to draw upon large amount if experience.
 The second is that the Designer should be able to produce good material within a short span of time, so that the
authors know what the final product will look like.
 EDITORS
 Editing should be dynamic and be influencing all stages of preparation and production. It
should not be merely seen as a cosmetic touch-up.
 An editor should be able to review materials from their earliest stage as course outlines. An
editor will be employed for having expertise in the presentation of written materials and an
understanding of distance education and its constraints.
 Editing involves more than simply cutting out pieces or condensing sections that are too long.
THANKYOU